Q: I am on my second round of finding CB equipement. My first go at it was a Radio Shack hand held $112 with a magnetic mount 18 inch or so loaded antenna. Bad combo and bad signal. I had to mount the mag antenna inside the vehicle on outings.

A: Radio Shack and others (Wall Mart "Popular Science" brand) carry antennae similiar to your description. I have one with a spring at the base, and a center load. It works very well, and I almost never knock it off. (I hit it on tree branches all the time.) The only time it comes off is if you hit the base or the spring at the base. If any other part of the antenna hits a tree branch, it will still stick.

Q: I was thinking of the converter sold by JC whitney that allows one to use the stock antenna for the radio and the CB. It claims a SWR is not needed.

Anyone with experience with this???

A: Been there. Done that. Don't bother. Bad reception and transmission range. The Hummer radio antenna is poorly situated for 2-way radio.

Dave Breggin
'95 Diesel Wagon

Date: Mon, 30 Jun 1997 21:13:29 -0500

Hello Michael and others,

I thought I would add some confusion to the CB topic based upon my experience with the particular CB I have. I am not a communications expert (even if I own a paging company).

I bought a Radio Shack CB on sale for $49. It works great. It is the model that has the channel changer on the microphone. It is far from perfect, but has always done fine under fire.

I could have bought a $500 unit with SSB and other features, but I didn't need that for the 6 or so trips off road (maybe 8) I make. I use the standard 4 ft antenna that they sell. I have it mounted on my back bumper above the license plate. The top is lightly attached with a coat hanger to my rack to avoid the constant slapping against the vehicle.

When I make highway trips, I turn on the unit and often ask the truckers how the signal is. It is fine, but not spectacular.

Keep in mind that the antenna sends its signal directly (in part) into the Hummer. This causes a loss of signal. It is unavoidable.

I also use a five-watt hand held unit. It is great when I am outside of the vehicle, so it gets a lot of use. I love it.

My conclusion: My cheap CB works fine for the use. Unless the antenna is mounted above the vehicle, there will be a loss of signal. This has not bothered me because when you are moving, this helps change the direction of the antenna and therefore helps the signal somewhat. My opinion is that a cheap unit will often work fine. Joe Cama

Date: Thu, 26 Jun 1997 01:29:05 -0600

Reuben,

I've had a CB in every vehicle I've owned ever since the hey-day of CB in the 70's. Personally, I like either Cobra or Uniden. Uniden has a nice series of radios that I believe they call the "Grant

1. Get a unit with an RF gain adjustment. When you're out with others on a 4-wheeling trip, you're VERY close to the other radios...this can result in garbled reception from one or more of the other
2. Get a sideband unit...a normal CB puts out around 4 watts...switch to sideband and you crank out 12...this is useful for contacting other members of your group who are out of "normal" CB range...I
3. Get a power mike. It will boost your modulation and get your voice heard MUCH better than the stock mikes...having a good carrier is good...but good modulation is also crucial for "getting out".
4. Antennas: If you plan to go 4 wheeling in forests, DO NOT GET 102" whips...they look great and work great, but they WILL catch every tree you pass and then flail around. Get a good 3 or 4 foot one.
5. Get an SWR meter. If you don't know how to set the SWR, the meter will probably come with instructions. If not, email me privately. You absolutely MUST get the SWR to a reasonable level to "get.
6. My Hummer ('96 hard top) has mounts on the roof which I think are for the CD Player. These work VERY well for mounting a CB. I like having the CB right up by my head there so it's out of the way.

Kevin S. Beebe
Green '96 4 door hard top - Turbo Diesel

Mine is mounted on the roof, just rear of the wiper motor. I remoted the microphone since I didn't want a cable hanging down and flopping around. With care, cables can be routed down the driver's side B piller, or go back to the C piller which has lot's of room. I used an aluminum plate behind the headliner to stiffen it up some, too. It takes some time to do this installation (removing the headliner and other trim is time consuming, especially if working alone!). Run a jumper ground from the roof to the radio, as the roof may not be well grounded. Heck, nothing in the Hummer is well grounded!

Antenna is a full length whip (102") mounted on the rear bumper, passenger's side. Note, this is not an optimal mounting location, but it has worked very well both on the highway and trails. Cable is routed from the CB on the roof, down the B piller, to the front, and out the same hole as the hood lock cable. Then it is attached to the main body wiring harness that is between the frame and the body (takes work to get the tie wraps on, but it's worth it: the cable is very well protected there). I strongly recommend doing it yourself if you are able: most commercial shops won't want to spend the necessary time to do the job right.

The PA is routed to a speaker that sits just behind the driver's side front tire. Great to use to tell people to get past you, for instance!

Total time to install, if you do a good job can be a whole day.

Radio choice? Well, they are all disposable, figure a year of life, toys today. I got a Midland from WalMart, for under $100. Has full weather channels, PA, and a good layout of controls. Works well too, most of the time, but seems to be a bit tempature dependant, not liking the cold too much.

Peter Hipson (founder, NEHOG)
1995 White NA Hummer Wagon

Below are some links for CB stuff:

http://www.bills2way.com/

http://www.coaxkid.com/

http://www.iglou.com/copper/

http://members.tripod.com/~Rogerbird/index.html

Chuck