Specific Question New Setup

[robertwbob]

silly sugestion,but if no range or reception,n a nice day take antenna out on porchor open outdoors temorarly mount to anything suitableto test n try it.nothing ventured nothing gained (or learned) and after 55 years on radios im still learning.
last sunday the 12th i knocked on 70 years on this planet.
hang in there try things and hoe you ind signal and get to enjoy radioing. im lost without radios too

 

[rocknbil]

we see guys come in and disappear all the time in here...

One might consider how general rudeness blankets someone's willingness to participate. All forums are the same, always have been.

can that antenna be placed in the attic?

It can, and the manual and online resources are very specific about how subfloors and multiple floors drift from a good ground plane and ways to create a better ground plane using wires and meshes under those conditions. I don't even want to put that much into it at this stage.

We are drifting far from the original topic into technical aspects I'm not ready for (and only have a basic understanding of) and I just want to see if it works. That's all. I already know I need a better (real) antenna. With this week's investment in being a f'n hero, I have to watch the budget.

silly sugestion,but if no range or reception,n a nice day take antenna out on porchor open outdoors temorarly mount to anything suitableto test n try it.nothing ventured nothing gained (or learned) and after 55 years on radios im still learning.

Well hopefully not silly because . . . my plan for today, if I feel well enough, is as follows.

Hopefully today I can set up the RV battery in the yard where it's open and give it another test. I receive signals, just not getting a response on radio check.

I already have a good set of 18" standoff brackets for a boom.

 

[Chris155]

Check this old discussion out if you decide to upgrade antennas in the future. I made one of the efhw antennas discussed here and hung it vertical in the trees. I think you can buy them ready made too. Works great, cheap and nearly invisible.

Home Base antenna issues/set up Suggestions

I just purchased a Uniden 980ssb and with a little will for the car. Love the set up small compact and works well in the car. Swr 1.5 across the board right out of the box. I have a power supply in the house and are ready to use the uniden in the house. I have a metal roof on my town house, so...

forums.radioreference.com

 

[bharvey2]

But that's still drilling holes in the house. That was actually my plan if I can get any sort of signal out of this setup.


Thank you and YES My typo, IBA-5. I first went with the manual and several videos, of which the link in my original post is the most clear.

Thank you and yes, I know the FS was a compromise going in. As clarified, it is an antenna for indoor use where no exterior is allowed, not an auto antenna. The manual claims it utilizes a concrete slab as the ground plane <shrug> I'm dipping my toes in and may just put it in the truck, see original post. I'm just trying to get signals, it may be completely dead in my area and not worth an exterior antenna.



The printing on the cable is compressed and it looked like 56, but just checked it's RG-58. Hence the question mark, I have a severe case of CRS.


Funny how your wife's brother has a stroke and is basically a low functioning invalid, and you're tasked with driving 1367 miles round trip in two days, pack up the rental van with his stuff, you return and come down with a flu that is the sickest you've ever been, spend the next three days in bed sweating buckets thinking you're going to die, then come back to life to find someone who knows nothing about you make up stories in their head about who you are.

All I can say is if it ever happens to me, I don't think there would be anyone who would do that for me.

rocknbil, sorry to hear about your BOL and your own troubles in dealing with the events. Any man worth his salt puts his people's needs before his hobbies so don't feel like you need to apologize. As niceguy71 mentioned, it's not unusual for a person to pop in once, ask a question and never return so it's really a matter of the regulars left wondering. It isn't meant to be a personal attack so I hope you don't take it as such.

It sounds like you might have some installation restrictions whether imposed by an HOA, a landlord or even the Mrs. You aren't the first. If so, it a matter of compromise and creativity. If you have attic space, you might be able to place your antenna there and gain some height. Possible downside are increases electric noise and perhaps shielding of signals from roofing and insulating material. You could also consider a temp-like installation on a telescoping mast or small tower assuming your antenna isn't too big. As you've mentioned, perhaps the last ditch effort is good mobile installation. Naturally, those criteria will govern your final decision. As time permits, feel free to check back in with questions or ideas you might have with regard to setting up your station. More than likely, obstacles you encounter have been addressed by others here on the forum.

 

[rocknbil]

It sounds like you might have some installation restrictions whether imposed by an HOA, a landlord or even the Mrs.

Thank you and nope, I have a two story house with the garage level below the peak so my plan is to mount the mast almost at the peak of the house. I can stand on the roof and do the work without falling off ladders. Our HOA doesn't do jack about violations, all they're good for are the lights at the entrance at Christmas time.

A long life of buying stuff then finding out it doesn't work out right makes me think very hard before putting up an antenna. The only thing I like less than crawling around in an insulation stuffed attic is crawling around under the house. The biggest reason right now is it's freaking cold out there and our area often has high wind gusts, I don't need to add a broken hip to the expenses. But I wanted to try this out, and not wait until spring! Color me both lazy and impatient.

 

[niceguy71]

Rocknbil Your equipment may be working fine.

By the way your mic gain and RF gain should be turned to max if they’re not all ready.

The facts of CB life are…. A stock 4 watt radio even on a good mobile install ( lot more than just plopping an antenna on the roof) even with a huge roof like a work van or mini van will only transmit 4 to 7 miles…. 7 miles for a stock Cobra 29 classic may be pushing it…..

Today everyone is using illegal export CB’s or Ham radios tuned to CB frequencies…. And they put out well over 60 watts…. So when you hear all the signals it is probably people with lots of power hundreds of miles away…

channel 6, channel 9, and channel 11 are considered the super bowl channels…. ( channel 9 is the Puerto Rico super bowl ) People go on those channels with way over 1000 watts and can be heard all across the country…. But unless you have a 1000 watts it’s difficult to talk to them.

People with big mega watts also like to go on channel 19 and show how powerful their radio is… this causes a lot of “noise” all across the country… so again you may hear these people but you have no hope of contacting them.

Because of the mega high watt radios on 19 it makes the noise floor go up to signal strength #7 or even #9….. ( on your signal meter) if you look at a quiet channel you may find the signal meter showing a 3 or a 4 and you can be heard…. But on 19 with the 7 to 9 noise level EVERYONE that still has channel 19 turned on ( like me) will have the squelch up so high that unless, you're within one mile of me ( or closer) you will not break my squelch.

With your antenna getting around 3 miles of range, it’s very unlikely you will get anyone to hear you… you will hear people far away.. but with the stock 4 watts and the antenna you have, you may never get a contact…. I obviously don’t know how close to the highway you live… people in the woods or out in the suburbs will not make any contacts with your antenna and 4 watts…. If you had it installed in a vehicle, and you drove near warehouses or highways with a lot of truck traffic you may then get people to give you a radio check.

Play with it for a while and see how it goes…

I had a stock CB at my last house (1986 to 1996) with a make shift antenna that in a perfect world would only get me 2.5 miles! …. for 10 years I NEVER got a contact…

But I liked listening and I could talk to my handheld CB walkie talkies up to a half mile away.

my friends would come over and we would talk on their cars CB’s to my CB….. for a couple miles …. but a random radio check???… I never got one…. I lived along a highway that went up about 75 feet… my house was down in a hole ( they used all the dirt to build up the highway causing my house to be build in a very low area…. Also 500 feet from my house was a bridge that had a small road on the bottom then a train bridge above that and then the highway above that… so I had this 75 foot wall blocking my signals… I also had lots of railroad tracks behind my house that seemed to kill the signal… and finally I had a transformer in front of my house and a super market next door with a huge refrigeration storage attached… it used a lot of electricity and all that kills CB signals.

I have quite a lot of locals I talk to in my area that are all within 10 to 20 miles of me… my 50 foot tall Antron 99 can talk to them… it took me MONTHS AND MONTHS to find them…. And even then, As I said before, it took someone from Radio Reference to tell me what channels the locals hang out on… and they only talk after someone else talks… if no one was talking on Channel 27 we would have 10 people just listening all evening ( including me)

The radio in my pick-up is an export radio with 10 watts on AM and FM ( 25 watts on sideband) I also did a LOT of work to get that pick-up to transmit… when I key that mic, my whole truck radiates pretty good and I can get over 10 miles pretty clearly…. So I am able to talk to all the base stations in my area

If I just had a stock radio and placed an antenna on the roof.... I would be lucky to get 3 to 5 miles .. those 3 to 5 miles would not be heard by the base stations all around me.

So again your equipment may be working just fine

 

[robertwbob]

i want to know how the outdoor experment went. but if coldi definatly understand the wait up a tad

 

[rocknbil]

Sorry all just checking in . . . thought I had it beat but then the cough set in, I spent another 3 days in bed knocking myself out with OTC meds to sleep through it. After 2 weeks finally feeling better but it's averaged 20 degrees here and every step outside it is like the Great White North lol . . . . I don't know how you people live up north. I haven't been sick in a decade and never get sick, guess it was time to do it up right and face my mortality.
Anyway I haven't given up and you're correct, I will probably only get a few miles at best and I have been wrangling over this in my head and a home base station just doesn't seem viable. Where to mount is easy enough, it's getting cables and ground wires where they need to go and have not seen a spot in the house where it should go.

I'm thinking this should go in my truck, it's a 2003 Tacoma X cab 4x4 with 86.5 k on it. I've put a lot of work into it to keep is stock, including a full front end refresh (coilovers, r. shocks, TRE's, ball joints, LCA's, new rack) drives like new. Rare case of a pristine frame.

The reason that's relevant is I am "that guy" who doesn't like deviating from stock or hacking up a perfectly fine truck. I've seen tons of mount options, along the side of the center console, under the steering column, hang from inner roof, a lot of others and they all look like crap or would get in the way. I cannot handle such a clean specimen looking like crap. :-D My thought is if there's enough room behind, I can get a second lower bezel to hack up for the project so it can go right below the stock radio and I may or may not lose the ashtray (AKA change holder.)

It's also not sounding like I can repurpose this FireStik for the truck, it will work but nowhere as well as a 102" whip. As soon as I can muster the strength going to get the garage heated up and start taking apart the interior bezels, see if that will work.

 

[slowmover]

On big trucks — with my own money — I’ve gone to dealership to buy brand-new $115 dash fascia pieces to replace the stock one I intend to cut up. As the truck needs to be closest to original when returned.

You (anyone) really do want to wind up with something closest to this example. Integrated, all cabling put away, thus at hand and easy to use.



Easy to use is the focus. The ergonomics angle. It’ll get used more, and more often.

We focus round here on gear + installation. What matters most is experience in use. Eliciting the right information in the right way is key to high performance satisfaction as everything happens almost too fast on the big road.

A radio system which allows Hear, and Get Heard to a matched radius coupled to Overcoming the deficiencies of the other mans radio rig are the tech side of the equation.

Best Start

The rest is a different skill set. Passivity doesn’t really work. One has to be an actor in ginning up the talk on-air. Persistent, after a fashion and over a long period of time given an all-day drive. It becomes comfortable. Introverts do fine. Etc.

Best way to become comfortable is that clean installation that’s easy to use. (See BEST MOBILE 2025 thread as that’d be best route for you to take: NMO + QT80)

Weather. Traffic & Work. Hunting & Fishing. Riding Fhag-Cohenson motorcycles waving’ the pride flag colors. These are all typical far rural.

Learn how others use AM-19 (not the bad actors on Skip) and there’ll be a point it’s automatic.

Were I a metro commuter I’d be asking for base stations and what are they hearing about the downtown Dallas Mixmaster this morning as I’m headed there from IH20 (sort of thing).

There’ll be others have the radio on. After a few days they’ll start to talk to ya. Just keep at it.

Some day there’ll be another operator who notes it’s 0747 on the clock and figures you ought to be past Simpson Stuart Rd . . and he’ll ask for you and what’s your twenty as you haven’t keyed up this morning.

Be a regular.

And you need Vitamin D in high amounts plus a higher amount than you’re using of C + Zinc to avoid that illness type.

.

 

[rocknbil]

On big trucks — with my own money — I’ve gone to dealership to buy brand-new $115 dash fascia pieces to replace the stock one I intend to cut up. As the truck needs to be closest to original when returned.

You (anyone) really do want to wind up with something closest to this example. Integrated, all cabling put away, thus at hand and easy to use.

Thank you . . . but that's a single DIN aftermarket stereo (Very clean job though!) I want to keep the original which is double DIN (yes both the CD and cassette work. :-D)
I'm thinking putting it here, going to heat up the garage today and pull the panels to see if there's room in here. The upper bezel is at best $85 used, lower $59. Not sure if I can do it with just the original lower trim or have to cut into the ashtray area. In either case the originals will go in my spare parts shelf. Not my pic but this is almost exactly my interior (cup holders are behind the shifters, not on the side.)

 

[niceguy71]

I would not own a CB without SSB... it's just great to sit back and relax and be able to talk all across the country....
I have a few friends that live 20 to 30 miles away and we can talk to each other on SSB.

with that said.....
I know you don't have a lot of room in there.... if you just wanted to experiment for a while with a small cheap CB to see if you enjoy it....
( hard to get conversations or anyone to talk on regular CB anymore.... great if you and the family or friends all have AM CB's ... but if it's just you I would insist on SSB)
but if you could get by with a normal AM/FM CB.... and I know you have the Cobra 29.... but I would put the Cobra 29 on the shelf for now....... I would suggest spending $94.00 and getting the Radioddity CS-47 Radioddity CS-47 it is the size of a pack of cigarettes and all the controls are on the mic..... so all you have to do is place the body between the seat and the console and you will not even see it!!! and then hang the mic anyplace on your dash... just two small screws for the mic holder and you're done... all the controls are on the mic... it has the speaker... channel buttons volume squelch and every thing in the palm of your hand... it is also modifiable meaning it puts out 8 watts on AM and 15 watts on FM !!!! with a simple modification ( just move a jumper) it also has hundreds of other channels ( but you would need a ham license to use them ) so that would be a QUICK and SIMPLY install

this radio has the "NRC" Noise Reduction Control Technology ... it is a total game changer.. it gets rid of a lot of the background noise and will allow you to hear people that are far away that you would not normally hear because of the background noise... with the background noise cleaned up and less background noise you can talk to people that have weak systems that you could NEVER hear without the NRC....
to make it a little more simple.. if you hear nothing but static and your signal meter shows noise up to say S7 ( signal strength 7 on your meter) and someone with a cheap CB is 10 miles away... well you will not hear him as all you can hear is the static... the NRC allows you to get rid of a lot of the static and now you can hear that person... a weaker radio, far away.... will not be able to talk above all the background noise... so you NEVER want to buy any radio without NRC.... and the CS-47 has it!!!!

and you can then mount a GOOD magnetic antenna on the roof... so "IF" you get out of the hobby, you can just remove it..... if you get a magnetic antenna get one at least 5 feet tall.... a Wilson 1000 or Stryker SAR-10 .... the top of the line they say is the Sirio 5000 Performer... but it's TALL! 77 inches so it will hit a lot of tree branches be forewarned .... but if you're not a tree hugger it would be the best... I use a Tram 3500 that is only 57 inches tall... and it works ok for me.. the others will be better but my Tram is cheaper and shorter and works for me.
the smaller the radio the worse the receive is in my opinion... but normal CB is only for short range anyway so I think the little radio would be fine within 12 miles... I took one out and got 9 miles with it.... not bad... but not great either! for what it is.. it is pretty damn cool and will be a great start to the hobby to see how you like it.
if you mount it between the seat and console... DO NOT BLOCK the thing that looks like a speaker... it is not a speaker it lets air in.. this is a VERY HIGH POWERED radio... it has huge heat sinks on the bottom to dissipate the heat... so don't block it... use the radio bracket that will allow it to stand off the console and allow air to flow
take a look at this video... you might like it? ... he does the whole video and does a good job... but then at the end finds out how to modify it and comes back and shows more of what an awesome radio it is.
good luck on whatever you do.

this is me ( TERRIBLE VIDEO.... DON"T WATCH IT)
my 9 miles test of the CS-47

 

[robertwbob]

Sorry all just checking in . . . thought I had it beat but then the cough set in, I spent another 3 days in bed knocking myself out with OTC meds to sleep through it. After 2 weeks finally feeling better but it's averaged 20 degrees here and every step outside it is like the Great White North lol . . . . I don't know how you people live up north. I haven't been sick in a decade and never get sick, guess it was time to do it up right and face my mortality.
Anyway I haven't given up and you're correct, I will probably only get a few miles at best and I have been wrangling over this in my head and a home base station just doesn't seem viable. Where to mount is easy enough, it's getting cables and ground wires where they need to go and have not seen a spot in the house where it should go.

I'm thinking this should go in my truck, it's a 2003 Tacoma X cab 4x4 with 86.5 k on it. I've put a lot of work into it to keep is stock, including a full front end refresh (coilovers, r. shocks, TRE's, ball joints, LCA's, new rack) drives like new. Rare case of a pristine frame.

The reason that's relevant is I am "that guy" who doesn't like deviating from stock or hacking up a perfectly fine truck. I've seen tons of mount options, along the side of the center console, under the steering column, hang from inner roof, a lot of others and they all look like crap or would get in the way. I cannot handle such a clean specimen looking like crap. :-D My thought is if there's enough room behind, I can get a second lower bezel to hack up for the project so it can go right below the stock radio and I may or may not lose the ashtray (AKA change holder.)

It's also not sounding like I can repurpose this FireStik for the truck, it will work but nowhere as well as a 102" whip. As soon as I can muster the strength going to get the garage heated up and start taking apart the interior bezels, see if that will work.

wish you took it back,i started coughing bad yesterday afternoon n really bad now this morning

 

[robertwbob]

I would not own a CB without SSB... it's just great to sit back and relax and be able to talk all across the country....
I have a few friends that live 20 to 30 miles away and we can talk to each other on SSB.

with that said.....
I know you don't have a lot of room in there.... if you just wanted to experiment for a while with a small cheap CB to see if you enjoy it....
( hard to get conversations or anyone to talk on regular CB anymore.... great if you and the family or friends all have AM CB's ... but if it's just you I would insist on SSB)
but if you could get by with a normal AM/FM CB.... and I know you have the Cobra 29.... but I would put the Cobra 29 on the shelf for now....... I would suggest spending $94.00 and getting the Radioddity CS-47 Radioddity CS-47 it is the size of a pack of cigarettes and all the controls are on the mic..... so all you have to do is place the body between the seat and the console and you will not even see it!!! and then hang the mic anyplace on your dash... just two small screws for the mic holder and you're done... all the controls are on the mic... it has the speaker... channel buttons volume squelch and every thing in the palm of your hand... it is also modifiable meaning it puts out 8 watts on AM and 15 watts on FM !!!! with a simple modification ( just move a jumper) it also has hundreds of other channels ( but you would need a ham license to use them ) so that would be a QUICK and SIMPLY install

this radio has the "NRC" Noise Reduction Control Technology ... it is a total game changer.. it gets rid of a lot of the background noise and will allow you to hear people that are far away that you would not normally hear because of the background noise... with the background noise cleaned up and less background noise you can talk to people that have weak systems that you could NEVER hear without the NRC....
to make it a little more simple.. if you hear nothing but static and your signal meter shows noise up to say S7 ( signal strength 7 on your meter) and someone with a cheap CB is 10 miles away... well you will not hear him as all you can hear is the static... the NRC allows you to get rid of a lot of the static and now you can hear that person... a weaker radio, far away.... will not be able to talk above all the background noise... so you NEVER want to buy any radio without NRC.... and the CS-47 has it!!!!

and you can then mount a GOOD magnetic antenna on the roof... so "IF" you get out of the hobby, you can just remove it..... if you get a magnetic antenna get one at least 5 feet tall.... a Wilson 1000 or Stryker SAR-10 .... the top of the line they say is the Sirio 5000 Performer... but it's TALL! 77 inches so it will hit a lot of tree branches be forewarned .... but if you're not a tree hugger it would be the best... I use a Tram 3500 that is only 57 inches tall... and it works ok for me.. the others will be better but my Tram is cheaper and shorter and works for me.
the smaller the radio the worse the receive is in my opinion... but normal CB is only for short range anyway so I think the little radio would be fine within 12 miles... I took one out and got 9 miles with it.... not bad... but not great either! for what it is.. it is pretty damn cool and will be a great start to the hobby to see how you like it.
if you mount it between the seat and console... DO NOT BLOCK the thing that looks like a speaker... it is not a speaker it lets air in.. this is a VERY HIGH POWERED radio... it has huge heat sinks on the bottom to dissipate the heat... so don't block it... use the radio bracket that will allow it to stand off the console and allow air to flow
take a look at this video... you might like it? ... he does the whole video and does a good job... but then at the end finds out how to modify it and comes back and shows more of what an awesome radio it is.
good luck on whatever you do.

this is me ( TERRIBLE VIDEO.... DON"T WATCH IT)
my 9 miles test of the CS-47

i feel a radio that has ssb is bit better quality build too