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Car Forum / Land Rover Cars / March 2008

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CB channels?

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Ian Rawlings - 24 Mar 2008 23:05 GMT
Wotcher all, just got myself my first CB since I were a lad, very dead
on the airwaves around here, just the occasional person with massive
amps hogging channel 19 and talking about their massive amps, or
sometimes farmers talking about where to spread cow crap.

Are there any common channels that are used by laners, or does
everyone just choose a conveniently clear channel (i.e. most of them)
for their particular group?

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Andy - 24 Mar 2008 23:42 GMT
> Wotcher all, just got myself my first CB since I were a lad, very dead
> on the airwaves around here, just the occasional person with massive
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> everyone just choose a conveniently clear channel (i.e. most of them)
> for their particular group?

Always used to be ch30 for laning but now I reckon most just pick a channel
for each outing.

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Paul - xxx - 25 Mar 2008 08:08 GMT
> Wotcher all, just got myself my first CB since I were a lad, very dead
> on the airwaves around here, just the occasional person with massive
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> everyone just choose a conveniently clear channel (i.e. most of them)
> for their particular group?

As you say, there are so few other people on CB nowadays we mostly just
pick a convenient channel.

We used to use ch10 a lot, the rationale being that it was only a flick
away from ch9 the "rescue" channel, but again, there's so few people on
air these days that a call out on 9 probably wouldn't get a response
anyway.  :)

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Ian Rawlings - 25 Mar 2008 08:31 GMT
> We used to use ch10 a lot, the rationale being that it was only a flick
> away from ch9 the "rescue" channel, but again, there's so few people on
> air these days that a call out on 9 probably wouldn't get a response
> anyway.  :)

I would probably go for a similarly low channel, mostly because with
an 80-channel set the lower UK band channels are more likely to be in
the middle of the SWR range for the aerial so should get more TX
range, although there's not likely to be much in it.

It seems channel 9 is just another channel these days, and channel 19
is the only one anyone is allowed to talk on ;-)

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David G. Bell - 25 Mar 2008 09:33 GMT
On 25 Mar, in article <64rmo5F2cr08cU1@mid.individual.net>

> > Wotcher all, just got myself my first CB since I were a lad, very dead
> > on the airwaves around here, just the occasional person with massive
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
> air these days that a call out on 9 probably wouldn't get a response
> anyway.  :)

How times have changed.

When I used CB it could get horribly busy as you got near the towns.

It'd be still worth agreeing an alternate channel, in advance.

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Tim Guy - 25 Mar 2008 10:26 GMT
> Wotcher all, just got myself my first CB since I were a lad, very dead
> on the airwaves around here, just the occasional person with massive
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> everyone just choose a conveniently clear channel (i.e. most of them)
> for their particular group?

Hijacking the thread slighty.. I was looking at a CB that I could move about
as a backup traffic information system..

I read that there are old 40channel and new 40 channel frequencys.. Whats
the most popular, is it possible Ian has one model and everyones on the
other?

Tim
Ian Rawlings - 25 Mar 2008 11:47 GMT
> Hijacking the thread slighty.. I was looking at a CB that I could move about
> as a backup traffic information system..

Hmm, not sure if it'll be worthwhile, perhaps it changes across the
country but I live within half a mile of the A303 and had expected to
hear passing truckers, but nothing, not a peep.  I don't listen all
the time though but when driving around in the pinz I rarely get any
signal at all.  I do get signal on occasion and that can be a two-way
conversation with someone halfway across the county so I know the
set's working.

> I read that there are old 40channel and new 40 channel frequencys.. Whats
> the most popular, is it possible Ian has one model and everyones on the
> other?

There's two sets of channels, the old UK channels and the EU-wide
channels.  In the UK the old UK channels are most popular with hardly
anyone using the EU-wide ones, so far I've never heard anyone on the
EU frequencies, although bear in mind that I've only had the CB for 4
days ;-)

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Ian Rawlings - 25 Mar 2008 12:01 GMT
>> I read that there are old 40channel and new 40 channel frequencys.. Whats
>> the most popular, is it possible Ian has one model and everyones on the
>> other?
>
> There's two sets of channels, the old UK channels and the EU-wide
> channels.

Oh and to answer your question a little more directly, my set handles
both the UK and the EU channels, most new sets do these days.  I've
spoken to people on the UK channels, but never heard anyone on the EU.

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Tim Guy - 25 Mar 2008 12:35 GMT
> Hmm, not sure if it'll be worthwhile, perhaps it changes across the
> country but I live within half a mile of the A303 and had expected to
> hear passing truckers, but nothing, not a peep.

Looking around at rigs there are websites that mention that last year was a
bumper year for new rig purchases.

Of course it could be marketing hype for a customer requirement that is
disapearing.

BUT

If its true, there are they all going?
Tim Guy - 25 Mar 2008 12:38 GMT
Or even

If its true, 'W'here are they all going?
Ian Rawlings - 25 Mar 2008 13:00 GMT
> Looking around at rigs there are websites that mention that last year was a
> bumper year for new rig purchases.

There's certainly a fairly thriving CB industry with new rigs being
made regularly, and a reasonable choice.  Most of the sites that I saw
only stock those rigs up to about the £130 mark, there are a fair few
more fully featured, more expensive rigs around if you look so even
the number that are popular on most sites aren't all that's around.
There's quite a bit of rig modification going on at the higher level
too, with some companies listing modifications they can make.

> If its true, where are they all going?

Maybe world-wide, most of the rigs available on the market right now
can handle all bands in all countries, with you selecting your country
from a list, I know the manual for mine was in about 10 different
languages with the english translation being less than perfect.

I was even able to buy a spare CB aerial from Maplin, and when I
checked their stock level they had 10 of them in stock in my local
branch.  You can buy a few different sets from them and all the bits
you need to get it going so it's almost still mainstream.  Can't get
them in Currys though probably!

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Dave Liquorice - 26 Mar 2008 11:15 GMT
> Can't get them in Currys though probably!

No but you'll have a choice of PMR446 walkie-talkie sets...

Much more convient for the average famaily than a CB.

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Ian Rawlings - 26 Mar 2008 12:28 GMT
> No but you'll have a choice of PMR446 walkie-talkie sets...
>
> Much more convient for the average famaily than a CB.

Indeed, and I originally bought PMR sets and was puzzled as to why the
off-roading lot use CB instead, considering that a cheap CB setup
costs close to £100 all-in, only works in the truck and needs fitting,
while a reasonably decent PMR set is much cheaper, is hand-held and
has voice activated headsets readily available.  However, when you're
the only person on a laning trip with PMR and everyone else has CB
then the PMR set is largely useless!  I take 2 dirt-cheap PMR sets now
in case we need to talk people through a section.

I'd imagine though that PMR hand-helds have a much shorter range than
CB.  Not hugely relevant for a lot of laning trips but when you lose
someone on the road sections when the chap at the head of the pack
goes through a town and sods off at the traffic lights, PMR's range
did seem too limited when I used it last.  I've yet to use CB in a
similar situation though.

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jOn - 26 Mar 2008 17:40 GMT
>> No but you'll have a choice of PMR446 walkie-talkie sets...
>>
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
> did seem too limited when I used it last.  I've yet to use CB in a
> similar situation though.

A lot better with a mobile cb set up in a car, pmr not very good in a car
and low powered.
Got one of these in the middle of the roof
http://www.firestik.com/Catalog/k14bm.htm

Been into radio for a long time and a cb is my choice possibly with a bit of
help, about 100w should do it :)

--
Jon
Ian Rawlings - 26 Mar 2008 17:53 GMT
> A lot better with a mobile cb set up in a car, pmr not very good in a car
> and low powered.

I did half-regret not buying a handheld CB and car kit, but given that
I've yet to use the PMR and I don't fancy dropping £100's worth of
hand-held CB in a water-filled rut, I don't regret it that much!

> Been into radio for a long time and a cb is my choice possibly with a bit of
> help, about 100w should do it :)

There's a pidgeon-toaster in Blandford Forum many miles from me, he
hangs about on hills seeing how far he can get with his 500 watts.  I
spoke to him from my house which is halfway across Dorset from him, so
either CB has much longer range than I thought (I'm only a 4-watter)
or he's got a socking great big aerial on top of his car!  Mine's just
a 1.5m Stinger-type base-loaded whip.

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Austin Shackles - 27 Mar 2008 09:13 GMT
>There's a pidgeon-toaster in Blandford Forum many miles from me, he
>hangs about on hills seeing how far he can get with his 500 watts.  I
>spoke to him from my house which is halfway across Dorset from him, so
>either CB has much longer range than I thought (I'm only a 4-watter)
>or he's got a socking great big aerial on top of his car!  Mine's just
>a 1.5m Stinger-type base-loaded whip.

It's very line-of-sight - we once got quite good reception with 4W rigs over
about 30 miles, hilltop to hilltop.  Also, I used to sit on the seafront at
Port Talbot and talk to people in north Devon.  Range comes down
significantly if there's scenery in the way, even with more power.  4W is
going to be ample for a bunch on a laning trip though, I would think.
Giles Ayling - 27 Mar 2008 12:02 GMT
>>There's a pidgeon-toaster in Blandford Forum many miles from me, he
>>hangs about on hills seeing how far he can get with his 500 watts.  I
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> significantly if there's scenery in the way, even with more power.  4W is
> going to be ample for a bunch on a laning trip though, I would think.

Sometimes to much range can be a problem. Even if you are not breaking any
laws/rules, there are times when you will not want to advertise what you are
up to.

As much as anything else, it reduces the chances of interference from
strangers breaking into your chat.

Giles
Ian Rawlings - 27 Mar 2008 12:25 GMT
> Sometimes to much range can be a problem. Even if you are not breaking any
> laws/rules, there are times when you will not want to advertise what you are
> up to.

The reason I've not bothered with cranking up the power (the amps are
cheap after all) is that it really relies on the people you are
talking to also having similar extra wellie, or you having highly
sensitive aerials, neither are ideal in off-roading, but for radio
nuts I can see it could be interesting.  However every time someone
with whopping amps is on the air all they seem to talk about is their
whopping amps ;-)

> As much as anything else, it reduces the chances of interference from
> strangers breaking into your chat.

I'll just turn down the RF gain, should be fine for short-range stuff
when off-roading I think.  I've not needed to try it yet.

Also re interference, with 80 channels and few users, is that really a
problem in practice?

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Pete M - 27 Mar 2008 12:37 GMT
>> Sometimes to much range can be a problem. Even if you are not breaking any
>> laws/rules, there are times when you will not want to advertise what you are
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
> Also re interference, with 80 channels and few users, is that really a
> problem in practice?

I used to be quite a regular CB user and it's pretty much died in the
last 10-12 years. Near me in Liverpool it used to be near impossible to
find an empty CB channel - now it's difficult to find someone to talk
to. The only people who seem to use it are truckers, cab drivers, and
people who're off roading in the middle of nowhere. Interference between
those groups is unlikely.

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Ian Rawlings - 27 Mar 2008 12:48 GMT
> I used to be quite a regular CB user and it's pretty much died in the
> last 10-12 years.

Supposedly the rumoured CB revival is strong in the US, but mobile
phone networks are supposed to be surprisingly sparse and primitive by
european standards over there.

It's a shame that mobile phone push-to-talk services need a connection
to the base stations and can't communicate peer-to-peer, then we could
use our mobiles when off-roading even with no network coverage.

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MarkVarley - MVP - 27 Mar 2008 13:26 GMT
>>There's a pidgeon-toaster in Blandford Forum many miles from me, he
>>hangs about on hills seeing how far he can get with his 500 watts.  I
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>significantly if there's scenery in the way, even with more power.  4W is
>going to be ample for a bunch on a laning trip though, I would think.

I used to fit CB's to (mostly) Land Rovers doing runs down to bosnia,
we ran on a quarter of a watt when in convoy, 4 watts when split-up
around town and pulled out a 500w amp if/when the convoy split-up
further.

quarter watt kept encounters with curious 'locals' down as if we were
in a valley for example no bugger could hear us except us.

ants were usually mounted on roof racks (all vehicles had them) and
the racks had good connections down to the chassis so well earthed. an
antenna mounted at the front centre of the rack gave a good all-round
(ish) ground-plane. and each vehicle had a disposable wire antennas
that could be slung into a tree should the mood take you, that was a
(more or less) 9x9 thick copper wire job.

running 500 we could reach our uk base from germany and (on usb which
only mine had) could reach uk from bosnia.

happy days.

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Rich B - 26 Mar 2008 19:02 GMT
Ian Rawlings typed:

> I'd imagine though that PMR hand-helds have a much shorter range than
> CB.  Not hugely relevant for a lot of laning trips

True in both particulars.  My utterly cheap PMR sets will communicate over
about 1 mile with no line of sight but in open country.  There's not much
when you're laning that needs more than that.

Have to say that CB is funkier, though.  More butch, somehow :-)

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Ian Rawlings - 26 Mar 2008 19:20 GMT
> True in both particulars.  My utterly cheap PMR sets will communicate over
> about 1 mile with no line of sight but in open country.  There's not much
> when you're laning that needs more than that.

You do have to be careful though, my PMR sets have dreadful audio
quality, one of the reasons I held off buying CB as I couldn't
understand what was being said when the engine was running.  So far
though my CB set (Midland 48 with a quite good noise filter) has been
very clear when the signal is strong.

I stumbled across a good PMR website out there that had reviews from
users on it, rating sets for things like audio quality, quite a lot of
the sets are expensive though, not like my £25-for-a-pair cheapies ;-)

> Have to say that CB is funkier, though.  More butch, somehow :-)

I did wonder if part of the charm for off-roaders was the macho image
;-)  "We got ourselves a convoy!"

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Long tall ugly - 26 Mar 2008 23:32 GMT
>Ian Rawlings typed:
>
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
>
>Have to say that CB is funkier, though.  More butch, somehow :-)

I,ll go with that MILKMAN.....used to make quads from the fine wire
that is wound on microwave transformers then open up on "the key" with
a little assistance from a few valves and SATISFACTION !!

John G0LVU   Da De Da
Austin Shackles - 25 Mar 2008 14:36 GMT
>> Wotcher all, just got myself my first CB since I were a lad, very dead
>> on the airwaves around here, just the occasional person with massive
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>the most popular, is it possible Ian has one model and everyones on the
>other?

In the UK, naturally, when they eventually legalised CB radio, they did so
using a different set of 40 FM channels to almost everyone else.  This block
is known as the UK40, at a power output of 4W maximum.  The rest of the
world had already got several blocks of channels on or around 27MHz, these
are identified as high, mid, low, and indeed there are extra high blocks and
low blocks, both on AM and FM and indeed on single-sideband and other more
exotic things.

In the UK now, AIUI, it's legal to operate on the mid-block as well as on
the UK40, but technically, it's illegal to have a rig which can do both.
Which, of course, is bloody silly - especially as you could have 2
half-height units in one holder, and that would be legal...  Everyone who
regularly uses CB has been ignoring the regulations for ages anyway,
including the power rules.  In practice, if you go around broadcasting at
250W you'll probably annoy the neighbours by messing up the TV reception and
setting off car alarms...

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jOn - 25 Mar 2008 19:41 GMT
80ch Converted old 27/81CB's are illegal but the ones that are bought new
with 80ch are legal eg, Maycom EM27, 40 ch cb's are no longer made for the
UK market .
Americans have only 40 channels AM and SSB and only had 23 channels in the
old days.

Generaly the direction with the largest ammount of ground it the direction
that rx and tx will be the best eg, if the aerial is on the back it will
work best in a forward direction.

My 90 has the aerial in the middle of the hard top, and as for aluminium
being bad for ground I have no problems with mine.

The only reason I can see for needing a steel plate on the roof would be to
stick a magmount to.
--
Jon
Ian Rawlings - 25 Mar 2008 19:50 GMT
> Generaly the direction with the largest ammount of ground it the direction
> that rx and tx will be the best eg, if the aerial is on the back it will
> work best in a forward direction.

On mine it's mounted on a foot-wide band of metal running from the
left to the right of the vehicle, so chances are I'll be able to hear
people as they overtake me ;-)

I'll take it to a car park somewhere and drive it in a circle and look
for signals, and see how long it takes before I get arrested.

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Dave Liquorice - 26 Mar 2008 11:11 GMT
> My 90 has the aerial in the middle of the hard top, and as for aluminium
> being bad for ground I have no problems with mine.

Agreed. Ali is a conductor it'll make a fine ground plane but it can be
harder than steel to get and maintain a good electrical connection to it.

> The only reason I can see for needing a steel plate on the roof would be
> to  stick a magmount to.

Quite I suspect there is a lot of bollocks born of ignorance floating
about. The magnetic part of a mag mount obviously won't work on an ali
body but the aerial part will be quite happy, well as happy as mag mounts
ever ever are. An aerial properly mounted onto ali doesn't need a steel
plate(*) or a bonding wire down to the steel chassis.

(*) If the ali is thin and unsupported and you are fitting a big aerial
physical strength of the ali might be worth considering but fitting a bit
of ali would avoid any electrolytic problems that steel would introduce.

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Pet - www.GymRatZ.co.uk - 26 Mar 2008 19:49 GMT
> Agreed. Ali is a conductor it'll make a fine ground plane but it can be
> harder than steel to get and maintain a good electrical connection to it.

When I had a centre loaded thunderpole on the house it
toasted most 18' Silver-Rods

It actually tuned up very nicely on some more obscure HF bands too.
20m IIRC with excellent resuts much to the disgust of the anal HF
A-class ers that despised ex CBers.

Ha.
:¬))

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Pete M - 26 Mar 2008 19:55 GMT
>> Agreed. Ali is a conductor it'll make a fine ground plane but it can
>> be harder than steel to get and maintain a good electrical connection
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> 20m IIRC with excellent resuts much to the disgust of the anal HF
> A-class ers that despised ex CBers.

Ho yuss. I had an Avanti Sigma 4 which annoyed the HF boys something
ruthless. Well, an Avanti, a Cobra 148 GTL-DX Mk2 (modded, natch) and a
highly pokey little bit of Zetagi valve madness in the middle.

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Pet - www.GymRatZ.co.uk - 26 Mar 2008 20:03 GMT
> Ho yuss. I had an Avanti Sigma 4 which annoyed the HF boys something
> ruthless. Well, an Avanti, a Cobra 148 GTL-DX Mk2 (modded, natch) and a
> highly pokey little bit of Zetagi valve madness in the middle.

:¬)

While trotting back in time.... one of the first reckless things I did
on getting my HF ticket was to screw up the local taxi firm that had
been the pain in arse of CB in Thornbury for years by pushing 100W SSB
all over "their" channels through my brand spanking new TS440 at every
opportunity.

Milkman -> G0JYO over & out.  Ha Ha!

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Mark Solesbury - 25 Mar 2008 10:34 GMT
> Wotcher all, just got myself my first CB since I were a lad, very dead
> on the airwaves around here, just the occasional person with massive
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> everyone just choose a conveniently clear channel (i.e. most of them)
> for their particular group?

Whist we are on the topic, my one has never been much cop.

I could hear nige, paul and lee when they were in front of me, but
nothing else further afield.

The nut that holds the aerial to the roof is rusted now - would this
cause it to be shite?

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Ian Rawlings - 25 Mar 2008 11:52 GMT
> I could hear nige, paul and lee when they were in front of me, but
> nothing else further afield.
>
> The nut that holds the aerial to the roof is rusted now - would this
> cause it to be shite?

If there's no earth on the aerial to the chassis then you'll have no
groundplane, also it's supposed to be quite hard to get an aerial
working on a landy without using an added groundplane (e.g.
foot-square plate of steel) due to the aluminium bodywork).  Some
people seem to have gotten it to work on an aluminium landy without
any problems, I've never tried so don't know what's up.

Having said all the above, I'm not sure the groundplane issue is
relevant for receiving....  

First thing to do is to unscrew the co-ax off the back of the set, get
a multimeter and connect it to the centre core and check that it has
low resistance to the aerial whip, and open circuit to the chassis or
co-ax outer.  Then connect it to the co-ax outer and check for low
resistance to chassis and the antenna connection threaded body, and
open circuit to the whip.

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Austin Shackles - 25 Mar 2008 14:39 GMT
>> I could hear nige, paul and lee when they were in front of me, but
>> nothing else further afield.
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>Having said all the above, I'm not sure the groundplane issue is
>relevant for receiving....  

The roof should make a good groundplane.  The normal problems you get are
mounting the twig in funny places like on the windscreen or the bumper.

Transmission-wise, you also need the SWR set quite carefully, or sod-all
will happen.

>First thing to do is to unscrew the co-ax off the back of the set, get
>a multimeter and connect it to the centre core and check that it has
>low resistance to the aerial whip, and open circuit to the chassis or
>co-ax outer.  Then connect it to the co-ax outer and check for low
>resistance to chassis and the antenna connection threaded body, and
>open circuit to the whip.
Signature

Austin Shackles.  www.ddol-las.net  my opinions are just that
Travel The Galaxy!  Meet Fascinating Life Forms...
------------------------------------------------\  
  >>  http://www.schlockmercenary.com/  <<      \  ...and Kill them.
a webcartoon by Howard Tayler; I like it, maybe you will too!

William Black - 25 Mar 2008 13:34 GMT
>> Wotcher all, just got myself my first CB since I were a lad, very dead
>> on the airwaves around here, just the occasional person with massive
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
> The nut that holds the aerial to the roof is rusted now - would this cause
> it to be shite?

Aerial systems for vehicles not made of ferrous metals are a nightmare.

What you really need with a Land Rover is some sort of 'earth side'
connection to the chassis because that's a nice big lump of steel.

What you don't need is a dodgy connection across several pieces of aluminium
that are bolted/riveted rather than welded...

Guess which you have...

Signature

William Black

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Barbeques on fire by the chalets past the castle headland
I watched the gift shops glitter in the darkness off the Newborough gate
All these moments will be lost in time,  like icecream on the beach
Time for tea.

Austin Shackles - 25 Mar 2008 14:41 GMT
>Aerial systems for vehicles not made of ferrous metals are a nightmare.
>
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
>Guess which you have...

running an earth wire from the roof to the chassis would doubtless help.

I used to get reasonable results in a SII with the twig mount on a modified
windscreen bolt.
Signature

Austin Shackles.  www.ddol-las.net  my opinions are just that
Travel The Galaxy!  Meet Fascinating Life Forms...
------------------------------------------------\  
  >>  http://www.schlockmercenary.com/  <<      \  ...and Kill them.
a webcartoon by Howard Tayler; I like it, maybe you will too!

William Black - 25 Mar 2008 15:42 GMT
>>Aerial systems for vehicles not made of ferrous metals are a nightmare.
>>
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
> modified
> windscreen bolt.

The Royal Signals like to mount the aerial on the rear of the vehicle on a
support pole that runs the full height of the vehicle so they can get at the
chassis and the roof.

Mind you,  that's a touch excessive for a CB radio...

Signature

William Black

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Barbeques on fire by the chalets past the castle headland
I watched the gift shops glitter in the darkness off the Newborough gate
All these moments will be lost in time,  like icecream on the beach
Time for tea.

Rich B - 25 Mar 2008 19:31 GMT
William Black typed:

>>> Aerial systems for vehicles not made of ferrous metals are a
>>> nightmare. What you really need with a Land Rover is some sort of 'earth
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
>
> Mind you,  that's a touch excessive for a CB radio...

I mounted the aerial above one of the rear windows (S2a) with a short wire
from the mounting earth to the rear door frame (steel) which is connected to
the chassis.  Worked fine, transmit and receive.

Signature

Rich B

Take out the obvious to email me.

A life?  Cool - where can I download one of those?

Tom Woods - 28 Mar 2008 23:28 GMT
> Wotcher all, just got myself my first CB since I were a lad, very dead
> on the airwaves around here, just the occasional person with massive
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> everyone just choose a conveniently clear channel (i.e. most of them)
> for their particular group?

Lee - have you still got your CB in snowy now?

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