Señor_Godric
New member
Do you run a firefly antenna?
5th gen 4runner Cb radio help
- Thread starter Señor_Godric
- Start date
Do you run a firefly antenna?
BobsTrail
Senior Member
I kept mine simple, Cobra WX75 under the drivers seat and a mag mount antenna. Put the antenna in the middle of the roof to get the best radiation pattern. I use a whip, then when it hits tree branches off road, it springs back with no damage. I bought a Firestick but it looks like it won't do well with trees. Run the antenna cable out the passenger side window and close the door and let the weather strip hold it. Does not appear to crush the cable.
On both my trucks, I run a cobra 75 mounted under the center console with the plug running into the console itself. I run 18 feet of coax under the seat and carpet over to the kick panels on the driver's side, then fish it through the quarter panel into the roof and out to the hatch where it meets a diamond k400 mount with a heavy duty spring and 2ft fire stick.
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Salvo Jimmy
Member
Wilson 5000 magnetic
Señor_Godric
New member
How is when you are going through trails?
Salvo Jimmy
Member
I only off road on the beaches of Bodie, Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands in NC. I only use the CB for traffic info. Cell phone has long since replaced CB for us surf fishin' folks.
Antenna is positioned to throw the pattern toward on coming traffic. Works fine in that scenario.
e60ral
Banned
what channel do they use out there?
i'm usually on the north end at carolina and i haven't been able to find any cb traffic there but every truck has an antenna
I went with a 4' firestik. Mounted on my spare carrier in the back. Can't speak to ham, I only run CB right now.
reidbailey
New member
Want that antenna mount phillyd2 but it looks custom!! Very nice!
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Antman
Elite Member
19 truckers channel
Bumbo
New member
The difference is capability, performance, and flexibility.
As far as things that civilians can own... its about as high end as you can go when it comes to radio communication equipment. Because of that the FCC requires you to have a licence to operate equipment like that.
How capable you ask? You can actually communicate with the international space station with one. Without ham radio you would need to know someone at NASA with a com link, its about the only way ur getting into that ship. I can do it from my back yard if I wanted... http://www.ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html
Ham radio has many different bands/frequencies that can be used... HF, UHF, and VHF which will probably have the highest concentration of off-road simplex users.
Its not a simple channel 1, 2, 3, 4, type of deal...
In addition to simplex (radio to radio) operation that can be had with pretty much any radio like the FRS and CB radios mentioned here, you have access to repeaters on many mountain tops. Ever notice those massive radio towers on top of mountains? Well, you get to use those for free too... extending range to very large regions vs just a few miles... With a simple handheld radio I can easily talk to someone hundreds of miles away because of those repeaters.
From a disaster recovery and self preservation standpoint its about as good as it gets until you get into a satellite phone. You can have communications capability for hundreds of miles with basic equipment. You can talk to someone across the globe if you know what you are doing on the HF bands...
I became a ham for a lot more than just to talk to my buddy on the trail... its a hobby in its own right, and a pretty dang good one too.
Some of my gear...
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Salvo Jimmy
Member
As I said we use cell phone. Yeah we got antennas but it ain't for fishin'. Me it's traffic info.
Señor_Godric
New member
The difference is capability, performance, and flexibility.
As far as things that civilians can own... its about as high end as you can go when it comes to radio communication equipment. Because of that the FCC requires you to have a licence to operate equipment like that.
How capable you ask? You can actually communicate with the international space station with one. Without ham radio you would need to know someone at NASA with a com link, its about the only way ur getting into that ship. I can do it from my back yard if I wanted... Contact the ISS - ARISS
Ham radio has many different bands/frequencies that can be used... HF, UHF, and VHF which will probably have the highest concentration of off-road simplex users.
Its not a simple channel 1, 2, 3, 4, type of deal...
In addition to simplex (radio to radio) operation that can be had with pretty much any radio like the FRS and CB radios mentioned here, you have access to repeaters on many mountain tops. Ever notice those massive radio towers on top of mountains? Well, you get to use those for free too... extending range to very large regions vs a few miles...
From a disaster recovery and self preservation its about as good as it gets until you get into a satellite phone. You can have communications capability for hundreds of miles with basic equipment. You can talk to someone across the globe if you know what you are doing on the HF bands...
I became a ham for a lot more than just to talk to by buddy on the trail... its a hobby in its own right, and a pretty dang good one too.
Some of my gear...
I'm thankful your response!!! Super knowledgable!
ill probably stick to the basics until I get the hang of HAM radios
Bumbo
New member
I'm thankful your response!!! Super knowledgable!
By all means... you don't have to pick one, you can have them all... sometimes you need them all.
I own FRS/GMRS, CB, commercial/land mobile which are often used as race radios, and ham/amature radio equipment.
Common place on a trail really just depends on the groups preference. But for the cost there is no reason to not have a pair of FRS/GMRS and CB in the truck at all times.
Being a ham really isn't difficult... its a test and a small fee and you are good for 10 years. I got my ARRL study guide from a library and did a bunch of practice tests online. For a little time and practice you can essentially own something that can safe your life for next to nothing, valuable if you actually go off-grid and use the truck for what it was made for.
e60ral
Banned
I'll add that ham seems intimidating but its actually pretty easy and inexpensive to get started.
you don't need to spend a lot of money right away, i always encourage everyone to buy a cheap HT to make sure they like the hobby before spending money on a mobile radio (it will also let you decide what features are important to you). Programming is incredibly easy, CHIRP is free software and supports many radios, you just have to buy a programming cable. CHIRP, or most other software if your radio isn't supported by CHIRP, will pull data from RepeaterBook or other sources and automatically program the radio for you, its stupid simple to get up and running on a local repeater and start listening and learning.
you don't need to spend a lot of money right away, i always encourage everyone to buy a cheap HT to make sure they like the hobby before spending money on a mobile radio (it will also let you decide what features are important to you). Programming is incredibly easy, CHIRP is free software and supports many radios, you just have to buy a programming cable. CHIRP, or most other software if your radio isn't supported by CHIRP, will pull data from RepeaterBook or other sources and automatically program the radio for you, its stupid simple to get up and running on a local repeater and start listening and learning.
I just installed a Cobra 75WXST 40-Channel CB Radio (amazon), where the entire guts are in the hand set, with just a tiny connector box under the passenger seat. The mic's stretch cable nicely rests in the groove between the passenger seat and the center console, nearly invisible. The CB puts out the full legal 4W, like any other CB.
I put a WILSON 305-38 300-Watt Little Wil Magnet Mount Antenna, 3' long, (amazon) just aft of the sunroof, and routed the cable along the roof rack and into the rubber liner in the roof rack track groove. Unbolt the rack foot, pull out the rubber thingy, and you will see that it has nice grooves running lengthwise, and the coax cable fits *perfectly* into the groove. Use a pen, screwdriver or trim puller to winkle the coax into the outside groove, all the way up to the windshield. Re-bolt the roof rack foot to pin it back into place, being careful not to crush the coax. Run the coax down the windshield side groove, where, again, it fits perfectly, down into the engine compartment.
Slice the big firewall grommet and push the coax into the passenger compartment. Caulk it with RTV silicone. Undo the passenger kick panel's round plastic nut, pop it out, and using a trim puller pop out the plastic step trim along the base of the door opening. There are a bunch of videos showing this, and it's easy. Run the coax in the cable channel through the cable retainer hoops. 4/5 of the way down, look for a cutout leading under the passenger seat, and push the cable all the way into it. Reach under the passenger seat to the carpet slice-opening, grab the cable, and pull it up. The Lil Will coax is the absolute perfect length for this, with about 6 inches left over. Wow.
Get an SWR (standing wave ratio) meter (amazon, $20ish) and connect it inline between the CB junction box and the antenna coax, and follow the directions to tune the antenna length. BUT WAIT! The Lil Will mag mount antenna has one idiosyncrasy. If you seat the antenna all the way down into the mag mount, you will short it out, and your SWR will be a terrible 3.5, and you risk blowing up your radio. (I tried this with two separate Lil Wills.) Seat the antenna, then, pull it up 1/8 of an inch from the bottom of the mount, and tighten the set screw. Presto, no short, and your SWR will be down at a healthy 1.3 or so. Now you can shorten the antenna in 1/4 inch increments with a hacksaw until channel 40 (initially high SWR) and channel 1 (initially low SWR) are about the same (perfect.) But always remember to seat the antenna 1/8 of an inch above the bottom of the mag mount.
This really is a beautiful installation, with only the mic visible, all the controls in your hand, and no dashboard mods at all. Plus, that CB model is plenty loud, and you don't need an external speaker, although it takes one. When you are using it, let it lie in the passenger's cup holder. When you are not using it, clip it to the mic mount, which you can attach to the front valence of the passenger seat so it moves forward and back with the seat and is out of the way of legs.
I really love this "stealth" installation. If you want pics, ping me back and I'll post them.
Lil Will antenna, mag mounted...
Route the coax into the rubber strip's channel...
And down the windshield channel into the engine bay...
Through the firewall...
Under door's kick step, then under the passenger seat carpet...
And finally mount the mic holder to the passenger seat valence...
I put a WILSON 305-38 300-Watt Little Wil Magnet Mount Antenna, 3' long, (amazon) just aft of the sunroof, and routed the cable along the roof rack and into the rubber liner in the roof rack track groove. Unbolt the rack foot, pull out the rubber thingy, and you will see that it has nice grooves running lengthwise, and the coax cable fits *perfectly* into the groove. Use a pen, screwdriver or trim puller to winkle the coax into the outside groove, all the way up to the windshield. Re-bolt the roof rack foot to pin it back into place, being careful not to crush the coax. Run the coax down the windshield side groove, where, again, it fits perfectly, down into the engine compartment.
Slice the big firewall grommet and push the coax into the passenger compartment. Caulk it with RTV silicone. Undo the passenger kick panel's round plastic nut, pop it out, and using a trim puller pop out the plastic step trim along the base of the door opening. There are a bunch of videos showing this, and it's easy. Run the coax in the cable channel through the cable retainer hoops. 4/5 of the way down, look for a cutout leading under the passenger seat, and push the cable all the way into it. Reach under the passenger seat to the carpet slice-opening, grab the cable, and pull it up. The Lil Will coax is the absolute perfect length for this, with about 6 inches left over. Wow.
Get an SWR (standing wave ratio) meter (amazon, $20ish) and connect it inline between the CB junction box and the antenna coax, and follow the directions to tune the antenna length. BUT WAIT! The Lil Will mag mount antenna has one idiosyncrasy. If you seat the antenna all the way down into the mag mount, you will short it out, and your SWR will be a terrible 3.5, and you risk blowing up your radio. (I tried this with two separate Lil Wills.) Seat the antenna, then, pull it up 1/8 of an inch from the bottom of the mount, and tighten the set screw. Presto, no short, and your SWR will be down at a healthy 1.3 or so. Now you can shorten the antenna in 1/4 inch increments with a hacksaw until channel 40 (initially high SWR) and channel 1 (initially low SWR) are about the same (perfect.) But always remember to seat the antenna 1/8 of an inch above the bottom of the mag mount.
This really is a beautiful installation, with only the mic visible, all the controls in your hand, and no dashboard mods at all. Plus, that CB model is plenty loud, and you don't need an external speaker, although it takes one. When you are using it, let it lie in the passenger's cup holder. When you are not using it, clip it to the mic mount, which you can attach to the front valence of the passenger seat so it moves forward and back with the seat and is out of the way of legs.
I really love this "stealth" installation. If you want pics, ping me back and I'll post them.
Lil Will antenna, mag mounted...
Route the coax into the rubber strip's channel...
And down the windshield channel into the engine bay...
Through the firewall...
Under door's kick step, then under the passenger seat carpet...
And finally mount the mic holder to the passenger seat valence...
Attachments
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Couple years ago I was camping at El Mirage dry lake alone waiting for my family to show up. Pulled out my little handheld FT60 and hit the Ridgecrest repeater. Had a nice conversation with a guy in Arizona - probably 300-500 miles away and it was like talking on the phone.
For my first conversation ever I stood in my driveway in Whittier California and used the WinSystem to chat with a young lady in Alaska.
Ham is pretty cool.
BUT..... for wheeling I just use CB as that is what most folks have and use.
W6RKW
For my first conversation ever I stood in my driveway in Whittier California and used the WinSystem to chat with a young lady in Alaska.
Ham is pretty cool.
BUT..... for wheeling I just use CB as that is what most folks have and use.
W6RKW
I agree about ham. I'm going for both CB, so I can talk to truckers about road conditions, and ham, for trips with 4-wheelers, and for better back country signal and audio quality. I'm studying for my ham technician license now, using "The Fast Track To Your Technician Class Ham Radio License" by Michael Burnette. Great book.
