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New Menber. Found Old CB Setup

Taxi Driver

Taxi Driver

New Member
Mar 2, 2014
30
7
8
Oregon Monsoon Central
Hello

Been lurking for a few weeks. I found my old mobile CB setup from the late'90's
GECOL GV-2000
Three foot Firestik
Big silver thing that we're not supposed to talk about.

I pulled the setup out of my car at the time because the trunk lip mounted Firestik just didn't work in that location.
Got sidetracked and forgot about it.

Pic of radio
6tpjqs.jpg


Don't know much about GECOL or this radio in particular. Searches here and on the 'net truned up nothing. As I recall the radio was tuned to work with the big silver thing at 3w AM and 12w SSB. The SWR was calibrated to be lowest from ch36-40. I was hanging out there and using SSB exclusively. The radio and the whole setup was pretty clean and efficient and got rave reviews from other operators..

Before it was in the car It was mounted in a Toyota PU with a 9' fiberglass whip in a custom mount that placed the base of the anntenna a couple of inches above the cab.
The mount was bolted in the bed just behind the cab and grounded directly to the frame. Barefoot it really got out there. Under power it was awesome.
I shot skip all over the US, Pacific Rim and Caribbean. When I could get up in the Cascades at the fire lookouts(6000') it was amazing how far I could get out, skip or normal.

I'm going to see if I can get the radio going again. I have all the old setup including a SWR meter. I'm not going to use the big silver thingy. I might need to put the big silver thingy in line but I'm not going to fire it up.

If it works, I plan to give SSB a try again like the old days. If I can't get it going then I might use my tax return to get an 2950 or 2970.

I'm going to post my noob questions in the appropriate section.

Thanks

TD
 

the only "lo profile" base antenna will be a regular old wire dipole antenna.
wont be much good for local comms. but should be good for skip.

you can talk about linear amps here. LOL
nobody has cared about that for quite a few years.

you will find the most SSB activity on channel 38 these days.


get rid of the firestik antenna. they aint very good.
get yourself a wilson 1000 mag mount (or roof mount if you want to drill the hole), and you'll be all set.

never seen that type of radio before, or heard of the company.

welcome to the forum,
LC
 
loosecannon said:
the only "lo profile" base antenna will be a regular old wire dipole antenna.
wont be much good for local comms. but should be good for skip.

you can talk about linear amps here. LOL
nobody has cared about that for quite a few years.

you will find the most SSB activity on channel 38 these days.


get rid of the firestik antenna. they aint very good.
get yourself a wilson 1000 mag mount (or roof mount if you want to drill the hole), and you'll be all set.

never seen that type of radio before, or heard of the company.

welcome to the forum,
LC
Click to expand...

I know the Firestik isn't very good. I'm going to use it long enough to make sure the radio works. No point in spending a bunch of money on a real antenna if the radio doesn't work.
I'm looking hard at a Sirio 4000 and Sirio magnetic mount if the radio does work. The folks here seem to like Sirio gear.

The rest of the radio setup
1r89xg.jpg


Not planning to use the big silver thingy. For now anyway.
 
we are still near the top of a sunspot cycle, which means that you will have a hard time getting out locally during the day because of all the skip.

my guess is that you will be using the amp before long.
no biggie, everyone else uses one anyway. LOL

you'll be happy with the sirio antenna. ive tested the 5000 and was impressed.
LC
 
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Taxi Driver said:
I live in a duplex in town.
If you can suggest a low impact base antenna that would work, I'd certainly take a look at it.
Click to expand...
Many apartment dwellers use a window mounted ground plane. It basically is just two or three 9 foot whips, one mounted vertically (the radiator) and the other(s) (radials) mounted downward at about a 45 degree angle. You can put this antenna just outside your window, on a terrace, or even on the roof! :)
 
I bought the Sirio Mag 145 Mag mount and Sirio 4000 antenna.

Put the antenna right in the middle of the roof of my car. Played with the location.

Got it hooked up and it works. SWR looks to be around 1:1.3 to 1:1.5
With power the SWR is a tick more. I only ran the amp on low.

Didn't talk much. Heard some DX from Wisconsin. It was fading in and out.
I'm looking for someone local to double check the SWR.

But it works!
 
Taxi Driver said:
I bought the Sirio Mag 145 Mag mount and Sirio 4000 antenna.

Put the antenna right in the middle of the roof of my car. Played with the location.

Got it hooked up and it works. SWR looks to be around 1:1.3 to 1:1.5
With power the SWR is a tick more. I only ran the amp on low.

Didn't talk much. Heard some DX from Wisconsin. It was fading in and out.
I'm looking for someone local to double check the SWR.

But it works!
Click to expand...
In the evening, you may want to drive to the highest point or location you can find. You hopefully should be able to reach a few stations via ground wave, and get some signal reports.
 
Get to an area with no obstructions for at least 100ft around you and then test your swr readings. If they are still high on 40, cut 1/8" increments off until the desired swr reading is desired. Did you check the swr on 20 as well? Was it higher than 1 as well. This may mean you need to trim the whip a little. Good luck and hope you get it sorted all out and make some contacts the dx'ing has been great here around central Florida lately. Like said find an open area or the highest point you can without a bunch of obstructions and you should be able to make some contacts on 38lsb. Listen for the loudest station and as soon as he lets off the key, respond!!. Good luck as god bless.
 
222DBFL said:
Get to an area with no obstructions for at least 100ft around you and then test your swr readings. If they are still high on 40, cut 1/8" increments off until the desired swr reading is desired. Did you check the swr on 20 as well? Was it higher than 1 as well. This may mean you need to trim the whip a little. Good luck and hope you get it sorted all out and make some contacts the dx'ing has been great here around central Florida lately. Like said find an open area or the highest point you can without a bunch of obstructions and you should be able to make some contacts on 38lsb. Listen for the loudest station and as soon as he lets off the key, respond!!. Good luck as god bless.
Click to expand...

I checked the SWR on several channels. It's around 1.4 on ch1 and 1.5 on ch40 If anything the SWR is pretty consistent from ch1 to 40

I was doing the setup and testing in between fares(very slow cab day) in my driveway. If I get off early enough I'll head to the park and test the SWR.

I'm a little leery of cutting the antenna. I might take a bit off and see if it makes a difference.
I'm trying to find someone local to double check the setup.

UPDATE
Taking off a 1/16" raised the SWR a tick.
I'm hearing all kinds of DX but I'm not getting out even with the amp on high.
Nest step is getting on a hill to try DX and/or firing it up in the middle of the night to try to talk to some locals.
I'm looking for someone local to help. Not having much luck.
 
Last edited:

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