CB Radio Mobile Setups

[Retro]

I've got two mobiles, one in my 1999 Dodge Dakota pickup truck and one in my wife's 2006 Ford Taurus. Both vehicles run Cobra 148 GTLs (we generally use single side band when it's just the two of us).

My pickup uses an oversized stud with a 6 inch spring and a 102 inch whip. My wife's car uses a Wilson 1000.

Here's a picture of the stud/coax setup on my pickup. I basically just drilled a 3/8" hole in the bed rail and ran the stud through it. The stud's female portion is keyed for an allen wrench so I was able to really crank down on it. I use this stud because I started out using a regular stud and it was so small relative to the antenna size/weight that it was flexing and fatiguing the steel of my truck bed. This stud fits through the same size hole, but is bug heavier and with a larger washer so it distributes the weight a lot better. My truck doesn't have the rubber grommets in the floorboard so I just drilled a hole through the cab and bed and ran the coax through there with some protective measures and sealed it with rubber silicone to prevent water intrusion. That allowed me to hide the majority of the coax under the bed rail until it gets to the stud mount. I tried using a right angle adapter on the lower side of the stud to get rid of the loop in the coax, but the adapter wouldn't tighten up in this stud, I guess because of the fact that it's keyed for the allen wrench, so I just left the loop in the coax and cranked down on it with a pair of pliers.

Click image for larger version


I'll be posting a video a little bit later once it uploads to YouTube that shows more details of both vehicle setups.

 

[Retro]

Video overview of both mobile setups.

 

[The War Wagon]

I finally got me a Youtube channel set up - maybe I'll video my setup as well.

Never had a base setup myself - I've always gone mobile, too.

 

[Retro]

I finally got me a Youtube channel set up - maybe I'll video my setup as well.

Never had a base setup myself - I've always gone mobile, too.

I've got a base setup, also a Cobra 148 GTL. There's a video on my channel of the setup, but it's a year or so old and I've made some improvements since then. May record an updated video here in the next few days.

 

[M0GVZ]

I don't see any bonding. If you want to improve the signal you get and put out as well as reduce the noise you really want to be doing some bonding. That involves using braid straps and ideally on a pickup you want one from each corner of the bed to the chassis, the bed to the cab on both sides, the cab to the chassis on both sides and across the hood hinges to the body. This maximises the surface area of the vehicle that is used as a groundplane and improves your signal as a result as well as reducing noise. Its a lot of work but I can go out of town and once away from man made electrical noise have S0 noise levels even when the engine is running. Takes a few hours to do it but its worth the effort.

Here's why you do it and how to do it.

http://k0bg.com/bonding.html

 

[Retro]

I don't see any bonding. If you want to improve the signal you get and put out as well as reduce the noise you really want to be doing some bonding. That involves using braid straps and ideally on a pickup you want one from each corner of the bed to the chassis, the bed to the cab on both sides, the cab to the chassis on both sides and across the hood hinges to the body. This maximises the surface area of the vehicle that is used as a groundplane and improves your signal as a result as well as reducing noise. Its a lot of work but I can go out of town and once away from man made electrical noise have S0 noise levels even when the engine is running. Takes a few hours to do it but its worth the effort.

Here's why you do it and how to do it.

http://k0bg.com/bonding.html

Thanks for the feedback, I always assumed the bed and everything was already "bonded" since it's bolted to the frame, as well as the cab, but I'll definitely take a look at the page and see what I can do to improve it. I had thought about putting some ferrite chokes on the coax to help get rid of the spark plugs and things because if I turn off the NB/ANL switch I still get some noise; sometimes I can even hear the blower motor for my heater if I turn off the NB/ANL, but if I can accomplish the same thing by improving the electrical conductivity of the truck itself, that seems like a better and more permanent solution.