CB Radio or PRS

What about a cell phone for all the people who don't have two-way radios!! Just kidding, in the long run I do plan on getting into hamming, but one hobby at a time at this stage.

Cheers TW

nothing." Edmund Burke

Thanks, I am now going down CB path. Need to go out later in the day to narrow down my model options.

Interestingly, in New Zealand we can get PRS/FRS unit which are much like CB radios and permanently fitted to rigs with external permanent antenna. But I will stick to a CB radio permanently mounted (no need to worry about forgetting to charge or leaving at home).

Thanks TW

I haven't really seen anyone here run their rig with an antenna mounted in the centre of the hood. But it is an option with a magnetic mount. Would moving the permanent antenna in the middle of the front bumper improve directional tendencies. I have mostly seen people with antenna in a corner around here.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge. I never realised how much of a learning experience it would be when I started off-roading (I have had to refresh my physics so much, though physics wasn't so much fun in high school).

TW

Just do both...they aren't that expensive. I always carry two FRS handhelds, and it always seems I hand one out to someone, or I am the only guy with both and can relay on both frequencies. Though I never actually was, I am a boy scout like that. Holla!

I used to run mine mounted to the rear corner when I ran just a CB. Since going to HAM I have learned a tremendous amout about antennas. The difference between the middle of the bumper or a corner will probably be very slight. Your signal will generally radiate the direction of your counterpoise. That's why the center of the vehicle works best. It gives you the most omni-directional pattern. What some people with fiberglass tops do is to mount a 2 foot by 2 foot or 3 foot by 3 foot piece of aluminum plate to the inside of the roof. Mount the antenna thru that and the roof. Thereby giving them a metal ground plane in their fiberglass roof. If done neatly it doesn't look bad at all. Especially if you paint it to match the top.

You might also read some of the posts on

Good luck,

Don't see why you couldn't...

Well, if I had a counterpoise plate on the underside of the hardtop with the antenna poking thru, I guess I'd have to pretty much ditch the radio setup to go topless....doncha think? My question was regarding his installation of a counterpoise plate, Bill.

Now, s> Geez! Don't you take your top off to go four wheelin'?

If I take my top off, the XJ will cave in. KH

Depends on how muddy it is :-)

Dave Milne, Scotland '91 Grand Wagoneer, '99 TJ

I went out and bought an AM CB radio (Uniden Pro 510XL). Now the weekend will be spent installing it.

I was thinking how would it look if I could somehow install the CB antenna on the exact opposite side of the radio antenna (same height and spot). My radio antenna is on the right side of the TJ, CB antenna on the left side would ensure coax is shortest and the antenna would be somewhat in the middle of the truck (though to one side). Any ideas or photos of such an install?

Thanks for all the help guys. Its much appreciated.

Having a great time! We moved out to Arkansas from SoCal about 11 years ago, and it the 6 months we've been geocaching, we've found a bunch of beautiful spots we wouldn't have seen otherwise. Found this one yesterday:

-- Old Crow '82 Shovelhead FLT 92" 'Pearl' '95 Jeep YJ Rio Grande ASE Certified Master Auto Tech + L1 TOMKAT, BS#133, SENS, MAMBM, DOF#51

Your range point is very important. Remember that FRS is low-powered UHF. It has pretty much the range of a baby-call (and many other things in common with baby-calls too...) UHF is strictly line-of-sight for dependability. CB is fairly low power, but is REAL shortwave. It will travel and reflect like real shortwave, too. Although it requires long antennas and good grounding to work properly, you can't really compare it to FRS in any aspect.

Now, here's my preferred radio:

-Kris

"CRWLR" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com:

Unless you 'really' know what you are doing, you cannot make the coax shorter.

Mike

TW wrote:

Well, I personally went the bumper route (against the recommendations of the CB community in general, who claim the bumper is one of the worst, reception-wise, places to install a CB antenna). However, my friend put his antenna in the exact place you are talking about on his Rubicon. I can't remember where he got the mount; he got the mount and antenna and everything from the same online store. He likes it there alot. Here is a picture of his jeep on the trail; you can see the antenna ok...