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CB radio beginner

  • Thread starter Thread starter Anonymous
  • Start date Start date
A

Anonymous

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Many in the group of old (old in more ways than one...) friends I ride with have CB radios on their bikes. Since I lead a good number of these rides, I finally gave in to pressure and got myself a good used Midland CB radio on eBay some months ago. Now it's time to install it for summer riding.

A good friend of mine made me a couple of brackets which are now bolted to the top of the fairing. Great location for the unit. I've already wired it and everything looks good. Now the antenna.

What do any of you recommend for an antenna and cable? Where should I go buy it? I don't have a radio on the bike, so the CB antenna will be the only one there. I intend to bolt it to the luggage rack, just ahead of the trunk.

No push to talk yet. The important thing for me is to "have ears on", for such times as people in the back of the group need to contact me when the group breaks up at traffic lights, or anyone has problems, etc.

So, anything about antennas -- brand names, places to get it, etc. -- would be welcome. I know nothing about CB's, but I'm willing to learn.

Nick
 
K-40 and Willson are two names that are always talked about with revrence in the cb community .dont forget the longer the better, both for rx & tx and keep the mast as far away from you as possible to limit rf
 
I asked this earlier and was told to mount the antenna to a really big piece of metal for the ground.

Steve
 
Nick, If you still have the chrome bar that mounted the trunk you can mount a bar of steel there on the rearmost portion and mount an antenna there. That is where mine is mounted. You local Radio Shack will have the Rg52 Cable you need and ends to solder onto. Pretty much any antenna will do nowadays, hustler is one that comes to mind for me. If you have a truck stop close to your neck of the woods, they usually have a big selection of stuff and you can get an idea on what to use and how to mount. If you need close up pics of how mine is mounted, let me know and I will email you some. :twisted:
 
Wilsons are the best out there (unless ya can find a skipshooter)....the thing ya will need to remember is that with a bike you have very little ground plane which is kinda hard to explain but its kinda like the vehicle being the "dish" to send or receive. soooooo when ya go lookin for a stick for the bike make sure it has a load ...a can lookin thingy bout halfway the antenae...wilson makes one called a trucker...its an awesome stick....hope this helps....btw I used to fool with CB's competively...I loved it
 
Also, make sure you tune that antenna to your unit. If you don't you can damage the unit through reflection.

I have heard this is less of a problem nowadays, so your mileage may vary. (My 20 year old CB is still running fine.....)
 
Go "Ham"!

Go "Ham"!

Why not just get the book "Now You're Talking" from Radio Shack, study it, and get a Technician-class ham radio license (it's really not hard to do)? A 2-meter rig will carry MUCH farther than a CB (up to 50 miles on simplex, even more with a repeater in the area, and further yet if you are in range of a repeater link system!), and if you get one with a DTMF ("touch-tone") microphone, you can often dial 911 or make LOCAL phone calls through a repeater. This will often work in areas that are "dead zones" for cell phones. Just remember that it is ILLEGAL to use a phone-patch to try to dodge long-distance charges. And with some radios you can set a PLL tone so your radio will only kick on when another radio that is sending to you is also set to that same PLL (keeps things from getting confusing in a group) And you're not limited to channels, but have a whole frequency range, so unless you're in an area with REALLY heavy ham activity (like, near Dayton, OH during the May "Hamvention"), you can usually find a clear frequency somewhere. Not as many people cussing and using burp-boxes or toilet-flush effects, either. Besides, "ham" radio is, IMHO, just plain fun 8) ! Just a suggestion...

Rich Knack, KC8MWG
'79 GS1000L full-dresser
 
Regarding the antenna (and correct me if I'm wrong), my understanding is that you can get marine antennas for CB radios that don't suffer as much from the lack of a good "ground plane," because they're designed to work on fiberglass and wooden boats. I imagine they are pre"loaded" to get around the ground problem... Lollypop -- any insight here?

Regards,
Steve 8)
 
Yea that will work and youre right they have larger loads on them.but.............those marine sticks are EXPENSIVE...you can get a good CB stick for 40 or 50 bucks.....you cant even buy a bad marine for that plus most of the time good marine sticks are huge (gonna look kinda funny with a 20ft stick on a GS) anyhow hope this works
 
propflux01 said:
Nick, If you still have the chrome bar that mounted the trunk you can mount a bar of steel there on the rearmost portion and mount an antenna there. That is where mine is mounted. You local Radio Shack will have the Rg52 Cable you need and ends to solder onto. Pretty much any antenna will do nowadays, hustler is one that comes to mind for me. If you have a truck stop close to your neck of the woods, they usually have a big selection of stuff and you can get an idea on what to use and how to mount. If you need close up pics of how mine is mounted, let me know and I will email you some. :twisted:
Click to expand...
Nick I used to own and operate one of ther hottest CB shops on long islnd NY over 20 years ago when smokey and the bandit made it the in thing. you can be sure that for what you want any antenna wil do. the advice given by propeller whatever is spot on. the rules for cb installation are longer--higher--and most of all a good ground back to the battery/ or the radio from the antenna.
A ground plane does magic but in the case of a bike we dont have the luxury of a trunk or steel roof to mount it on. A tuneable antenna is definitely better for the less than desireable availble mounting surfaces on a motorcyce. I think I can find an swr meter to send you. i willput it in the trunk when i leave and try to have it when i return south in a couple of weeks. Dont forget you are only trying to communicate over a very short distance from bike to nike in a group. what else?? Who knows.
A well tuned setup will outperform the more expensive high hype items. It just like carb tuning and ballancing.
 
Scotty et al,

Thanks, all, for your advice. Scotty, no need to send me anything. One of the guys in our group has been tuning the antennas for others in the bunch, and I'm sure he'll do the same for me once I get one. Thank you for offering, though, Scotty. I appreciate it.

I'll let you guys know how it turns out.

By the way, the guys in the group gave me the handle "Deerslayer". :wink:

Nick
 
Re: Go "Ham"!

Re: Go "Ham"!

Birdman said:
Why not just get the book "Now You're Talking" from Radio Shack, study it, and get a Technician-class ham radio license (it's really not hard to do)? A 2-meter rig will carry MUCH farther than a CB (up to 50 miles on simplex, even more with a repeater in the area, and further yet if you are in range of a repeater link system!), and if you get one with a DTMF ("touch-tone") microphone, you can often dial 911 or make LOCAL phone calls through a repeater. This will often work in areas that are "dead zones" for cell phones. Just remember that it is ILLEGAL to use a phone-patch to try to dodge long-distance charges. And with some radios you can set a PLL tone so your radio will only kick on when another radio that is sending to you is also set to that same PLL (keeps things from getting confusing in a group) And you're not limited to channels, but have a whole frequency range, so unless you're in an area with REALLY heavy ham activity (like, near Dayton, OH during the May "Hamvention"), you can usually find a clear frequency somewhere. Not as many people cussing and using burp-boxes or toilet-flush effects, either. Besides, "ham" radio is, IMHO, just plain fun 8) ! Just a suggestion...

Rich Knack, KC8MWG
'79 GS1000L full-dresser
Click to expand...

Neat idea Rich,
Do you have a "ham" setup on your bike? How about a network of "Ham"
operators on bikes. Sounds like fun.
My Dad (W3QVZ) has always been in to ham radio. Sounds like it would be good for emergency's. I have been thinking of an alternative to having a cell phone.
Great idea,
Charlie
 
Nick Diaz said:
Scotty et al,

Thanks, all, for your advice. Scotty, no need to send me anything. One of the guys in our group has been tuning the antennas for others in the bunch, and I'm sure he'll do the same for me once I get one. Thank you for offering, though, Scotty. I appreciate it.

I'll let you guys know how it turns out.

By the way, the guys in the group gave me the handle "Deerslayer". :wink:

Nick
Click to expand...

OK Nick but i went out to the parts room and found a brand new looks like never used swr meter and i had a jumper cable in my magic room that was n one of my cantennas. They are in the car already and if you change your mind then i will hand it to you in person if we meet on the trip back to florids.
 
Motorcycling Amateur Radio Club

Motorcycling Amateur Radio Club

Check these guys out. One of their members has a Honda Goldwing he modified for long-distance touring, and has "ham" equipment installed on it. I think he might have a CB as well, but I don't remember (I saw the machine at this year's Dayton Hamvention - pretty impressive!)

http://marc-hq.org
 
Ill be putting a kenmore 2 meter fm rig on the kawabunga as soon as i get the parts to repair the fairing
 
I woudlnt' worry about ground plane. You can easily buy antennas (dipoles) that are designed for use without a ground plane.

If you were me, you'd stick to a handheld unit, and "maybe'" an antenna attached to the rear fender.

I can't emphisize enough about not putting out big wattage when you're in such close proximity to the antenna. RF burns are NOT fun. (4-5 watts is about what I'd considder safe) You'd be amazed what you can do with just four watts in the CB band.

*looks at the 440 and 2m 1/4 wave antennas on the top of his car*

Just as a note. when recieving, you could stick the antenna in your mouth and it won't harm you. While transmitting... that's another story entirely.

And I must seccond the advice on tuning that antenna. Antennas are relitively cheap, and so are wire cutters ;-) Take him up on the offer of the SWR meter. IIRC you shoudl be tuning for channel 19.. (I "think" that's the middle of the band)

KB9WSA
 
Nerobro said:
I woudlnt' worry about ground plane. You can easily buy antennas (dipoles) that are designed for use without a ground plane.

KB9WSA
Click to expand...

A full-sized dipole for CB frequencies is about 17 feet long. Not the most convenient length for a bike. I wonder if a loaded end-fed half wave with a matching network might perform well, but I don't think Nick's that interested in experimenting with antennas. (That's for hams like us.)

Nick - you said you're mostly interested in being able to hear the other riders when you're leading a group. If you don't plan to do any transmitting, just about any piece of ungrounded metal will do for an antenna at short range. In fact, there are hand-held receivers that are capable of picking up CB frequencies on a small rubber duck antenna. Here's an example:

http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/widerxvr/0005.html

(Disclaimer: I used to work for this company, but no longer have any financial interest. There are other sources for radio equipment.)

You could slip one in a jacket pocket and use an earphone or small in-helmet speaker. Today's receivers have excellent sensitivity - for short range (i.e. a mile or two) work they'll make up for an inefficient antenna.

If you do eventually want to be able to talk back to the group, what Nero said about RF exposure is worth listening to. A 4 watt CB into a bike-mounted antenna should be safe for short, infrequent transmissions, but if you're going to use more power or talk more frequently, a bike isn't the place to do it. (Your kidneys may protest.)

Dave, WD8CIV
 
the rubber duckies that I used for my HT1000 were claimed to be a dipole. (hey, I really don't know, it's what motorolla claimed) But I think it was an 1/8wave. I'd assume you can get something simmilar for CB.
 
Being a Ham Radio operator myself, if your going to use a ham radio you will need a licence. Also the only band that would be useable with respect to antenna size is 10 meters. The required antenna for this band is smaller than CB. If you and your freinds like radio's on your bike's, you should ditch the HF band's and all go to VHF or UHF. Both these band's are not subject to electrical noise, it's almost perfect compared to CB for noise, the licence requirements are far easier than HF and they have very effective squelch, unlike CB. Also the antenna's require far less ground plane and are 1/4 the size of CB, in most cases they are smaller than the antenna on your car. VHF and UHF are both line of sight bands and are more than enough for bike to bike talk. They also don't get clogged up with "skip", have VOX microphone's so you don't need to push to talk and are 1/3 the size of a CB making them the choice for limited room install's such as a bike. Also Ham VHF's will tune to government weather and road channels. If you are licenced you will also be able to use the repeater networks that ham VHF offer's, so you can make call's all over North America if you need to,and it's free, CB you can not. Also the tuning aspect of VHF is a lot easier than CB and they are not prone to mismatch of the antenna by near by objects, such as passing cars ect,ect that is inherant with the CB or any HF band. Also the ground plane is the "missing" part of the antenna. All radio's work on full wave length calculations, so if your antenna is 1/4 wave length, as is the case with most mobile units, the ground makes up the missing part of the antenna. Loaded antenna's fool the radio into thinking the antenna is longer than it really is. This is done electricaly with loading coils and sometimes capacitors as well. The ground plays a even bigger role in these units and they are very sensitive to near by objects. The reflection due to mis-match on these loaded antenna's is very high in some mobile hook ups and is not recommended for motorcycles. If you drive around and watch a SWR meter, as I have done many time's, you will see this. VHF is still the best choice for bike's.
 
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