Originally Posted by
Frenzy
Thank you all. I'm going to buy the radio/antenna/SWR meter all within the week. One ticket save from a CB pays itself off, and it's fun to just listen to chatter on long drives.
Next question: Wiring (Keeping it all in this thread instead of making another, and the forum search is kinda ehhhh)
1.) Direct to Battery Red to + , black to - with an inluse fuse? It's reliable and I'm good about turning off electronics in the car. What size fuse should I use?
2.) Fuse tap into something using an add-a-circuit kit? Same thing what size fuse?
Depends on the car and what you want to do, most cars direct to battery is best as it helps get a cleaner electrical signal, in my car add-a-fuse worked better. Also need to consider if the radio will hold the channel if it loses power or if it will revert to Ch1 when it turns on and you've then got to go 19 clicks up the dial.
There's also Radio Peak and Tune, which illegally boost the power (99% don't get caught but it's worth noting , and also help reassure that the radio is on correct frequency for receive and isn't deviated from shipping and poor QC on the manufacturer end. Then there is antenna tune, which ensures that the antenna is of a proper electrical length to not have the radios power returning into the unit. SWR on most antennas are pretty easy to work out on your own, tune it for best performance on CH19, near the middle of the band where the radio will likely spend 99% of it's time tuned to.
Also as far as range is concerned, remember that a CB is a tool in a countermeasure setup and has no guarantee, the same as an RD won't protect you from LIDAR and a LJ won't protect you from radar. And while it may be of variable shorter range, it puts you in contact with drivers that have come from the other direction at 70+mph so you can have saves in the few hundred yards to few hundred mile range; the value of the tool exceeds the ability to talk and receive. Having run CBs coast to coast my experience has been a minimum of about 4miles and an average of 5-10 and in the summer regularly over 20 when the band conditions kick up during the day. And in more populated areas I'm always dialing back the RF gain because if I let too many signals in I get the high pitch AM doubling whine. But the range really only matters if you're trying to keep in contact with another specific vehicle (and I'd suggest staying off of Ch6,9 and 17-22 if attempting to do so.
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