Who Uses CB Radios?

[sdef]

I bet you mean an antenna analyzer. The MFJ ones work, and certainly have their following, but the ones from Rig Expert are quite a bit better. Not to mention much easier on your pocketbook for batteries.

RigExpert Antenna Analyzers AA-35ZOOM - Free Shipping on Most Orders Over $99 at DX Engineering

I am a proponent of good analyzers and they are a requirement for my broadband needs (and my OCD .)
I have an AA-600 which is an excellent piece of test equipment that has taught me much about practical application of coax, antennas and connector types. It even located a poor installation of a TMS "N" connector I installed that worked- just not very well. I have a shelf with various name brand, good quality, mobile 2m/70cm antennas that just do not work well for my purposes for various VSWR reasons, usually identified by the analyzer. I have decided to standardize on the Comet CA-2x4SRNMO and have it on each of my two trucks. Using the analyzer, one antenna works great on either truck nearly identically and the other antenna works well (VSWR) on one specific truck only. Go figure. But one would never know had one not checked the install(s) with a good analyzer.

And on my UTV, an inexpensive, short, Tram happens to work out wonderfully on 2m/70cm beaten only by a Laird for UHF specific. Again, lots of testing with the analyzer.

 

[k0ua]

I just wish that I had one of the RigExpert ones. I sam still working on my HF mobile install and it could come in handy. Maybe someday I can justify springing for one.

 

[plowhog]

Will you be using a screwdriver antenna for the mobile install?

 

[k0ua]

Here are some pix of my pulling the coax and control cable in my 2010 Silverado yesterday.

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The cables are now in the cab and ready for termination. The black cable is RG8x coax and the grey cable is 4 conductor control cable for the screwdriver antenna. The mount for the Yaesu 891 is home made in my shop. Making the bends was teidous, but accomplished in my woodworking vise. Precise hole drilling for the radio mounting screws was a PITA. The top radio has been there for years, it is a Yaesu FT-90 VHF/UHF. The yellow "sticks" are wire pulling sticks from Harbor Freight. Hat is by Kioti. (This is a tractor forum after all)

 

[k0ua]

Will you be using a screwdriver antenna for the mobile install?

It is on order. Little Tarheel II

 

[dmccarty]

Traffic jams: Did you know that real time traffic is available on Google maps? And what is really impressive is the way they use the ping function that all cell phones use.
...

Yep. I check my local TV news web site each day before leaving work to check out the traffic. Tis amazing, and scary, the information given by the cell phone. What ticks me off is when the traffic is clear, but then I get going and bam, bumper to bumper time. :shocked::laughing::laughing::laughing:

Later,
Dan

 

[RalphVa]

We've 2. Just took them down from storage. Plan to take them to our local recycling place for electronics.

My experience is they don't have much range. You're also tied to having to plug into an automotive "power point". So, not too practical for house and woods communication. We had a couple walky talkies that we used for that for a while.

Now have cell phones. Many GPSs have a traffic option on them that I've never used.

Ralph

 

[aczlan]

IIRC there is some type of additional coupler and or coil behind the glove box...the antenna is something like a 40" steel whip think it might have in the windshield wire too...

We had a 1980s conversion van that had a CB mounting point in the roof. As I recall there was a box that would filter out the frequencies for the AM FM radio and for the CB. I assume it was a band pass filter? Not sure, I was 10 or so when it burned in the fire (barns caught on fire and it was close enough that the fiberglass high top roof caught on fire and burned the van down).

Aaron Z

 

[k0ua]

We had a 1980s conversion van that had a CB mounting point in the roof. As I recall there was a box that would filter out the frequencies for the AM FM radio and for the CB. I assume it was a band pass filter? Not sure, I was 10 or so when it burned in the fire (barns caught on fire and it was close enough that the fiberglass high top roof caught on fire and burned the van down).

Aaron Z

They have a lot of names but sometimes called splitter/combiners. Or sometimes called Duplexers. Many different types are made with multiple ports, with each frequency "band" split out on each port . Often used to take multiple transceivers into one antenna, or in your case one transceiver and one receiver into a single antenna.

 

[JK22]

Quite a few of the truck drivers nowadays might have the antennas, but the radio in the cab is either shut off or they can't speak English and wont answer you anyway.

This is what I’ve heard too. Basically that the CB airwaves are dead. I’ve had one on my amazon list forever, but heard that truckers don’t use them anymore.