CB & Antenna question

[Switch_knuckles]

Hey guys and girls, I am goin to install a CB in The Nasty. Now my dad game me one when I drove from VA to CO. It is a Realistic TRC-481 and the antenna is a Tiger. I know nothing about either of these. Are these any good, or should I look for something else?
http://i913.photobucket.com/albums/ac335/Switch_Knuckles/004.jpg
http://i913.photobucket.com/albums/ac335/Switch_Knuckles/011.jpg

[bigjim350]

They will both work great on the trail.

[Tural]

only one way to find out.
install: keep the ground as short as possible and run the power wire all the way to the battery. if you're afraid of accidentally leaving it on and killing your battery (very very unlikely), set up a 5 way relay through your radio. next time you go to jy, take it out of dang near any vehicle. i usually pay 2$ for it.

[Switch_knuckles]

Not gonna worry with the relay. I have a power bar hooked up to the ignition. It has 10 connections total. But good idea, Thanks.

[Tural]

i don't know what power bar means, but if you don't run your positive directly from the battery, you're gonna have some serious static.

[TeXJ]

i don't know what power bar means, but if you don't run your positive directly from the battery, you're gonna have some serious static.

I just have mine hooked to a power wire under the dash, no static. Just make sure you have a good ground.

[Tural]

strange... the static on mine went down only when i ran a wire to the battery. might be a unit specific thing.

[Mudderoy]

The absolute best power connection is the one that you run both positive and negative to the battery. You need to run proper sized wire of course. When you get into radios that have 100w output this is the default connection. They come with 20 feet of power cable.

Any long wire can act like an antenna. Your static could have been due to noise coming from the plugs, plug wires, or injectors.

I ran my power lines along the top of the harness.

[Tural]

u know i was actually thinking about getting one of those 35 bucks atv batteries at walmart and putting it under the back seat for cb and amp... i wonder if they can charge normally through the XJ's alternator.

[Mudderoy]

u know i was actually thinking about getting one of those 35 bucks atv batteries at walmart and putting it under the back seat for cb and amp... i wonder if they can charge normally through the XJ's alternator.

I bet it would. Interesting for emergency communications. You might just want to install a second battery like a "Red Top" in the back and then you'd have a second battery to run the radio AND start the Jeep.

[Tural]

red top would be too big though. the battery that i'm talking about would fit under the back seat and without poking the back seat up. i'm thinking of using a 10ga wire with 20A fuse on both sides.

[Switch_knuckles]

red top would be too big though. the battery that i'm talking about would fit under the back seat and without poking the back seat up. i'm thinking of using a 10ga wire with 20A fuse on both sides.

Sounds like a good idea, but what about heat how would you get ventilation to it?

[TeXJ]

i do just have a cheapo $35 CB too.

[Tural]

Sounds like a good idea, but what about heat how would you get ventilation to it?

well, the factory puts an amp there anyway, so i figure it might vent somehow. beside, a small atv battery charging through a 20A fuse shouldn't get much hot. and i'm planning on having a kill switch on it.

[Switch_knuckles]

I like the idea. I have never looked behind the center console, why not mount it there? Close to the firewall. Less wire, less resistance and I would think more air.

[Tural]

I like the idea. I have never looked behind the center console, why not mount it there? Close to the firewall. Less wire, less resistance and I would think more air.

umm. behind the center console, close to the firewall??? i don't get it...

[Switch_knuckles]

Pull out the center console. Install your battery behind it underneath the dash. And then re-install the console.