CB Installation questions

[Switch_knuckles]

Hey folks, I have searched for the past few days and I am still no better than I started. I am goin on a run in a few weeks and I want to have my cb in for the run. I have always wired my power to the cigarette lighter. In my research I found so many options, cigarette lighter, ignition, battery. In your opinion which is the best option.

[rguignard]

i would go to a battery power only so you can use it if the jeep is off but you all so have to remember to turn it off or your battery will be dead in the morning

[steph74]

I went to the battery too with an inline fuse.
it is easy to do by following the article on this forum http://www.xjtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1584

I didn;t like the idea of having lose wires running through my pedals so i routed it differently but basically it is the same idea ;)

[prerunner1982]

Directly to the battery also helps get rid of engine noise that typically can be heard through the CB speaker when the radio is powered through the fuse box or cig lighter.

[Mudderoy]

Direct to the battery has several advantages, but to talk to people that are less than a mile from your chances are good noise wouldn't be a problem and any additional current you were able to pull from the direct battery connection wouldn't be noticeable. Now if you want something that works best overall then to the battery you should go. And both the positive and negative. Don't use the body as a ground.

[rugidone]

Is it bad to leave the radio on all the time?, I have left mine for the weekend with the cb on without coming home to a dead battery. My radio is on all the time, wired direct, unless the wife takes the jeep.

[prerunner1982]

I have heard it doesn't draw enough to drain the battery too quickly...
I just don't like leaving things on in my Jeep. So if it is wired directly to the battery it is something else you/I would have to turn off. I currently have mine wired with a relay so that it can have the benefits of going directly to the battery but still be keyed/switch on. This works well....except with my Cobra radios that revert to channel 1 or 9. So I have to change the channel every time I turn on the Jeep... which is just as bad as having to turn it on and off when I get in/out.

[Switch_knuckles]

Awesome. Thanks guys, to the battery I will go.

[4x4Dalton]

Yeah wirin to the battery IMO is the best way to go. Thats the way I have always done mine and never had any trouble.

[Switch_knuckles]

Ok I have one more question before I get started. I know that the red wire is power, the black is ground. But what is the white wire? Is it an ignition power wire?

[xj4life2]

The white should be memory preset if thats on the radio , I never hook mine up I just tape it off.

[bluedragon436]

Can't wait to hook one up in my Jeep... I had thought about hooking it up to the Aux power port, as it always has constant power.. but I guess after reading all the replies on yours... that I'll just got directly to the battery.

[prerunner1982]

If you are connecting directly to the battery you shouldn't need the aux power. The Aux power would be if the main power to the radio is switched power the white would be constant power (much like a audio radio) to maintain the presets. This is like the problem I have with my Cobras except they do not have the white wire.. With no constant power the radio will revert back to a set channel.

[Switch_knuckles]

Thanks guys!!! Now I just have to figure out where to mount it. It is just going in till I get my Cobra Hand Held. So I don't want to screw it to the console or under the dash. It is small and may fit where the ash tray is. Once you remove the ash tray, what is behind it? Anybody know?

[bluedragon436]

I'm just stuck as to where I want to mount my ant. at... either driver's side rear... or passenger rear...

[phillyxj570]

I had my antenna mounted on the driver side by the top of the tail light. I would suggest mounting it more to towards the bottom of the tail light. Up higher is got in the way of the tail light bolt and it the antenna stuck up really high. But on the plus side I had a really good SWR.

[LizardRunner]

I almost always put my antenna on the passenger side rear. It really is only a personal preference. It makes no difference which side. The reason you want both leads to go to the battery is so that you don't get interference when keying the mike, the antenna grounds to the body, so you don't want the radio also grounded to the body.

[bluedragon436]

I had my antenna mounted on the driver side by the top of the tail light. I would suggest mounting it more to towards the bottom of the tail light. Up higher is got in the way of the tail light bolt and it the antenna stuck up really high. But on the plus side I had a really good SWR.

Yeah I was kind of thinking about having it on the driver's side at the top of the tail light.. not too worried about it being in the way of the bolts... I don't mess with my taillights all that often anyways, if I can help it...Guess I'll figure it out one I get it all here, and get ready to install it all... now come on paycheck!!! LOL

[DirtBound Offroad]

I had mine on the driver side over the tail light, I liked this so I could see if I was in danger of taking it out on the trail.

I now have two mag mount antennas until I decide on a NMO mount.

[LizardRunner]

mag mounts can be good to have.

[prerunner1982]

I have mine on the driver's side above the tail light as well. My reasoning... because most trees are on the right side of the road. To keep my very long antenna from smacking too many trees when I drive I put it on the driver's side. Now if you frequent drive throughs often you may want your antenna on the passenger side to clear the awning.

Of course this all depends on how tall your antenna is, a 4' antenna won't hit all that much.. however my large whip (tip is 12'6" in the air) is a different story.

[DirtBound Offroad]

I have mine on the driver's side above the tail light as well. My reasoning... because most trees are on the right side of the road. To keep my very long antenna from smacking too many trees when I drive I put it on the driver's side. Now if you frequent drive throughs often you may want your antenna on the passenger side to clear the awning.

Of course this all depends on how tall your antenna is, a 4' antenna won't hit all that much.. however my large whip (tip is 12'6" in the air) is a different story.
X2

I am dreading the day when I smash a drivethough lighting, my CB antenna is about 11 - 12 ft up and likes to hit everything.

Now my Wilson 2 Meter antenna base is cracking, so that is why my next move is NMO mounts.

[4x4Dalton]

I mounted mine to front drivers fender. Picks up great and I can see if it ever loosens up in time to tighten antenna. Not everyone would do what I did to mount it. Had to put 2 bolts into inside of fender but the bracket sure as heck aint ever comin off. Used a mirror mount bracket set up and modified it.

[LizardRunner]

I've seen pictures of Dalton's set up, it is sweet. I'm thinking of doing something similar when I do the permanent install in da lizard.

[phillyxj570]

I saw a guy on another forum who his cb antenna in the fender where the radio antenna was. I would have liked to do that when I installed mine. But i just grabbed a mount to get it hooked up quick.

[Mudderoy]

X2

I am dreading the day when I smash a drivethough lighting, my CB antenna is about 11 - 12 ft up and likes to hit everything.

Now my Wilson 2 Meter antenna base is cracking, so that is why my next move is NMO mounts.

http://xjtalk.com/images/special/706_install.jpg

:thumbsup:

[Switch_knuckles]

I have a mag mount, and today I was driving down US36 when it flew off my roof. SO yeah, I think I am gonna mount it to the bumper.

[prerunner1982]

I have a mag mount, and today I was driving down US36 when it flew off my roof. SO yeah, I think I am gonna mount it to the bumper.

Would be best to mount it to the metal part of the bumper. If you mount it to the plastic end cap you will need to run a ground wire to ground the mount to the body.

[Switch_knuckles]

Would be best to mount it to the metal part of the bumper. If you mount it to the plastic end cap you will need to run a ground wire to ground the mount to the body.

That was totally my plan. I am not so much worried about the bumper. It is a stock bumper. That too is coming off eventually. There is a guy on Jeep Cherokee Forum selling mount kits.

http://www.cherokeeforum.com/f11/xj-cb-antenna-mounts-67191/

I was thinking about getting one it is not a bad price. Your thoughts?

[prerunner1982]

No experience with it personally...doesn't look too bad though.

[LizardRunner]

That's a very nice looking sturdy mount. Think I would get my antenna locally though. I currently have three antennas, one is like me a weirdling radio snack special that was re wound to become a half wave length antenna. I have to cut the cable to adjust swr values with that one. I also have a mean mother from the seventies that was re wound but I don't like the huge bottom end for the windings for da lizard. The last one I have is a fire stick given to me by a trucker friend who was refurbishing his tractor. It's going to be put on the boat.

[steph74]

I mounted mine to front drivers fender. Picks up great and I can see if it ever loosens up in time to tighten antenna. Not everyone would do what I did to mount it. Had to put 2 bolts into inside of fender but the bracket sure as heck aint ever comin off. Used a mirror mount bracket set up and modified it.

I have done the same thing.... works good

[prerunner1982]

It's going to be put on the boat.

You might run into a problem.. as you will have no ground plane. They do make special antennas for boat called no-ground plane antennas. In fact I have one on my boat..

http://www.firestik.com/Catalog/e30-ngp.htm

[Mudderoy]

That's a very nice looking sturdy mount. Think I would get my antenna locally though. I currently have three antennas, one is like me a weirdling radio snack special that was re wound to become a half wave length antenna. I have to cut the cable to adjust swr values with that one. I also have a mean mother from the seventies that was re wound but I don't like the huge bottom end for the windings for da lizard. The last one I have is a fire stick given to me by a trucker friend who was refurbishing his tractor. It's going to be put on the boat.

Remember a very small antenna is called a dummy load. It will transmit but not far. Anytime you substitute a loading coil (or anything that electrically lengthens the antenna) for physical antenna length you sacrifice signal receive strength and antenna transmitting effectiveness.

This assume that both the shorten and longer antenna is resonate.

[cantab27]

righto then my turn ,,,has anyone mounted antenna to front arb bar...and where have y'all mounted ya cb units,,

[LizardRunner]

You might run into a problem.. as you will have no ground plane. They do make special antennas for boat called no-ground plane antennas. In fact I have one on my boat..

http://www.firestik.com/Catalog/e30-ngp.htm

Yes Sir, that's what I'm going to be using!

[torque]

righto then my turn ,,,has anyone mounted antenna to front arb bar...and where have y'all mounted ya cb units,,

When you mount the antenna you want to stay as close to the center as possible and you want to have it above the roof line. different opinions say different things some people will tell you a certain length and some will tell you 1/4 , 1/3 or 1/2 of the antenna above the roof line.

The center of your roof is the best place to mount the antenna this will radiate your signal equally in all directions. If you mount it too low the signal will just bounce around and return to your antenna and cause interference and high SWR. it will also not get your signal out to reach other people.

Think of the vehicle as a magnetic force, the signal will be attracted to the center of the vehicle and continue in a cone shape from there if you mount in te front the signal will go to the rear, if you mount on the left the signal will travel to the right. you cill get better reception to and from cars behind you.

if you are looking to talk only on a trail with close vehicles then pretty much anywhere is fine. but if you want to talk to someone up to like 10Km away then you will want to set your antenna on the roof, like 15cm to the rear of the center. this will slightly bias your signal to the front an allow you to talk to people that may be able to warn you of upcoming traffic problems and speed monitoring devices or law enforcement.

As far as where to mount the main radio, I have seen them mounted in the dash, on top of the dash, on the side of the center console, over head and under seats. there are even remote units now that install out of sight and all the controls are on the hand held mic. I can look for pics if you are interested.

[Mudderoy]

The center of your roof is the best place to mount the antenna this will radiate your signal equally in all directions. If you mount it too low the signal will just bounce around and return to your antenna and cause interference and high SWR. it will also not get your signal out to reach other people.

The interference torque is talking about isn't noise on your radio, or transmitted signal it is reflected RF power going back into your radio. That's RF power that WON'T be sent out and it means your signal will be weaker. This reflected power back into your radio causes heating and can damage the RF power transistors. Once you cook these transistor(s) you will probably still be able to transmit however your signal will be very low and only able to be received by people that are very close by. This is because you'll be transmitting with the transistor(s) that are used to drive the final transistor(s). So the transmitted power will be in the milli-watts instead of watts.

[cantab27]

just thinking on roof i well lose it,,,low trees and such....need to mount soon as may come in handing when it goes bang again,,,gonna put unit by fire extensure will throw pics up later...