Power Source for CB/Radio mounted on center console?

[JCockerill]

I have the cb mount from geno's that mounts a cb or radio in the center console. What have you guys been tapping into for a key on only power source? thanks!

 

[Andersonville]

The BEST way is to get a piece of used RG8X (the small diameter) and separate the center conductor and shield for approx: 8-10". tin the ends with solder and seal the "Y" with coax seal. Take the other end of the approx: 10' piece and snake it thru one of the pass thru's on the engine side firewall to the passenger compartment near the center of the dash. Once thru the firewall and in relative position close to the radio, split the ends like you did the battery end and attach it to the radio leads with quick disconnect or solder the connections to the radio leads. What I did was fuse both legs with the crimp in place inline fuse holders. After attaching the radio and routing the coax out of sight and putting the radio on the mount. Attach the center conductor to the POS terminal and the shield to the NEG conductor. By using the coax as a power lead you give your self a shielded quieter power source than what you would get by splicing the radio into the cigarette lighter wire like most everyone else does! There are rubber grommets/seals in the back of and underneath the cab where you can route your antenna coax into the radio. Some guys even mount the antenna in the gap between the hood and the fender and run the coax in thru the firewall like the power lead. A 102" whip is the most efficient antenna for CB but definately not the only one. I use a Wilson 2000 CB antenna mounted on my Backrack. Good luck. Look up the ARRL web page for more suggestions. Grounding is everything on putting out a good signal. I have extra grounding straps on the hood and the bed to ground them to the frame. The bigger the grounding strap the lower the resistance and the lower the frequency of noise and interference. You may hear white noise in the background on your CB or pulsing sounds while rolling. It's probably the ABS system operating. On some concrete roads you can hear a pulse type noise that rises and descends as you roll along,this is probably the rebar in the concrete reacting with the steel belts in your tires. Anyway probably more info than you needed but just my . 02.

 

[WCorbett]

If you have a braKe controller in the truck, you can tap into both the POS & NEG wires form it.

 

[KMcBride]

I mounted a Kenwood 2 meter ham radio on one of those mounts. I installed a painless fuse panel from Genos and took ingnition switched power from that to the radio. I ran the power wires from the dash under the center console to the to the radio. It turned out to be a clean install and left me extra circuts for my seat heaters.



One note I ground away some of the center console with a die grinder were the wires come out to prevent chafing.

 

[steved]

I have the cb mount from geno's that mounts a cb or radio in the center console. What have you guys been tapping into for a key on only power source? thanks!

I ran a trigger wire from the power outlet wiring (behind the dash) to a relay... this isolates the radio from the truck's wiring. I then brought the main power feed directly from the battery to a fuse box, and ultimately to the radio...



I used 10 guage wire from the battery, but I'm also feeding a bunch of other electronics from a fuse box under the front seat. I have the 16 guage wire that came with the radio between the radio and relay.



Noise in the radio through a power feed is more dependent on the filtering capability of the radio itself. I had noise with one radio (an older Cobra 25), did nothing but switch radios (to a Uniden 76XL) and the power feed noise was eliminated.