has anyone installed a midland mxt115 CB in their 4runner?

[bradze]

I bought the wrong antenna mount and the wrong kind of coaxial cable. ive never installed a CB, I paid somebody to put one in my last car. anyway there is a picture of this particular unit mounted in a 5th gen 4runner. why I bought this one. a friend was helping me today so I got the hard part out of the way. ill go back and switch antenna. but the radio sticks out so far. is it because I have a scosche radio holder thing. are the dimensions different from stock. is there some kind of bracket I can get? midland has a video with this unit mounted in a 4runner, why does it seem different?

 

[GreenMountainOwl]

That's not a CB, it's a GMRS radio. Make sure you have the correct antenna for it.

CB uses +/- 27MHz, with a wavelength of 11m, whereas GMRS is at 462-467MHz, roughly a 65cm wavelength.

A quarter wave on CB will not work on UHF.

Where is the video you mention? A quick search did not reveal it.

[Caveat: A license would help as well, for higher power and repeater operation. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe you can use the FRS shared freqs on that radio under "license by rule", but need a license for repeaters or power over 2W. The laws changed fairly recently and I'm not sure what they are (I'm a ham, not a GMRS licensee)]

 

[powells85]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oG4yTIgvN2U" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[bradze]

does that mean I can only talk to people using handheld radios? did I just throw away all this money and waste so much of my ****ing time? I thought it was a cb

 

[Jhalko]

does that mean I can only talk to people using handheld radios? did I just throw away all this money and waste so much of my ****ing time? I thought it was a cb

Waste is relative to intended usage. It’s a GMRS radio so you can talk to other GMRS radios, more commonly handhelds. It is not a CB and can’t communicate with a CB. It’s still a great radio and much easier than CB. Most of the people I off-road with just use gmrs so I have one of these, I also have a CB but rarely turn it on anymore.

I don’t know how they get that thing to sit on the dash in front of the clock in the video. I set mine up there and said no way, it does fit well in the little pocket next to shift knob in front of cup holder though (flipped toward passenger).

 

[Anand]

does that mean I can only talk to people using handheld radios? did I just throw away all this money and waste so much of my ****ing time? I thought it was a cb

LOL here I was convinced this thread was an April Fools' joke...

Realistically GMRS has the capability to be far superior to CB in basically every way; longer range, more power, clearer audio, shorter antennas, handhelds (handheld CB's are more or less a joke for actual communication outside of line of sight).

With all that said, it says on the box, in multiple locations, GMRS radio; additionally stating that it has 15 channels (CB has 40). How in the world did you confuse it for a CB?!

Lastly, yes, if you are using GMRS frequencies you need to get a license, there is no test, just pay the fee and get your callsign

 

[powells85]

does that mean I can only talk to people using handheld radios? did I just throw away all this money and waste so much of my ****ing time? I thought it was a cb

This radio can do simplex (radio to radio either mobile like this or a handheld) and repeater operation.

Check out myGMRS.com - GMRS Repeater Directory for a list of WA state repeaters.

 

[big44g]

Midland GMRS

I use a midland MXT275 which is similar. If you decide to keep it. I mounted my antenna on a Rago antenna ditch bracket using a Laird BB4505CN antenna. This antenna is a no ground plane antenna and works great in this setup. You will need to use the antenna provided or get one for the GMRS frequencies and have a good ground plane.

 

[dade73]

I went the Midland MXT275 as well. There are several antenna options and cable runs.
As stated above CB antenna will not work. Midland sells antennas as well as many other sites. Most are already precut to 460mHz.


I went with the MXT275 so i could hide the head unit where ever I wanted.

 

[bradze]

ok

didn't know about gmrs. I saw an add for this and thought it was a CB. buying online can be misleading if you don't know exactly what you're getting. I am getting that accessory mount thing that goes on top of the radio. so maybe it wasn't a waste.