Finally getting a CB, advice?

[Donut Patrol]

Now is the season for my winter car with studded snows. Of course what that means, is now unless its snowing, I'm one of the slower cars on the road, ugh. Anyway, I'm getting bored enough I figure I might as well experiment with a CB for saves and entertainment.

I read the FAQ but this forum is dead enough I figure I might as well start a thread. I'm willing to spend enough for a mid range setup, preferably around $150, or $200 at the most. I'd say I'm looking for a semi-permanent install, something relatively well installed, but that I could take out quickly. I'm limited on cockpit space, so ideally a remote install with the controls on the mic.

Antenna, let me preface this by saying I'm a BMW owner.... Now that we have that out of the way, yes I do care mildly about appearance. I don't mind a big ass antenna, since I already have a huge radio antenna, it would just be nice to have a black one, as opposed to the Lil' Wil. Maybe a springy one? Also, I play hockey and constantly have my gear in the trunk, so I'd like to keep the trunk usable with out destroying my roof every time.

Concerns. I live in the Northeast, so truck traffic isn't all that heavy. Still a good idea? Also the terrain just eats up everything, it's so hilly and curvy. What sort of range with a decent antenna would I be looking at?

[switch626]

I have been using a Cobra remote install with a Lil Wil, sice I have a small car with nowhere to actually mount a normal sized CB. This is only my second CB, so I have nothing to compare it to.

What I can say is that I sometimes do hear truckers from locations that I estimate to be close to 10 miles away. I take this to mean that they have boosted up their CBs a lot, not that mine is particularly great. Keep in mind also that I live an an area that is very flat.

It is currently installed in my second car, so I have learned a little about that aspect of it. My first car had lots of RF interference, particularly from the fuel pump and the AC fan. I also think that there were groound issues present. Though I had the antenna tuned as it was mounted on the roof, I later mpved it to the rear qyarter panel. This install was next to useless because of all the noise. Still, I did once get warned of a speed trap 40 miles down the road, and several times skipped out on traffic jams because of the chatter I heard on the CB.

In this install, the antenna is back in the roof. There have been no RFI or grounding issues at all. I am hearing lots more chatter on the CB at times when the truckers are working, and am depending on it a lot more. Noise is low and the range is decent (for reception). In short, it is much more useful on this car/

The moral of the story is that each car is different. Some are great with no real effort on your part, while others require a lot of extra work to even make a CB usable. It is the luck of the draw.

[category4]

If I can put an antenna on a Corvette, you should not have any problem on a BMW!

[Akosikojak]

I figure I might as well experiment with a CB for saves and entertainment.

I have been using one for quite a while, the CB is the most underated CM there is IMO. Also mine has provided me w/conversation for many years now. There's nothing like cruising down the Interstate and striking up a conversation w/somebody you just met, kinda nice on those long drives. I use mine for locating LEO's / info for construction area's / road conditions / weather conditions / traffic conditions / Road directions on how to bypass a accident and list goes on and on.

I'm willing to spend enough for a mid range setup, preferably around $150, or $200

You can get a very nice set up for this price range.

Antenna, let me preface this by saying I'm a BMW owner.... Now that we have that out of the way, yes I do care mildly about appearance. I don't mind a big ass antenna, since I already have a huge radio antenna, it would just be nice to have a black one, as opposed to the Lil' Wil. Maybe a springy one? Also, I play hockey and constantly have my gear in the trunk, so I'd like to keep the trunk usable with out destroying my roof every time.

I had similar concerns on my antennas, I have two each 102" antennas and one 5 1/2 foot antenna mounted on my toolbox on the back of my pick up. I did have a few dings from the antennas bouncing back and forth due to tree's, winds and other related type stuff when I 1st mounted them. To alleviate this , I just went to Lowes and got me some Vinyl (black in color to match my truck) and some Foam (black also) that's used to protect water pipes and wrapped and taped them up as required and no more worries from bouncing antennas. Over all looks pretty good to me.

Concerns. I live in the Northeast, so truck traffic isn't all that heavy. Still a good idea? Also the terrain just eats up everything, it's so hilly and curvy. What sort of range with a decent antenna would I be looking at?

I use my CB mainly for interstate use which is where you will get the best bang for the buck concerning a mobile CB, so yes it's a great idea to have one. You are correct about range and living in a hilly enviroment, it does hamper range to within a couple of miles in extreme cases.

Good on Ya for thinking about a CB.

Getter Done!!!

If I can put an antenna on a Corvette, you should not have any problem on a BMW!

Agree / Agree / Agree

[chris98891]

I drive a 325i, I know the situation. I use a Cobra 75 handheld unit mounted with the CPU under the seat and the mic poking up beside the passenger. All you see is the coiled cable and mic, and even that is easy to stow under the seat.

As far as antennas, for appearances, NMO is your best friend. I use a TMB8 NMO mount. All it is a small circle that sticks above your trunk. you can use a lip mount. That way, whenever you aren't using the CB, you can just unscrew it and leave it at home/in the trunk.

The antenna I chose is an Antenex CB27. Its black and extremely skinny, about 42" tall. Pretty much invisible from far away, and up close it doesn't look baaad per say. It doesn't hurt that my car is black. With this setup, i just ran the coax from the antenna through the trunk lining and under some trim until it got under the front seat. No space in the trunk taken whatsoever. I have pictures of my setup here:
http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y225/chris98891/CB/
and here:
http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...untermeasures/

password: radardetector


also price: i got a deal on the 75 back when bing cash back was still up, paid around 60, and then the antenna and mount came to below 60

[apaint]

I drive a 325i, I know the situation. I use a Cobra 75 handheld unit mounted with the CPU under the seat and the mic poking up beside the passenger. All you see is the coiled cable and mic, and even that is easy to stow under the seat.

As far as antennas, for appearances, NMO is your best friend. I use a TMB8 NMO mount. All it is a small circle that sticks above your trunk. you can use a lip mount. That way, whenever you aren't using the CB, you can just unscrew it and leave it at home/in the trunk.

The antenna I chose is an Antenex CB27. Its black and extremely skinny, about 42" tall. Pretty much invisible from far away, and up close it doesn't look baaad per say. It doesn't hurt that my car is black. With this setup, i just ran the coax from the antenna through the trunk lining and under some trim until it got under the front seat. No space in the trunk taken whatsoever. I have pictures of my setup here:
http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y225/chris98891/CB/
and here:
http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...untermeasures/

password: radardetector


also price: i got a deal on the 75 back when bing cash back was still up, paid around 60, and then the antenna and mount came to below 60

Very nice setup! I just bought a cobra 75 and a lil' wil... looking forward to testing it on the highway.

[Arvetus]

If you can't find a black antenna, get a regular one with the chrome whip. Once you tune it, you can always spray some flat-black rustoleum on it.

I also agree that an NMO mount is the best. It's low loss (not that it matters much at 27MHz), and there are a whole slew of mounting options. Magnet, drill a hole, lip or luggage rack mount, etc. I have the C27 that is painted black

[supercowpowers]

My advice would be to try it out but not make any permanent modifications until you're sure it's something you want to keep... A Maxrad 2700 can live happily on a trunk lip or magnet mount and the radio can get power from the cigarette lighter while you decide.

Terrain can be a difficulty for the CB. If you're between two decent hills and there are trees on the sides of the road, it can feel like you've entered a black hole of reception and can't talk to anyone you can't actually see.

Are there really no trucks there or just one a mile or so? As long as there are some trucks you can get information but you might have to be more proactive about offering your own and asking for it. Consider that a blessing though, because usually if you're just sitting back and getting a bear report every ten minutes you're stuck behind a truck anyway. However, that means it's more useful on 100+ mile journeys than the 20 mile daily trips that are more common.

I can't promise a CB would be as effective as possible where you're at, but remember that one decent save can pay for it many times over.

[Swamp]

In terms of bang for the buck, a CB is probably the best CM there is.
You're going to be more interested in listening than talking, so you want the best antenna setup you can get. A large percentage or truckers run amplifiers, so you'll be able to hear them long before they can hear you, assuming you run "barefoot" (no amp).
I've run the NMO style mount for years on my 400MHz 2-way, but not for a CB setup, but for the 2-ways that the only kind of antenna setup worth using. There is a huge performance difference between a mag mount and a NMO.
Getting you CB peaked and tuned is money well spent, even on a brand new one. You'll also need to have the antenna adjusted for the best SWR (Standing Wave Ratio, a measure of how much of the power put out by the transmitter is reflected back through the antenna and cable to the transmiter. Less is better.)

Switch's comments about placement, wiring and stuff is worth re-reading; it's kind of like mounting / testing a RD or Jammer--just because it worked on one car doesn't mean it will work on another car.
If you can, run the power and ground (DO NOT GROUND TO THE BODY OR CAB) directly to the batteries; if you have HID lights, you may need a noise filter on the power wires.

[srtga]

I'm in the SE and a CB is often pretty d@mn useful down here. On the interstate it's often the best CM I have!

I like the bigger radios mainly because they are just built better. The pots turn smoother, the switches are nicer, they are better lit, plus they can be souped up by CB guys. Now I'm running a Uniden 520 which isn't as nice as the big radios but it does the job well and doesn't take up near as much space.

You can always spaz out and get an import radio with side band and crap but it isn't really going to help you look for bears. About all you need is channel 19 if you want to hear useful CB traffic.

Oh yea, NMO antenna FTW!