Can you hear me now??? CB's, antenna's and set ups..... whatcha got?

[Gort]

1) antenna cable can easily be run along the trucks frame
2) slide yourself just in front of rear tires, you will notice a few rubber plugs in the Floor Pan, in fact you can cut new holes & buy rubber plugs from places like NAPA
3) when you open any door, there is a strip of rubber, plastic, or aluminum that protects the Door Sill.
Under those door strips, there is already hidden wiring & room for more, especially on the passenger side of the truck
4) don't just cut through the carpeting, because there are more wires under there, like for the drivers seat motors, the OEM 115 V inverter is either mounted on the front passenger seat frame or on top of the drive shaft hump

Thanks for the info. I'm very familiar with how wiring is routed in the cabin. I've had most of the interior of my Jeep taken out and I would guess the Rams are similar. I suppose that I'll have to go exploring because I'm not sure how the wiring from the bed is routed to the cabin -- and it has to be routed somehow because tailgate goodies (backup cam, remote release), bed lighting, 4 and 7 pin harnesses, and tail lights. I suppose I'll have to chase down the wires and route similarly.

But that still leaves the installation of the CB in the cabin -- still looking for a non-hack solution.

 

[GTyankee]

I don't use the CBs internal Speaker
I use a good quality 2" to 3" external speaker made for talking, not for music.

It would be difficult to locate my speaker

Look at the image below, line up the center HomeLink button with the space between the 2 lights.
Where the roof liner curves upwards to the higher part of the roof, do you see a darker circular area in the roof liner ?

Where that dark area is, the liner was not cut, but the foam on the back of the liner was trimmed away.
The external speaker is normally mounted inside of a box, but radio shops carry the speakers without the box.
I had bought the whole box etc., because i did not check first

The speaker is mounted under the roof liner & the speaker is right near my right ear & the sound is very clear

 

[ram1500rsm]

Not sure how many people are using CB radios anymore. Its been at least a year since I stopped using one and I tried to hang to it for as long as I could. I go out to dirt trails with different offroad groups. Nobody is using CB radios anymore since HAM and GMRS radios can be had for cheap now days. I still have my CB coax wired in the truck, CB radio and antenna now lay somewhere in my garage and a GMRS radio has taken it's place. Heck I use it with the handheld antenna so no need for my 4-5ft firestick anymore. Honest true I really think CB is now extinct.

 

[WY-Dave]

In my Jeeps I used the Cobra 75 WX ST. The mic is the radio. What is cool about it, you can buy an additional interface (silver box) and put it in another vehicle. I made a ABS panel for the cable connector in the cubby hole, it was recessed enough that you could not see the connector when it was not plugged in. We had the JKU for the road trips and the JK for the fun trips. Other than when the bro-in-law some other family would convoy the campers, the CB was pretty much useless. The only time I would hear anything on it was 2 old farts BSing and the truckers ******** about then the summit was closed due to weather. Oh yeah, it has a weather radio built-in also.

These are the guys when I was in the Jeep world that I always bought from.

CB Distributing Cobra 75 WX ST 40 Channel Remote

This remote is unique and includes features like a four channel memory and external speaker jack. The unit can be mounted with a remote system.

www.northridge4x4.com

 

[GTyankee]

Ram1500rsm
CB radios are used by truckers, there are not many truckers would need to ask for directions or traffic conditions near your place.
Where the I-5 meets the 405, CB chatter goes on all the time, the same goes for I-15 & the 91. Around the I-15 & I-10, Fontana area, the talk never shuts up.

If a truckers needs an answer to a question or is giving directions, they need another trucker to tell them where to go & which roads to use to get there. They can't call someone in an office, because that office person would try to send them down narrow roads or under low bridges, which is good for a vehicle like a car or pickup, but very bad for a vehicle that may be over 13' 6" tall or over 35' long.

 

[15 Handicap]

If you get your "technician" license in ham radio you can get on Echolink and talk around the world . You can down load it to your phone and always have what you need as long as you have data coverage.

 

[Jeepwalker]

I have a President (Bill) CB in my DD with a Wilson magnetic base mount antenna (Lil-Will or 1000..). I know it's not a 'Pro' setup, but I went with the President Bill b/c of the compact size and features. There just wasn't anywhere inside to reasonably mount a large CB in my DD (off roading) SUV. The inside of the CB uses micro-circuit design which makes it compact, but AFAIK ya can't really increase the wattage, unless they've figured out a way recently. The CB has weather radio, scan, a useful auto squelch that seems to work well enough, and most features (or more) than a lot of full-sized CBs. I used to use large & med-sized Cobra's over the yrs, but I've grown to like the little President CB quite bit for a mobile CB (my opinion) for my limited use. It's small enough to be in-dash mounted too if a guy had a spot. President has slightly larger units too. I honestly haven't figured out the range I'm getting. My antenna is on the roof (a good location). It it seems to pick up guys from a couple miles away flat terrain. I'd probably consider a lightly modified CB with 6W or a little more if I were to mount one under my truck's dash.

Overall I'm disappointed how few people are on CB channels these days in my area, and places I've traveled. I haven't had any emergencies or need to call for help. I wonder how long it would take to hail someone (who actually cared). Sadly, when you DO hear 'talkers' ...where I've been, there is often a lot of needless swearing and stupid talk by stupid talkers. Certainly not like the 'old days'. But every once in a while ya hear some good conversations and some traffic reports by old-school truckers. And construction workers use them for delivering gravel and things like that.

For off-roading in the mountain trails, desert and real rural areas, I would definitely carry a CB. You don't get much cell phone reception in these areas, and there's likely to be at least one fellow enthusiest in another off-road group who has a CB. Guys on off-road trails tend to be courteous, helpful and fun to talk to (when yer all enjoying the same activity).

Sometimes I wish I could wind the clock back to the 80's (even the 90's) when CB chatter was really good!!

 

[GTyankee]

The days when i first moved to this part of San Diego, it must have been around 1974.
There were groups of CBers, one of the groups that i knew, was called the Channel 7 Renegades
I didn't actually belong to them, but they let me pass through their gates & into their houses.
I had a 1956 Chevy pickup with mechanics tools & Cadillac Coupe De Ville, they drove what would be called Toys today & everyone had a Firestick mounted somewhere on it.

Usually once a week in the evening, we had what they called a Turkey Hunt
Someone would be IT, they would find a place to hide & everyone else tried to find them by asking IT a question & IT would have to answer.
We would watch the power of the signal that IT was transmitting at.
As someone got closer, the signal would read higher.
The first one to locate IT, received a prize, usually it was Quart of something good & everybody enjoyed sippin' it

 

[Jeepwalker]

BTW, just curious what the 'talk' activity is on SSB hese days, compared to regular CB channels?

 

[Socalramfan]

I have a President (Bill) CB in my DD with a Wilson magnetic base mount antenna (Lil-Will or 1000..). I know it's not a 'Pro' setup, but I went with the President Bill b/c of the compact size and features. There just wasn't anywhere inside to reasonably mount a large CB in my DD (off roading) SUV. The inside of the CB uses micro-circuit design which makes it compact, but AFAIK ya can't really increase the wattage, unless they've figured out a way recently. The CB has weather radio, scan, a useful auto squelch that seems to work well enough, and most features (or more) than a lot of full-sized CBs. I used to use large & med-sized Cobra's over the yrs, but I've grown to like the little President CB quite bit for a mobile CB (my opinion) for my limited use. It's small enough to be in-dash mounted too if a guy had a spot. President has slightly larger units too. I honestly haven't figured out the range I'm getting. My antenna is on the roof (a good location). It it seems to pick up guys from a couple miles away flat terrain. I'd probably consider a lightly modified CB with 6W or a little more if I were to mount one under my truck's dash.

Overall I'm disappointed how few people are on CB channels these days in my area, and places I've traveled. I haven't had any emergencies or need to call for help. I wonder how long it would take to hail someone (who actually cared). Sadly, when you DO hear 'talkers' ...where I've been, there is often a lot of needless swearing and stupid talk by stupid talkers. Certainly not like the 'old days'. But every once in a while ya hear some good conversations and some traffic reports by old-school truckers. And construction workers use them for delivering gravel and things like that.

For off-roading in the mountain trails, desert and real rural areas, I would definitely carry a CB. You don't get much cell phone reception in these areas, and there's likely to be at least one fellow enthusiest in another off-road group who has a CB. Guys on off-road trails tend to be courteous, helpful and fun to talk to (when yer all enjoying the same activity).

Sometimes I wish I could wind the clock back to the 80's (even the 90's) when CB chatter was really good!!

View attachment 466648

That's what got me to thinking and present the question for this thread. Cell phones are great, but with out a good signal or coverage..... its useless.

If CB is a thing of the past, then I guess same applies if no one is monitoring the channels.

Ham seems an option, though size and practicality may have its limits. Good info all the way around.

 

[Jeepwalker]

Your area might be more active on CB channels. Not trying to dissuade anyone here.

The beauty is you can pick up an inexpensive (but decent) CB and a cheap antenna and test it out. Or maybe you have a buddy who can loan you one. Sure you'd like to do a permenant install, but just throw one in for now drive around a week and see if you have activity in your area. If you do, great. If not, then maybe get one with SSB and perhaps you'll have better results. Or after that, go ham (??)

 

[Socalramfan]

Your area might be more active on CB channels. Not trying to dissuade anyone here.

The beauty is you can pick up an inexpensive (but decent) CB and a cheap antenna and test it out. Or maybe you have a buddy who can loan you one. Sure you'd like to do a permenant install, but just throw one in for now drive around a week and see if you have activity in your area. If you do, great. If not, then maybe get one with SSB and perhaps you'll have better results. Or after that, go ham (??)

Excellent point and idea

 

[GTyankee]

My current Ranger has the Standard 40 Channels
It also has Upper & Lower Sidebands

Most people won't use Upper Sideband, because the signal bleeds over onto channels other than the channel that you mean to be on.

Using SSB or Single Side Band is much better, your signal can reach out a greater distance
I won't attempt to explain it, but you can read it

SSB CB Radio

www2.hawaii.edu

A certain well known hot dog company used SSB to run her business, she used to get irritated with us,, because we would sometimes use the frequency during her operating hours.
After she signed off for the day, we used her frequency to talk to a civilian on Air Force ship off of the coast of Alaska, some times my friend would talk to someone in Japan, i should not say talked to them, they hardly understood a word that he spoke. He would sing things like 'London Bridges'
people that have CB Base Stations, usually push 1,000 watts or more & run things like dual plane antennas,
it is part of their fun to have a map of the World & speak to people everywhere in the world & stick a pin in that contact spot.
I believe Ham Operators do that also

 

[Johnny_B-Good]

Years back, there was a saying... "Buy cheap gear, and you may never be heard from again". Trust me, it's true.

 

[retired]

Deleted

 

[Jeepwalker]

Years back, there was a saying... "Buy cheap gear, and you may never be heard from again". Trust me, it's true.

I totally agree ...with the possible caveat: "...where it matters" (to the individual doing the buying of course). ha ha. Based on budget, needs, goals, usage, etc...

I like the recommendation for the Ranger SSB CB. Thanks!! I might check that out.

 

[GTyankee]

Jeepwalker, the Ranger CB that i have is actually illegal, because it was designed to put out more than 5 watts
I am not saying that you can't find one, but there are some sweet CBs that costs a little less.

Single Side Band (SSB) - SSB equipped radios let you transmit at 12 watts instead of 4 watts of power, effectively giving you 3x the transmission range. For others to be able to hear your transmissions - and reply - they'll also need an SSB equipped radio, so you may not be able to communicate with everyone at 3x the range. However, all SSB radios can operate on standard CB channels (at the regular 4 watts) if you can't find any SSB buddies and it's a great choice if you're outfitting a fleet of vehicles and maximum range is important.

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xroadgps.com

I have 1 of these TOP 7, SSB radios, it is my first choice standby CB

1. Uniden BEARCAT 980 40- Channel SSB CB Radio: Second best SSB CB radio

 

[Jeepwalker]

Thanks for the info. I've looked at the Bearcat's. They seem nice. So, you're saying the Ranger is 12W SSB, but 4W CB? Or 12W for both?

I would actually like to get a slightly higher wattage radio, or get one of my older ones amped-up. Not a lot, but a bit more CB power. I don't think anyone would know or care with the little activity there is around here. There's an old-school CB shop tucked away at a truck stop I know of (can you believe they still exist?!!) ....which works on and sells CBs and I suspect will amp them up. Or ...there are a bunch of youtube videos how to do it too.

I have several old-school uniden & Cobra CBs downstairs ...I hate to admit. ha ha

 

[GTyankee]

I have CB radios out in my garage, that only a beginner would own
When a couple of them were Brand New, they were only priced at 50 something dollars. Funny thing is, it now sells at $69

 

[GTyankee]

Watch this video
In the video below he says that he will TUNE it UP

He also said that if you have one on the closet, make use of it again, because they are no longer available.

https://www.bellscb.com/products/tenmeter/ranger/Ranger_6900-F150.htm

Well mine has been Tuned Up & it has extra fans blowing on it to keep the heatsinks cooler

Ranger RCI F150 for Dan W .. Pay Attention!

*Scope watts or nope whatts with a noisy receiver, take you pic! Tired of the BS gimmicks yet? When you're "Ready", pm me on Facebook including your phone nu...

www.youtube.com