Category: 11 Meter (CB)

Back On The Air

Back on October 13th, I bought a new vehicle (more info here). Since I bought it, I have been working on some electrical “quirks”. Well, today I got enough of them worked out and fixed that I was also able to get the quad-band (10m/6m/2m/70cm) radio and the SSB 11m (CB), radio installed. I’m pretty happy with the installation of both. There’s just a few extras that I’ll need to add.

I mounted the quad-band radio near the mid section of the van and ran the antenna out to the back. Right now, I’m using a Tram dual band (1/4 wave 2m) mag mount, and it does pretty well. The control head of the radio is mounted above the windshield, directly in front of, and slightly to the right, as I sit in the driver’s seat. The display is easy to see and control as I drive. The microphone hooks to it’s mount on the ceiling, just to the right of the driver’s seat.

I mounted the CB radio just below the drink holder that protrudes from the top of the dog house. I used some custom mounts, so that the radio tilts up a little more than it would have with the stock mount that it came with. I wanted to mount it so that the face of the radio would “aim” at me while I sat in the driver’s seat, but instead decided that it looked better “flat”… or facing directly at the back of the van. The display is big enough and easy enough to read, and all of the controls are easy to use, so mounting it that way made more sense.

The one thing that I know that I’ll need to add, at this point, is an external speaker for the ham radio. Since the radio sits about 3 feet behind me, near the floor, the speaker is a little hard to hear, unless I really turn up the volume. If I do that, and there’s passengers in the back, they might get really disturbed. Even the passenger gets the audio from the speaker louder than I do, now. An external speaker should mount just to the left of my head, and slightly behind, without getting in the way, at all.

The next thing (which may be down the road, a bit) is a couple NMO mount antennas. Right now, they are both magnet mount antennas, but they do the job. The NMO mount antennas will look much cleaner on the outside, and should perform better than either of the ones I have, now. At that time, I’ll feel much better about getting a 5/8 wave 2 meter antenna.

There’s still a lot of other things that I want to change/add on the van. I’m also learning a lot about how the whole van is wired for power. I’m starting to feel a lot better about removing and/or changing circuits to do different things than they do, now. I might want to wait until I get the second  battery and the isolator installed, though, before I change too much.

Others Interested & A New Radio

From my last post, you know that I bought a new vehicle. I am selling my old vehicle, the 1997 Dodge Dakota, to my youngest son. When I had that truck, I had a Cobra 29 in there with a top loaded magnet mount antenna on the roof. I planned on getting a different CB radio with SSB, anyway, so I figured I would pass the radio down to him. There’s not a lot of activity in the area, so I’m sure he’s not finding it too interesting, at this point.

My new CB should be here on Tuesday, though, so at least he’ll have somebody to talk to. He also told me, yesterday, that one of his friends plans on getting one, too. I know from experience that CB is the gateway radio drug, so things are looking good. He already seems to have some interest in studying for his tech license, which I said that I’d help him with.

uniden980ssb
Uniden BEARCAT 980SSB CB Radio With Sideband And WeatherBand

Back on October 12th, I talked to my brother who lives in Wisconsin. During the conversation, we got on to the topic of radio, and he let me know that he still has his CB with SSB, and just talking about it made him want to throw up his antenna and git it on the air, again. I, of course, made the pitch that he should think about amateur radio, but I figured that a first step back was exactly that… a step toward the next. After talking with him, that day, I wanted to find a good SSB CB radio that I might be able to use to talk to him. I found what looks like one of the best on the market, right now.. the Uniden Bearcat 980SSB. I ordered it and a 35″ K30 and they should both be here by Tuesday.

I’m still looking at the options of where to mount the radio in the new van, but hopefully I can have everything up and running by Friday. My “weird” power problems still exist in the van, but I’ll run the wiring and leave myself enough room to attach everything to a second battery, once I get that installed. I’ll be adding a Stinger battery isolator and a couple Optima Yellow-Top batteries, so I’ll have plenty of power for everything I have planed in the future.

For now (before I install any NMO mounts), I’ll be routing the antenna wire through the third taillight that’s on the top of the van, and running them to the magnet mount antennas that I currently have. The mid-section of the van’s headliner should be able to drop down and allow me to run the cables to the back, while still remaining “out of view”. If not, I’ll run them down the side trim, all the way back.

I don’t actually plan on converting the van, right away. Next summer (after a trip to Colorado), I should be able to start taking things out, and really making some changes. The wife and I are taking three of our grandkids to Colorado, so I want to keep the interior pretty much intact, until after that trip. The chairs, seatbelts, and bed/couch all work the way they should, so for the safety of the kids, we’ll keep it that way, for now. After I convert it, it will still be safe, but it will be more “geared” to just the two of us, and our maximum enjoyment.