I run my OLD pearce simpson tiger 40 radio from the 70's when cb was very popular. I have used the radio ever since in any vehicle I use for long highway trips. Channel 19 still has a bunch of helpful drivers chit chatting and keeping up with traffic jams et... The language gets raw sometimes but that was always the case, and it's used by a minority of the drivers.
In the class C you can use either a "no ground plane" antenna or do something like I did:
I used a bumper/flat bar cb antenna mount -- flat bar with two holes, one in either end. I bolted one side to the bottom of the bumper ( there are plenty of spots either in an empty hole or on the brace bar) and the other hole I put the antenna mount in. Google "cb flat bar antenna mount" I used a 5 foot fiberglass whip ( In my case it was an old francis hot rod antenna but any will do). To keep the whip from whipping around, I poked a couple of holes in a tennis ball ( very small ones so it fit tightly against the antenna) and slid it down until it was forced inbetween the antenna and the bumper. It works well.
I got a through the glass antenna, works for a few miles either way which is ok for my use. Too much noise on CB anyway. I am using my old faithful Browning LTD SS with 500 channels also from the 70's. Works for me.
2000Coachman with super slide
1974 Super Beetle With 2110 cc. engine
A teamster for 38 years
Widowed,Retired and traveling
Joe and Tara my Toy Poodle
My Class C has a CB installed and the antenna is mounted on the left mirror horizontal tube and the cord is routed along the tube and goes through the space between the door and the front fender. It does compress the door gasket but no problem with that. Works well and no holes in the vehicle...second RV I have owned that had the antenna mounted in this manner. Got a rubber ball up where the antenna can bump the side of the cabover.
"Truckers tend to tweak their CB's with Linear amplifiers that are available in US, but remain illegal to use. They boost the output power of the transmitter from approx 4 watts, to whatever. These amps come rated as low as 30 watts, to several kilowatts. Most mobile amps are in the 50-150 watt range, which is really quite adequate for mobile use. Frankly, though, for most off-road situations I've encountered, the stock CB radio is good enough."
Some shops will do it for you and I can attest that a "hot" radio is worth it for the range you get.
I have a Minnie 22E class C. With the advice of some of our forum members, I bought a Cobra 18WX and found it a much better radio than the Cobra 29 Classic LTD I bought last year. I just got back from a trip to Sequoia. I was quite impressed with the clarity of the front mounted speaker, the full channel scan and 2 channel scan modes.
I currently have my Firestik 2ft NGP antenna mounted on the right side awning stop bracket. The coax runs down the side of MH and into the outdoor radio cabinet hatch and into the dinette seat base and onto the radio. Not the best antenna match, 1.8:1, but it works for now.
I have ordered the Wilson 3ft NGP antenna and will try for a better match on the rear ladder. I don't like having the antenna on the right side as it is in a good spot to be torn off by a tree limb, even with a spring. Having the antenna on the ladder means running the coax down the back and along the frame to the cab. I will have to add about 18feet of regular coax to reach the radio in the cab.
One thing I found on this trip was that nobody along I-5 and Hwy99 was on channel 19. Instead, the truckers were on channel 15 going up the I-5 and channel 17 on Hwy 99. Found that out by using the full channel scan mode on the new radio. I had made a sign that said "CH 19 Winnie" and stuck it in my rear window. Took it down after I found no one was on channel 19.
We enjoyed hearing the truckers chat. Yes, some swear. But we were able to hear about traffic problems and I even relayed information about a truck that spilled its load of gravel on the north bound I-5 and backed up traffic for 5 miles. We need more of us to use our CBs and chat with each other.
Since mounting the CB antenna is problem for our class C's, perhaps we should put up pictures in our forum reply. I may do so tomorrow.
The Cobra 29 LTD was one of the best non-sideband AM CB radios ever made. I had the Uniden PC76XL clone of the Cobra 29 several years ago and it was better on AM than the mighty Cobra 148 GTL (which I also had, with the 'funnies' installed too), or Uniden Grant XL clone of the 148. With a power mic and a 102" steel whip mounted on the roof, that radio would out-talk most any radio out there, save for the converted 10 meter HAM radios. I had a Texas Star 350 for it but seldom needed it unless I was way out in the boonies (or just wanted to 'step on' my buddies), as that 76/29 was so loud by itself. Why anyone would want to get rid of a 29 LTD for an 18wx is beyond me, that's like trading a Corvette for a Chevette. LOL. Oh well, to each, their own, as it is said.
I'm sorry I sold my 76/29, but I wanted sideband and 'funny' channels and more 'toys' to play with, so I got a Galaxy 99 with the voice changer when they first came out in '95. Now that was a fun radio! Still have it, mod'd to the hilt, with a hopped up Palomar 250 to go with it, but haven't talked on it in years. The sideband voice quality has always sucked on it, but on AM it rocks the socks off anything else, even my old 76/29 and any 148 I've heard so far, even my modded 148. Of course the Galaxy cost an arm and a leg and is a pain to tune on SSB, whereas the 29 didn't cost me much more than the new store price cause the tweek mods were cheap to do and no SSB to mess with.
I remember those old Brownings, those were talkin' radios. With a little work, they could be LOUD, and clear too. The Sears Roadtalker was another good one from the old days. Some of those old Rat Shack radios from the 80's could be made to really scream too. If you're ever in Phoenix, look up 'Maverick' Dave, if he's still out there. He had a Rat Shack that really rocked! Tell him Road Hazzard said HEY!
I still got my Uniden President mod'd 10m am/fm/ssb and it's super clear and clean in all modes, a real pro quality rig for sure. Used it as a home base unit with a 102" whip mounted on a sheetmetal ground plane in the attic for 'stealth' talking (with a Messenger 350 for backup juice, Hee hee).
Anyways, on the antenna issue, don't bother with those 'no ground plane' ones, they pretty much suck. I have tried them before. I've tried most antenna that were made up to about the turn of the century. The no ground ones have a teeny tiny freq range and not good rx or tx either. Stick with a Wilson 1000, or a K-40, or a Firestik (or one of the many clones) if you like fiberglass.
My personal all-time favorite, and by far the best CB antenna ever made, bar none is the good 'ol 1/4-wave 102" steel whip. Those cannot be beat, not even with the fancy god-awful looking monster coils, which I forget the name of, but they are certainly a sight, but no, not even those can top the tx or rx of the venerable 102" whip. The 102 is also one of the least expensive and most durable antennas you can buy. I have had one mounted on the roof of my overcab truck camper, over 14 feet high and hit plenty of overhangs and smacked my share of bridges with it and it lasted for years and worked great, even with the top foot of it all bent up.
Back then they were $25 at Rat Shack, plus a $10 spring, and a $5 stud mount. Drill a 3/8" hole in any large metal surface, stick the mount on, connect up your RG58U or RG8U or X and you're in business. They need practically no tuning and are dead flat swr for the whole 11 meter bandwidth and part of the lower 10's too, which means you can safely talk on just about any channel in most mod'd radios, with power, without fear of blowin yer radio, and, they get the most excellent recieve ever. Yeah, a little noisey, but you can hear a mouse fart 20 miles away on clear night with a 102 and good radio. If you like something quieter, try a fiberglass 102. They work almost as well with a little less sizzling static to contend with.
Anyways, thanks for the topic, it brought me back to some good times!
* This post was
last
edited 07/05/08 01:14am by SoCalDesertRider *
View edit history
SoCalDesertRider- the reason I got the Cobra 18WX was the Cobra 29 Classic that I bought last August was tuned by the dealer I bought it from. It never seemed to receive or send very well, usually a mile or less. I had the antenna SWR match of 1.6:1. I contacted the dealer and their tech had passed away. They no longer do tuning or repairs. They voided the warranty by tuning the radio. I was going to send the radio to another online dealer and have it re-tuned. But they said the tuning would be $30 and possibly more if the original dealer messed it up good. With shipping, it would almost be the cost of the Cobra 18 WX. So I opted for the new radio. The Cobra 18 WX is smaller and that makes it easier for my DW to get in and out of her seat. I have the radio mounted on a piece of oak with a lip that fits over the engine cover storage compartment edge. That makes it easy to move around and get to the underside of the radio to attach the cable. Another thing is I never used the Delta tune, RF gain (had on max) or Dyna Mic (on max) and had to rig up an external speaker to hear well. It was never really clear and most signals were hard to understand. I had little or no problem understanding the truckers conversations with the new radio. Big difference. I may try and have the radio re-tuned by a shop in Oregon on my trip up that way in the Fall. I can leave the radio on the way up and pick it up on the way back.
* This post was
edited 07/05/08 07:23am by DAS26miles *
DAS26miles wrote: SoCalDesertRider- the reason I got the Cobra 18WX was the Cobra 29 Classic that I bought last August was tuned by the dealer I bought it from. It never seemed to receive or send very well, usually a mile or less. I had the antenna SWR match of 1.6:1. I contacted the dealer and their tech had passed away. They no longer do tuning or repairs. They voided the warranty by tuning the radio. I was going to send the radio to another online dealer and have it re-tuned. But they said the tuning would be $30 and possibly more if the original dealer messed it up good. With shipping, it would almost be the cost of the Cobra 18 WX. So I opted for the new radio. The Cobra 18 WX is smaller and that makes it easier for my DW to get in and out of her seat. I have the radio mounted on a piece of oak with a lip that fits over the engine cover storage compartment edge. That makes it easy to move around and get to the underside of the radio to attach the cable. Another thing is I never used the Delta tune, RF gain (had on max) or Dyna Mic (on max) and had to rig up an external speaker to hear well. It was never really clear and most signals were hard to understand. I had little or no problem understanding the truckers conversations with the new radio. Big difference. I may try and have the radio re-tuned by a shop in Oregon on my trip up that way in the Fall. I can leave the radio on the way up and pick it up on the way back.
Sorry your radio turned out to be such a mud duck. It's definitely worth having tuned by a pro. With a good antenna, the RF gain will pull in more than you want above 75% and when it's tuned right, you won't need more than 50% dynamic to be heard loud and clear anywhere your signal is at all discernable. These radios are LOUD if the tech knows anything at all.
Tune it up good but dont have him clip the resistor, use one with a different value. Clipping it altogether makes them loud but over modulated. Ditch the stock mic for an Astatic power mic (run below 50%), put a good antenna on it (see comments above) with as close to a 1:1 match as you can get (mounted on as large a flat metal surface as you can gives the best match usually).
After you hear someone else talk on your 29 from a distance, you won't wanna talk on the 18wx any more.
SoCalDesertRider-the only flat metal surface is on the hood of my class C everything else is fiberglass. Had to use the Firestik NGP and I have a Wilson NGP coming today. It is suppose to have a lot my gain than the Firestik. Plus it's 300 watts and 3 foot in length. the Firestik is 2 feet and 100 watts.
Offline
Still have it, mod'd to the hilt, with a hopped up Palomar 250 to go with it, but haven't talked on it in years. The sideband voice quality has always sucked on it, but on AM it rocks the socks off anything else, even my old 76/29 and any 148 I've heard so far, even my modded 148. Of course the Galaxy cost an arm and a leg and is a pain to tune on SSB, whereas the 29 didn't cost me much more than the new store price cause the tweek mods were cheap to do and no SSB to mess with.
