[Dozer.]

Ok, on the last Paragon run, I had to borrow someone's extra hand held.

For the next one, I would like to be prepared with my own set up, but I really don't know where to start???

Is there a list of items that you could give me, which I will need in order to make a complete set up?

Also, I was thinking of this radio: Cobra 75 WX ST http://www.walcottcb.com/product_inf...roducts_id=520
Does anyone have any knowledge or first hand experience with this radio? I really like the idea of having everything hidden, except for the handheld device. It will make for a cleaner look inside

Thoughts?????

Nicholas

[JeremyBelnap]

ok...new at the CB thing as well. But I'll be installing mine soon. I basically got a used CB off a guy from JF. In addition to that, you need a mount, coaxial cable, spring possibly, antenna.

some sites that helped me...
http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...tId=2102428&cp
http://www.bellscb.com/
http://www.walcottcb.com/

you should be able to get the mount and the cable in one package. then it depends on the type of antenna you want.

[Mr.B]

I don't have any experience with that particular radio, but it is a Cobra. They do have a good reputation. I agree with you that the smallest footprint in the cab, the better. My Cobra is a "148 NW ST". It came with the Jeep. It has upper and lower side-band, all sorts of noise canceling buttons, and a built-in SWR meter. Most of this stuff I'll probably never use. The trouble with it is that it is 10" long and 7"wide. It just takes up too much room in the cab. It's the antenna that really makes a CB function well.

[TJ-n-Oregon]

Well, I'm not a fan of the all in one units. Their modulation tends to be in the dirt. I'd recommend using a standard radio like THIS WRITE UP has. They tend to be inexpensive and very bullet proof. I've had mine for 12 years and it's never failed me. The modulation is loud and clear on the other end. I can't say that for the 75 all in ones I've heard.

Hope that helps some.

[kizer]

I have the Cobra 75. I wish it was a bit louder. The volume transmitting is to low in everybodys opinion that's has wheeled with me. I'm selling mine for 50bux if anybody is interested. I'll throw in a 4-foot firestik too.

[Neener Neener]

I haven't heard too many good things about the Cobra 75. I have Cobra 18, which is pretty small, but still has the instant channels 9 and 19. They are $40-$50. A lot of people here also like the Uniden 520 or 510s. I believe the Uniden may be a tad smaller than the Cobra 18.

[dorinh]

JeepItUp,
I have the Cobra 75 you are refering to, and LOVE IT! Because I don't use a CB everyday, I wanted something that was either going to be very small, or easily removed. The Cobra 75 fits the bill.
As far as advice goes, here's my .02:
Antenna Placement - Figure out where you're going to mount the antenna. The options vary from front fender, rear tail light, rear bumper and spare tire mount. In some cases, where you want to mount your antenna will depend on the antenna itself.
Antenna Choice - There are a million threads on this forum debating antenna choice (Wilson, FireStik, etc). All I can say is read before you buy.
CB Mounting location - Like the antenna, there are options here. They include side of console, under dash, under sport bar, under seat, or behind console.
Length of cable - Once you have the Antenna mounting location determined, and the placement of the CB Unit established, you need to "judge" how long the antenna cable will need to be. These are sold in a variety of lengths, so buy it a little long if your not sure.
CB Unit choice - There are a number of aspects to the choice of the CB unit itself. The biggest is how often you'll use it, and what features you "Need". The Cobra 75 has a couple nifty features that I put in the "Bells & Whistles" category. Channel scan is nice, Weather Band is handy, and 4 preset station buttons are a good feature.

My setup:
Cobra 75WXST, Cobra 4' FireStik, Tail Light mount, 12' antenna cable. I have the little box from the Cobra under my center console (PITA). Now that it's all in, I love it. I don't use it every day, but for ocasional trail use, it's fine.

If you need something more of a daily driver, you may want to consider a console/Mic option.

[FmrVette]

Originally Posted by jeepitup
Also, I was thinking of this radio: Cobra 75 WX ST [url

http://www.walcottcb.com/product_info.php?cPath=85_199_204&products_id=520[/url]
Does anyone have any knowledge or first hand experience with this radio?

I've used the Cobra 75 in a variety of vehicles for years. Currently I have one in my Dakota Quad and another in my Wrangler.

Caveat - I don't go off road, so your mileage may vary. All of my experience with CB's has been on road, mostly on highways.

I've had good service out of the '75s, but it's just about required to add an external speaker; the little (and LITTLE is the operational word, here) built in speaker just doesn't cut it. I got an external speaker from Radio Shack and mounted it on the sport bar between the seats. I can hear the radio on the highway w/o a problem using this setup.

The maximum legal power for CB's is 4 watts, which is where the 75's sit.

The weather band in my area works very well, and I use it frequently to check on incoming weather patterns.

The antenna plays a major part in the way any CB performs; not necessarily the brand (there are several here on the forum that you can search on and read about), but rather the mounting location.

Jerry Bransford (jeepforum.com maven) uses a 2' antenna and reports that he gets good performance from his radio on the trail.

I currently have a 4' Firestik (will be changing to a 3' Firestik) and get reasonable highway performance. For me, reasonable means that I can send to and receive from other radios that are within visual range. I have little interest in touching base with a radio that's 5 miles distant. Generally I'm looking for traffic reports or bear reports (not so much bear reports in the Wrangler ) and so I need to speak to rigs that are on the same highway I'm on.

Others mileage may vary - what works for me may not work for anybody else.

I had the 4' antenna mounted on the RR bumper, but have moved the mount to behind the LR tail light (thus making the change to a 3' antenna necessary).

One caveat about the '75 - when it stops working you have to replace the entire radio, not just the mike. Of course, depending on how you mount it, you can easily disconnect the '75 from it's power unit and remove it from the vehicle, which cuts down on theft loss. Also, of course, it takes up very little room. But they ain't cheap!

On Walcott, I've had good service from those folks. They're the supplier of the 3' antenna I have coming in this week.

Years ago I ran the Cobra 19 model and got good service from that - but finally moved to the '75 when interior space became a premium and I've stuck with that model ever since.

Works for me - but others may have better options.

[Dozer.]

Kizer, What do you mean when you say "The volume transmitting is to low in everybodys opinion that's has wheeled with me."

I am guessing that you are saying that the volume that you transmit to everyone else is very low?? If so, is there a way to amplify the volume that is transmitted?
Or, are you referencing the output volume that YOU hear in the cabin?
Besides that, how would you rate the rest of the product?
How long have you had it? Fifty bucks...that's not bad. Anything wrong with it

Dorinh, Where in your center console do you have it? Any pics? The tail light mount... does that feel very secure?
And yeah... the room that a CB takes up in that tiny cabin just makes it look that much more clustered and tight. Which is why this one really makes sense (on paper).

FmrVette, That's good to read that you have had one for years. Is it a durable product over all? Can it take the drops on the tub floor, and occasional banging around sometimes? Have you had to replace yours yet?
Are there any pros and cos to mounting the antenna in different locations? Does one place get a better signal over the other?
Why are you switching? And with the switch, even though you are shortening up your antenna, will you get a better signal from the new mount?

Nicholas

[kizer]

So I was looking around at my console and considered drilling a small hole and mounting the guts of the CB behind the console and then runing the mic out to a fixed point. Again I was stumped because I wanted it to look rather factory and clean as possible. Then it hit me. How many times have anybody turned off and on their air bags? Me never.



For those of you who dont have a TJ its the little black box that sits in front of the shifter. You insert your key and turn it and it disables the passenger side air bag and then lights up a little light on the same console to remind you of the disable.



As you can tell Im using both holes of the Airbag console. The plug comes through the switched area and the remote speaker plug comes through where the On/off light used to be.



The plug that used to cover the key hole fits over the mic plug bearly. I mean it bearly holds on and Im sure if I hit a few bumps it will fall off. Im thinking I could trim the rubber plug just a bit and it might stay on.

Incase anybody asks. I took the Airbag module and simply tucked it up under the dash between the floor and the dash. It seems to fit ok. So If I ever need to switch it off I can pull it back out and switch it then rehide it.

[FmrVette]

Originally Posted by jeepitup

FmrVette, That's good to read that you have had one for years. Is it a durable product over all? Can it take the drops on the tub floor, and occasional banging around sometimes? Have you had to replace yours yet?
Are there any pros and cos to mounting the antenna in different locations? Does one place get a better signal over the other?
Why are you switching? And with the switch, even though you are shortening up your antenna, will you get a better signal from the new mount?

Nicholas

Nicholas,

I've never damaged a '75 by dropping the handset; I've had them in everything from YJ to an XJ to a Mercury Marauder to a Hyundai (don't ask). The only reason I've replaced one is because I generally let the radio go with the car when I sell the car. Just not worth the effort of pulling the unit. That being said the unit in my TJ came from the Hyundai - it was an easy uninstall, so I took the ten minutes and pulled it out.

Antenna location is important. I'll let others with more radio theory explain how the CB works with the truck body to obtain the strongest signal. However, the more antenna (all other things being equal) you have above the roof line the better your reception will be (again, before I get flamed, it's all other things being equal).

The best location is in the middle of the roof of the car or truck. Not exactly doable with Wranglers.

The reason I'm moving mine is that running the cable became a challenge. I had it run down the passenger side, through the tail gate to the antenna on the bumper. Just goes to show how dumb I can be. The tailgate eventually wore the insulation from the antenna cable .

So I got a new cable and ran it down the driver's side, where there's a plug that gives access to the tail light wiring. Rather than run the cable to the bumper and have the antenna go across the license plate, I elected to get the tail light mount. The 4' antenna is too long to give clearance for my garage door, thus the move to a 3'. The 4' would probably have given better reception - but I need the clearance more than I need the radio range.

On my YJ (a '95) I drilled the tub and mounted one of the Radio Shack 1/2 wave antennas on a spring mount and got REALLY good range with that. However, it wouldn't clear my current garage door either.

On the trail I've heard that some clubs really take exception to overly-long antennas, since the antennas can damage foliage. Tread Lightly! is the rule on the trail.

Since my Jeep is a mall crawler, I'm more concerned about the garage door clearance .

I expect to get about the same performance with the 3' on the tail lamp mount as I was getting from the 4' on the bumper mount - but the 4' on the tail lamp mount would have been better yet.

There's a lot of info on this website about antennas and mounts (by people who know what they're talking about ); all I can offer is what I've experienced. But I've had no problems with the Cobra 75.

HTH

[slop]

Just an FYI on a good price for Cobra 29-WXNWST at buy.com

[question57]

I have been doing a lot of research lately and am trying to work out every detail before I purchase anything. I have not read much about side mounts. I read the link that TJ-n-Oregon posted (thanks) and saw that it is a really good place to mount for reception and all but I can not think of anybody saying they did that. The only thing I can think of why you would not want a side mount is that would would get snagged on something while wheelin. But I see that my radio antenna is side mounted so is there much to that train of thought?

I am thinking about locating either of these mounts right behing my radio antenna

http://www.walcottcb.com/product_inf...roducts_id=570
or
http://www.walcottcb.com/product_inf...roducts_id=298


Here is a pic of what I am talking about just in case no one could follow. X marks the spot

[TJ-n-Oregon]

Well, my own personal opinion on that mounting spot is some possible reflection issues with the antennas. I've seen write ups where they said it effected the performance of the CB antenna, but honestly don't know for sure. I've never considered mounting any of my antennas that close to the AM/FM antenna.

On another note, many here find that mounting the antenna on the rear tire carrier, or swing away works well. Some run short antennas, some don't. Either way, that would be a consideration, too. If you should decide to mount it at the location you've shown, go with the swivel ball mount. It's by far stronger than the other side mount. I originally bought one of those, and they are not near as strong. Plus, you'll need to have access to the connection points, so keep that in mind as well.

BTW, I mounted mine where I did for a couple of reasons, the most important being keeping the antenna away from glass...especially on my hard top. Next was looks and performance combined. Finally easy access to the connections. Those were the criteria I went by. Mine works fine for me...but probably isn't for everyone.

[slop]

Worth taking a look at....

Walcott Jeep specific stuff
(with pictures)