I have never had a need for a CB Radio in my Bronco, but now that I'm part of this Bronco group I am going to be going on group trail runs and want to know what's going on during the run. So tell me what kind of CB radio you have and how you like it. I am only looking for a small one that's not expensive and works well enough to communicate with other people on the trail. Also if you know a good place to pick one up please share. Is there a CCB preferred CB radio to get?

You can't go wrong with a Cobra 29 radio. http://www.amazon.com/Cobra-29LTD-40-Ch ... 304&sr=8-1

But it's a big radio and takes up allot of room.

On the smaller and cheaper side is something like a Midland. http://www.amazon.com/Midland-1001Z-40- ... 422&sr=8-1

I've also used a compact Realistic (radio shack) that I adapted with a cigarette lighter and a magnetic mount antenna to move from vehicle to vehicle. Small, cheap, and seems to work well.

I have a Cobra 29 in my Bronco.

I just purchased a cobra 29 at a truck stop for 89 bucks. Seems to work good. I just need a new cable and antenna. Dont skimp on those.

Walmart (I know, it's the PWTT in me) sells a Cobra CB radio for around $40.00. Make sure you buy an tunable antenna and wrap your unused cable in a 9" coil. This helps with tuning. At least the top 1/3 of the antenna should be above your rig, I have a 5' Firestik. I have an SWR meter if you need to borrow it, this tunes the antenna to the radio.

A hand held may work for you too.

Great question - I think I am ordering the Midland that Vragor recommended. I will hit the T&A Truck Stop and check out the antennas and cords. I want to mount the antenna to the rear tire carrier from Crawler.

76 - Great tip about a 1/3 being above the truck. I have not heard that.

I have a midland, but I think my next one will be a marine version. It is very small on compact and bought it on ebay for $20 many years ago. The one I have is getting full of dust and beginning to fail me at times.

J.D.

The cobra 29 looks good but that may be a little more advanced than I'm looking for. I will only be using this for trail trips so I wont need to talk to people multiple miles away. I like the size and price of the smaller midland CB. Do all CB's need to have a cord and antenna? I was hoping not to mount an antenna since the bronco will not fit in the garage and will catch tree's on the trail.

You buy the cable and antenna separate from the CB since there are so many variables. I am going to hit the local T&A Truck Stop for those items.

The answer is yes, you have to have an antennae hooked to your CB. I am pretty my system is all wrong as I wrap the extra cord around my roll cage and stick the magnetic mount on the top (if it's on) or my rear inner fender and I can usually talk within my group easily. There are certainly things that work better, but mine seems to be fine for what I need.

Craigslist is a good source for CB's too if you know sorta what you want.

Correction: I have a uniden:
http://retro-riders.com/tech/cb/uniden/ ... index.html Maybe 4" wide, 6" deep and 1.5" thick. I have mounted it above my head in the roll cage and love it there!

Is this the walmart radio? http://denver.craigslist.org/ele/2398398187.html

J.D.

I was incorrect on coiling the cable up. That was how I was taught in the late 70's and appears to be the wrong way. I found this on the web and may help everyone.

http://www.wearecb.com/support/install_antenna.htm

I can't find it but I thought there was a guy that posted in our vendor section that he repaired / refurbished CBs and sold some on a pre-order basis.

If anyone can find it I might get him to set me up with something.

Antenna gain is increased by increasing it's directivity. That is, make it so it transmits and receives in only a narrow range of directions. With a dipole antenna that means no electromagnetic energy is wasted above or below the antenna. All the power is concentrated in a horizontal plane. An extreme example would be a parabolic dish antenna which concentrates the directivity to a pencil-like beam. I have worked on some dish antennas with gains of over 30 dB. They made a 200 watt transmitter perform like it had 500 Kilowatts. Antenna placement on a vehicle also affects the directivity and gain in certain directions.

BTW Vragor, I do have a spare magnatron I'd like to add to the Bronco.

I know when I installed an antenna on mine last Friday I had an issue with the hi lift jack on my spare tire carrier. I'm an amateur radio operator (ham) and my 2 meter ham antenna is in front at the top of the windshield. I have an swr analyzer like this http://www.mfjenterprises.com/Product.p ... d=MFJ-249B that I use to set up the antenna with. The fiberglass antenna I have on mine had an swr of right at 1:1 over the entire CB band. A good antenna system is the key thing. I had the small marine CB one from Radio Shack and it was really a piece of sheet.

I personally like the FRS radios because it's FM instead of CB's AM. FM is so much quieter. GMRS is FRS on steroids with higher power and longer range. We use FRS elk hunting and it works so well.

Thanks guys, great info. There is a lot more involved with getting a CB and making it work than I originally thought. I will have to look through all the links and see what I come up with. lol Thanks for all the input.

One of the guys who talked about tuning the CBs in the CB.com thread is selling CBs (whttail101). You might check him out. When I was scanning over the thread I remembered.

http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showth ... p?t=184786

Chad

My dad came home with a CB today. It has everything except a Whip line. I think I heard someone say they make magnetic whip lines. I don't want to connect one to the body so what else are my options. Where can i get the magnetic one. Where did you pick up your whip line? Will Radio shack have them? I'm going to try and put mine in today and tomorrow so it will be ready for Sunday. I have posted pictures below, I know nothing about it so if you have tuning tips let me know! Thanks I will keep you posted on my progress.

Don't know if you got it mounted, but here's mine:




You got 4" on me, but these still fit under a hard top. Also, the CB faces me and fits between the two bars. Having it face forward or rear can be a pain to see what you're adjusting.

J.D.

My cousin has a bender here in the 'Springs and we whipped it out, the dash bar and the grab handle in one afternoon. It's a haul, but I am sure we could do the same for you. You pay for materials plus a little labor...

J.D.

Depending on the diameter I can get those cut ,bent and coped.I have the 2" dies at this time.Let me know.JGZ

Also talk to jason(crawlercreations) he has a bender and is in arvada if I remember right.