The importance of a proper setup.

[TeamCF]

No matter what flavor of radio you run.
I stick with the CB as it does what I want. (and not much room in the Soob for multiples)
But I had mine about as cobbled together and out of whack as you could get.
Started with a decent radio. Cobra 25 LTD ST (it was new and free, a freind got it as a safety award but didn't need it)
Found out the "Sound Tracker" is known to create "screaming" when I transmit so I keep it turned off now. Cobra even released a bulletin about it.
But then I hooked that to a cheap stubby roof mount magnet base antenna.
What was I thinking.

Last week I went to a local CB shop and told them what I was doing.
They handed me a fender mount, a spring, a nice piece of coax with do's and don'ts advice, and a 4 foot Firestik. And like I said, knowledge.
Told me to put it all together and bring it back in for a free tune.

Went and rolled around TSF yesterday.
And I heard Mexico.
Three guys were chatting away on 17. One was from Portland, one was from CA, and one was down in Mexico (with a 75' antenna)

With my old antenna I pretty much had to be able to see you to hear you.
Now I have to constantly try to tune out the dozens of conversations if I'm on a popular channel.
I may go have a 3 footer tuned up for it as well. For when I know I'm gonna be dealing with lots of branches.

So don't skimp on any bits. When it's all good stuff, set up right. It's awesome.

[RidgeRunner]

Went and rolled around TSF yesterday.
And I heard Mexico.
Three guys were chatting away on 17. One was from Portland, one was from CA, and one was down in Mexico (with a 75' antenna)

That's amazing. I use a 5' Firestick and have a tuner but haven't checked it for a long time and my range isn't spectacular at all. You must have had all the stars and planets aligned perfectly for that kind of reception. Or, it was ionisphere skip. See if it continues.

Mick

[TeamCF]

I was up on a ridge. But not the highest one as there is still too much snow out there. It was 3 base stations I was hearing and those guys crank some power. I did hear a mobile in Washougal while I was coming down the hill on 26 into Portland though on the way home.
I have to use the squelch to tune out the distant conversations or else it's all the a confusing mess at points.

[Jerry]

No matter how good your radio or how great your antenna, you need a good ground to make the system work well. All of my backroads rigs are equipped with fender mounted CB and VHF/UHF antennas. From strictly an efficient signal point of view, fenders are NOT the best place to mount an antenna. The roof is. But, from a brush scratching, limb whomping, practical point of view the fender ain't so bad.

Despite all sorts of advice and wisdom to the contrary I hope to build a decent ground by connecting ground straps from both fenders to the battery, the firewall, the frame, the engine, the winch mount and the bumper. Some say it is throwing good money down the drain and they might be right, but it sure can't hurt. I am also planning on building a wire mesh under the fiberglass hood on my pickup and attaching it to the ground system. And I have less than two weeks to complete the task before the Alvord trip so I had better get off my duff and under the truck.

Any suggestions, comments or ideas?

[TeamCF]

I didn't even think to ground the fender better. I actually think there is a ground going to it from the battery on my old Soob. But not 100% certain.
I do need to upgrade it's grounds though, kinda whimpy ones on there now. Don't go well with my upgraded alt.

I'd say adding more/better grounding could have all kinds of benefits for the amount of $$ spent. I'd hit up a welding supply that will cut you custom lengths of welding cable. You could get some 4 guage or something and some of the large crimp on (could solder as well) copper ends from them and make up all kinds of ground cables just how you want them.
Would be pretty heavy duty and for the quality you'll end up with proly "cheaper" than buying prefabbed ground cables and such from an auto parts store. (some parts stores may offer cable and ends as well, welding supply shops just feel like the sure thing to me)

I used to work at a welding supply in MI and we were always selling bits like that for hotrod builders and such. I think we carried eveything from 00 cable to 6 guage cable. And all the ends for them for easy bolting to your welder/fender/engineblock/ect.

The mesh thing sounds interesting.
I'm still a bit of a CB noob (but learning any time I need to tweak it!) but I can see how it could help with reception. Some metal for the signal to bounce off of.

[Jerry]

Welding cables are a great idea for replacements from the battery to the starter. I have used them in the past especially on Ford products that came with pretty small cables from the factory.

Most of the body parts are grounded to one-another, but I just want to make sure both fenders are well grounded to the engine, frame, front bumper and winch guard (I have an HF antenna mount on the winch guard). While I am under the truck I also plan on grounding the bed to the cab as well as to the frame and the exhaust. The exhaust idea is one I got from a radio tech who claims static can be reduced by grounding the exhaust system in certain vehicles.

[TeamCF]

Interesting about the exhaust. But it makes sense that all the metal in the vehicle should be grounded for radio reception. And I'm not even well learned in radios, just still makes sense.
And with the exhaust running the length of the vehicle it's a bigger chunk then most people think about under there.

Yeah all panels should be grounded to each other already but like you say there is almost always room for improvment.

I'f they made vehicles perfect from the factory we'd have nothing to tinker on during the week!

[alanh]

Jerry,

All that grounding will certainly come in handy if you put an HF radio in. Exhaust, bed, hood, etc. are all on the recommended list for that.

Forgot to add that if you can find flat braided copper straps those are good for RF grounds. You can buy it, but it can get expensive unless you find some surplus. Some use the braided shield off larger diameter (e.g. 1/2") coax.

[Jerry]

Jerry,

All that grounding will certainly come in handy if you put an HF radio in. Exhaust, bed, hood, etc. are all on the recommended list for that.

Forgot to add that if you can find flat braided copper straps those are good for RF grounds. You can buy it, but it can get expensive unless you find some surplus. Some use the braided shield off larger diameter (e.g. 1/2") coax.

Thanks, Alan. Yes, I have an all band Icom 706MKIIG installed in the pickup with HamStick type antennas for 80, 40, 20 and 10 meters that affix to the winch mount. The 144/440 antenna is on the right fender and the CB antenna (technically an 11 meter HF radio) is on the left fender. I would normally install the antennas on the roof, but our Flip Pac camper folds over the roof when open and leaves no room.

[Jerry]

My pickup is now well grounded. No, not sent to it's room, beached at low tide or otherwise laid up, but electrically grounded. Ground wires now connect the fenders to the frame, fenders to the firewall, firewall to the hood, firewall to the engine, engine to the battery and firewall to the battery. I learned that my hood is not fiberglass, but aluminum, and that was a relief. I also grounded the frame to the cab, the bed and the exhaust. As I mentioned above this is probably overkill, but at least I know most of the body parts are well grounded.

In keeping with improvements for the backroads I re-programmed the memory banks of my all-band (HF/VHF/UHF) ham radio to include only VHF and UHF frequencies. The radio holds 100 memory channels and I loaded it with 97 frequencies that include virtually all of the allocated 2-meter and 70-cm. frequencies for Oregon, Washington and Idaho. Those include both repeater and simplex frequencies for each band. I programmed tones for the repeaters located closest to home, but 'out of area' repeaters using different tones can still be heard while the radio is in scan mode and if desirable it is an easy matter to switch tones in the Icom 706. This setup should work well on our backroad adventures, especially on the Alvord trip as most SE Oregon repeaters work without tones. I have a list of eight or ten SE OR repeaters that are already programmed into my radio. And then there is HF, the most widely used bands of ham radio. I didn't program a single HF frequency to memory as it is so easy to tune those frequencies manually (VFO).

Speaking of HF frequencies my next project is to tune my Valor 'hamstick' HF antennas. I have four of them, one each that cover the 80, 40, 20 and 10 meters bands and all must be tuned separately for the best SWR. Once tuned they are set tight with a wrench and should never need future tuning. Oops, never say never, right!?