Obtaining a CB...

OK... so i'll switch it to "UK" permanently.

I might switch to "CE" every now and again to see who's using it (if anybody), but UK it is!

Presumably all the UK lorry drivers will still be using "UK", right because they'll mostly have old CBs...

i know when i used to have my rig in my old s11a truck a couple of years ago i used to live next to an ind est and sometimes if i flicked through the ce channels you would get foreign truckers on there probably on the ind est parked up talking to each other.

graham
__________________
98 d1 300tdi auto.

Ok, next question. The perfect place for the CB in my opinion would involve drilling into whatever is below the centre console.

I'd love to self-tap into the side of the centre console, but then the CB would stick up above the centre console. If I could mount it 3 inches lower, that'd be perfect.

Can I self tap into there? Presumably "yes, but I shouldn't" or "yes, but it'll be tricky"...

Also, how would I mount the SWR meter? it doesn't seem to come with mounting brackets...

FAO of big stu

+ wire connects to the light green with yellow strip

- wire connects to the dark solid green

hope this helps

fishsponge said:

Ok, next question. The perfect place for the CB in my opinion would involve drilling into whatever is below the centre console.

I'd love to self-tap into the side of the centre console, but then the CB would stick up above the centre console. If I could mount it 3 inches lower, that'd be perfect.

Can I self tap into there? Presumably "yes, but I shouldn't" or "yes, but it'll be tricky"...

I dont see why not

Also, how would I mount the SWR meter? it doesn't seem to come with mounting brackets...

Click to expand...

I only use my SWR meter to check that it is setup and then take it out, check it every month or so,or when you mess about with ariel

V8Jay said:

FAO of big stu

+ wire connects to the light green with yellow strip

- wire connects to the dark solid green

hope this helps

Click to expand...

Thank you for that, I got that plug but for some reason the cable colours are different, but were easy to sort out which was which...

Rig is now in and working, got a SWR of 1:1.6 on channel 20 but that will do for a little while i'll tinker over the next few weeks.

fishsponge said:

OK... so i'll switch it to "UK" permanently.

I might switch to "CE" every now and again to see who's using it (if anybody), but UK it is!

Presumably all the UK lorry drivers will still be using "UK", right because they'll mostly have old CBs...

Click to expand...

Only people I have ever heard on CE, were Polish truckers in Scotland in November

Only switch to CE if its easy to switch back, it will only be time wasted

HI guys, before i go and spend 50 quid on a new cb I thought i'd post here adn see if anyone can help.

Got a Motorola GM950 a couple of weeks ago, got it all wired in the truck and it turns on. However everytime you press the transmit button it just beeps at you constantly till you release the button, can switch channels but can't get rid of the beep or communite with anyone.
Anyone had a similar experience?

Chris

never had a similar experience, but have you tested it with your SWR meter? It sounds like your reflected signal is too high and the CB is beeping at you to let you know to save itself from being blown up......... perhaps.

Sorry i'm being thick, whats a SWR meter?

Co-Pang-Yang said:

Sorry i'm being thick, whats a SWR meter?

Click to expand...

its a meter, for measuring the back reflection into the CB of the signal, Ihave one mate, when you about? i'll bring it over.

Thanks Stu. But my mate who i share the workshop with has order a cb that comes with a SWP meter. So i'll just use that.
Cheers for the offer though.

I seem to have to turn my squelch up nearly full and cannot run full rf gain cos there's not enough squelch to kill the noise.

It's an amstrad cb901 and it works well, speech is clear etc.

It's got a long whip aerial, near 2mts probs on a gutter mount with new cable. I seem to have to adjust the squelch quite a lot, set it once, makes noise so turn it up, noise again soon after, turn it up, and so on til I'm nearly on full squelch.

I have not swr'd the rig but it was second hand so assumed it might be setup ok!

Any recommendations or advice/experience please?!

Thanks

question 1 - does the gutter mount have a metal to metal connection or is it bolted down onto paint?

The antenna must have a "ground plane". For a magnetic mount, this is achieved through capacitance, but all other mounts must have a metal to metal contact.

swr it asap as this can damage your cb if its not correct

V8Jay said:

swr it asap as this can damage your cb if its not correct

Click to expand...

couldn't agree more. look here: Advice Pages , How To Use An SWR Meter

Got told by a local ariel specialist that its a good idea to run a seperate earth cable from the ariel mount down to the chassis. Boosts the signal no end.

Co-Pang-Yang said:

Got told by a local ariel specialist that its a good idea to run a seperate earth cable from the ariel mount down to the chassis. Boosts the signal no end.

Click to expand...

possibly... i think the true nature behind a good ground plane is a bit of a dark art to be honest...

some say mag mounts are best, others say metal to metal ones. Some say with the aerial on the right hand side the signal will be better to the left, others say it'll be better to the right. Some say your ground plane must be a horizontal surface, others say it just needs to be something metallic.

Very strange things, ground planes...

Co-Pang-Yang said:

Got told by a local ariel specialist that its a good idea to run a seperate earth cable from the ariel mount down to the chassis. Boosts the signal no end.

Click to expand...

A good earth is important, but the only thing that will give your signal a boost is a burner (amp)

The radio only pumps out 4 watts

Just getting mine to work at all would be a bonus. :lol: