ChryslerChris

Having been on a trail lately I definitely get why CB's are important. I had a handheld for the trip. It's lack of range was a letdown leading me to my next project - a CB setup!

For you CB pros out there, what do I need, at minimum, to set up a permanent CB in my JK?

From my research so far, I plan on the following... Please advise me if I'm wrong.

Midland 1001Z base unit
12V cigarette lighter plug adapter
Firestik 3 (maybe 4 inch) antenna
Don't know if a spring for the antenna is necessary?
Firestik antenna base w/ fire ring
Coax cable

I plan on drilling into my offroad rear bumper and attaching the antenna there. Might ground to the inside of the rear tub (read about that here).

Let me know your thoughts or if there is a good thread for a CB newbie, point me in the right direction. Thanks!

Absolute

I would go with a better radio from the start. I bought a cheaper radio, then when everyone else on the trail was understanding what was being said and I couldn't, I upgraded. A wasted of 40.00 bucks. Get a real good radio, if it means saving a little longer.

shockwaveaz

I would recommend you also get a bigger antenna than 4 inches. You really need a bigger one. Bigger really is better in this case.

I didn't even know they made a "spy style" antenna.

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk

StuFarmer

I agree with the Cooltech recommendation. Everthing is very high quality and comes as a complete Pkg. $200.00 dollars seems very fair for the quality you are getting.

newtdog

Ditto.......I bought my setup from cooltech and its been great.

J2010k

I went with the Midland 1001Z and it's a nice compact radio that works well. I have a 3' firestick on a spare tire mount bracket and after tuning it I'm at 1:3 SWR on channel 19. I switched to the Cobra 75 because of its size but quickly went back to the Midland because of the speaker and I didn't like the all in one handset. If you choose the Midland 1001Z, I think you'll enjoy the performance with a properly tuned antenna.

iamluvinlife

I got mine from rightchannelradios.com. The jeep kit was complete and easy to install. Customer service was top notch.

ChryslerChris

Hey thanks for the responses guys! Lots of good starting points I can look at. Now tuning - is that something you can do by yourself? Is it hard?

newbiejeeper

I didn't know that a CB was required to crawl at the mall

Seriously. I went with the Uniden 520 Pro with a 3ft firestik II mounted on a Teraflex spare tire mount. Works really well.

ChryslerChris

Hey a CB at the mall is the best. Eavesdrop on all those two way conversations without anyone knowing. Or just barging in with some silly comment like "I like turtles" and have them wonder who did that LOL With a firestik I can do that from 5 miles away and not called a mall-crawler