CB or not CB? That is the question.

Yes, you should have a CB.

Although a Ham radio has significantly better range, and is becoming more popular with jeepers in some areas, they are far from universal and you may find that the only Ham operators you can talk to in an emergency are far, far away. Also, a decent dual band unit is $300, plus antenna, and you will need a license.

CB's are almost universal in properly equipped jeeps, and you stand a chance of reaching someone much closer to you in the event of an emergency or trail breakdown. (Assuming you wheel on or near the major and/or most popular trails.) They also make trail riding in a group more fun, as you can communicate with other rigs.

Carry your cellphone too.

Robert Bills KG6LMV Orange County CA

I just installed a CB in my JEEP about 3 weeks ago and I'm very pleased. I took the jeep on a road trip and it was good to talk to the truckers because they would relay any road problems, etc. On my trip, they relayed down which lane to be in during heaving traffic on the 401, and a forrest fire upahead. Most JEEP's and other trail guys run CB's.

Glad to see other hams with jeeps. The one saving grace is with the 2meter repeaters....if its an emergency all by yourself with no CB/cell phone you can usually find an autopatch.....the ultimate cell phone lol....but you gotta know how to key it up!

Brian

88 YJ KC5CTS

Pretty useful.

On one of our deep bush newsgroup runs last year, Norm Mitchell from this group came in on a different day planning to meet up with us.

He got, well... a little 'misplaced' and ended up having his driveshaft fall off because his rear spring packs let loose after a new lift.

So here he is stuck in a swamp in the middle of nowhere, 25 miles from the nearest cell phone coverage and he hears one of us, Jo on her CB. Jo got this old clunker CB given to her and it is boosted all to crap from the output numbers. (or just plain a real good one, it's a 'KRACO' or something like that)

So Jo sat up on a hill in contact with Norm and the rest of us fanned out on the bush trails until Steve got a CB tag on Norm. We then all headed that direction and found him. An hour later and he is on the beach at our camp where we could fix him up.

They are also handy for truck to truck on the trails, if someone finds a sneaky hole or rock, everyone gets a fast warning. Or if the person in lead spots a logging truck, everyone has time to get off the trail.

We also use the loggers channel if we know they are active in the area, that way we know when they are running a load and they also can hear us in the neighborhood.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Billyism wrote:

A CB radio is a mandatory item for the trail. It allows you to keep in touch with others in your group. It isn't worth a shit for an emergency though because the range is generally too small.

The radio itself can go pretty much anywhere, the antenna usually gets mounted to the tire rack or the rear corner of the tub. DO NOT get one of those huge antennas that reach to the moon, most organized runs will restrict the antenna to 52" max, I have not seen a real need for more than

48", and I use a 36".

Many of us run both CB and HAM (2-meter) radios. There isnt much in the way of cell phone service where we wheel, but we can almost always key up a HAM repeater.

I've mounted CBs in every 4x4 I've owned... They're very handy when travelling on the highway, when travelling in a group, and when working around our place in the mountains. I also have bought a couple of mid-price

5-watt hand-held CBs... good for loaning to people who don't have one and for keeping in touch with folks out for a walk in bear country.

I usually buy CB equipment through the Web and, when I got my TJ, I went looking for antenna mounting kits. Bill's 2-Way of California has several mounting options for CB antennas on soft top Jeeps. I got the under-hood mount specifically designed for the TJ... it's attached under the hood on the drivers side of the front end, near, but not too near, the windshield, and sports a 3' Firestik antenna. Don't go any taller on the antenna than 3' with this mount, you'll be banging into every low clearance thing you come to (I've got a 4' Firestik on my 4Runner that has the scrapes to prove it... I'll be swapping it for the 3' soon). Bill's also offers a mount that attaches to the YJ spare tire stop on the back. The biggest issue with CB antennas and a soft top is getting a good SWR match... While I'm running under 1.5 right now, I'm trying to get it closer to 1.1.

As to mounting the actually CB unit, it's going to depend on what you get. I picked up the small mobile that RadioShack has been offering for about a year now... just saw it on sale for $30 less than I paid for it. It features a SAME enabled weather band and a (useless) compass. The unit is designed to monitor the weather band while using the CB and it cuts in with weather alerts... a rather handy feature. Right now, it's set up to sit on top of the dash and be removed quickly... I haven't found a permanent mounting solution that both my wife and I like and that will keep the unti secure. The temporary "sit it on top of the dash" location work well for us as we really use the thing for travelling in convoy and for working around our property in PA... a lot of off-roading, but not a lot of extreme maneuvering.

The major drawback to most CB units is the speakers are usually mounted in the bottom, firing down. In a Jeep, this doesn't work well because of ambient noise... get an auxiliary speaker if you can't get a front firing speaker in your CB. (I have a Midland in my 4Runner mounted in the dash right under the stereo that works beautifully.) Also, spend the money ($15 - $30) to get an SWR meter and tune your antenna properly... all antennas have to be tuned to match the CB and the vehicle they're mounted on; they don't come pre-tuuned, no matter what the advertising says. If it says "pre-tuned", buy something else.

Also, remember that an unmodified CB only has 4 watts of output power, good for a range of about 5 miles. Modifying a CB for more power is illegal, but is sometimes done... check the rules and regs at

.

Right now, CB is a good choice for most off-road groups... it's fairly cheap, has good power and doesn't require a license. However, GMRS radio will probably overtake it in about 5 to 10 years as the cost comes down. Although, because CB is AM modulation, it travels better in trees and rough country than the UHF signal of GMRS. Ham would be an ideal replacement for CB, but the cost and licensing requirements really limit it to those willing to make the investment, so it's not common in off-road groups.

Hope this helps.

----------------------------------- Mike Polo snipped-for-privacy@communitytheater.org Community Theater Green Room

if you want it for emergencies only, then i would by a decent handheld walkie with extra batteries and a dc cord. also, a decent 1/4 wave magnet mount, for extra range with the appropriate connector would be good for emergencies. then if you had to leave your jeep you can carry the darn thing with you to scream for help. just hope that when you need to use the darn thing the skip is running like crazy