Help with cb installation

[E-man]

I have a cobra 25 and i want to use a wilson magnetic antenna. Probably Wilson 1000. My question is what is the best coax to use? And is that a good antenna? What about a good mic? This is my first cb installation and i want to do it right. Thanks for any help.

 

[bcrewcaptain]

good radio, good antenna
the antenna comes with all the coax you should need...get it as high and close to center on the vehicle and you'll be rockin!
and welcome!

 

[Guest]

Good advice on the antenna.

Get your power straight from the battery, and fuse it within 6" of the source.

You can ground to any substantial metal in the passenger compartment. A seat bolt is fine.

Microphones are a matter of preference. Stay away from the cheapos though.

 

[E-man]

Ok. I was going to go straight to the battery for power and the closet bolt for a ground. The only mic i have is the one that came with it. And i will either get a Wilson 500 or 1000 antenna. Depends on my money when i go to get it.

Is there any differences in a swr meter? Would a cheap one from Radio Shack work for me? I have never bought one and i don't know anyone that has one. So i really don't know if they are any good.

Oh yeah, what size wire do i need from the battery?

Thanks again for all the help.

 

[nvcowboy25]

hum

i have a swr meter from rat shack enxpesive and works good for me and as far as the wires to your radieo the stock ones are plenty goo enough .

 

[CDX126]

I would use wire that is equal if not a little bigger than what comes on the radio. Make sure you fuse the power line about 6" from battery.
Also, ground is very important.

Next up is the antenna. Do not skimp on the antenna, it will make or break your set up. Make sure you are as close to the center of the roof as possible. It will make for a better ground plain. I would save your money and go with the 1000 or 5000. You can also look in the for sale section of the forum or place a want ad. See what people have to offer.

Lastly, the meter is important for an accurate reading but, as nvcowboy stated a Radio Shack meter will get you close enough. Hope this helps. CDX126 Scott

 

[MADMAXS 455]

Don't forget right after the +ve connection about an 1" or so away put a fuse in line just in case the wire ever grounds out.
If your not thinkin of crankin heavy power someday like a KW or 2 the 1000 should do.
Personaly If your on a budget I think the ol' 102" whip is a better bet for the money.
And if your handy or know a friend maybe fab a mount so that the coax grounds at the base of the antenna in stead of through the coax to radio like you would get with a mag mount.
Once you get the mount fabed up with a connector you can try out a variety of cheep antennas and if you have problems with coax ect, everything is a lot easyer to change out.
A little more work in the beginnig but CHEEPER and better in the long run.

 

[E-man]

Speaking on the wire from the battery. Would it hurt any to run a ground along side the power wire to my cb. Then it can be grounded at the battery, but i didn't know if that would cause any interference with the power wire?

And i thought about a whip antenna but i really don't have a good ground plane except the top of my toolbox and when i open the lid it would fold over and hit the cab. That is why i was leaning more towards a magnet and i can put it on top the cab of my truck. It is a extended cab Z-71.

 

[bandaid kid]

You can run the ground wire next to the positive wire if you wish. There wouldn't be a potential problem with ti. All mine are taped together and work just fine.

 

[DTB Radio]

Fabbing a bracket directly from the vehicle's frame amd using a 102" whip is a good idea. I've seen 50+ miles from a Cobra 29 (no extra power other than the supertune that I do) with that setup, and that was on an all-fiberglass vehicle (1991 Chevy Lumina van). I currently use magnetics, though, mainly for convenience and simplicity of installation.

Someone mentioned that a magnetic only grounds through the radio. That is not correct. The magnetic base of the antenna is attached internally to the shield of the coax, and forms a large capacitor with the metal of the roof, using the vehicle paint and the plastic film on the magnetic base as the dielectric. That capacitor is what makes up the actual RF ground, and also doesn't do a bad job of keeping alot of low-freq AC components out of the line. DC ground isn't needed in an RF path for a good RF ground, which is why magnetics work as well as they do. You just need to make sure your roof is made of steel, and is not electrically isolated from the rest of the vehicle body and frame.

 

[King Mudduck]

Is there really any point running the power off of the bat for a cobra 25?I could see doing that for a radio and amp or something like a 95T but for just a 25,seems like a lot of trouble for nothing.

 

[Guest]

Yes, you can run to the fuse panel. It will work, and probably forever with no problems.

No, it's not a necessity for a radio that might draw 4 amps, but it is a good habit to get into.

Nothing wrong with a nice fresh piece of 12 AWG right from the battery. Don't worry about voltage drop, because event at 10' with 12 AWG wire drawing 5 amps, your drop is less than a 10th of a VDC.

Sure you can piggy-back it to something in the fuse panel but now you're putting an extra load on the circuit you've attached to.

I never ground anything directly to the battery. Ever see someone hook up jumper cables backwards?

I come from the commercial world, so some of my suggestions may be overkill, but they work. You may ar may not want to go through the trouble, and that's cool too!

 

[NC420]

Is there really any point running the power off of the bat for a cobra 25?I could see doing that for a radio and amp or something like a 95T but for just a 25,seems like a lot of trouble for nothing.

I have always just found it easier to run the power right off the battery.