Chevy & GMC Vans

Love the Wilson's! I've used nothing but Wilson 5000s for several year now. Love them, except for drilling the big hole in the roof...

Wait, I'm confused. It looks like a magnetic mount and I know you do parking garages, but he said the "D" word. You didn't have to drill for that did you?

I've been thinking about adding a CB to Green, but don't want it to stand out.

Here's what I'm thinking of using.
Cobra: 75WX-ST


Firestik: AR-1A, Match-Maker, CB/AM/FM, CB Antenna Splitter

Wilson FGT Antenna

For the mount, I want to figure out something that will use the stock radio antenna location. I'm thinking some fabrication will be in order here.

Ditto on the Wilson. I did extensive and exhaustive studies on my service van years ago, and the Wilson gave a better audio and slightly better signal than my KD-40.
One thing to those who haven't yet bought a cb but want something "better". Try for a mooded 10 meter ham rig. 25 watts on sideband, 12 watts on AM & FM. Literally 1000's of channels, and you can still stay out of the hammers band. The modded 10 meter rig will give you from 100 channels below CB channel 1, to 60 channels above channel 40 (which means roughly 28 Megahertz). Hammers don't ever bother below 28Mz, and you get 1/4 the noise you would on the 27Mz range (CB is from 26.965 to 27.405.
Sideband effectively increases your range by at least 25-40%, but there's less noise there to begin with. So even if you put out only 12 watts on SSB as with a CB rig, the frequency itself is so much quieter that it seems that you can talk farther. I've talked from my truck on top of a mountain to a base station in Montreal about 1-1/2 hour away. He sounded like he was just next to me. Mobile to mobile ranges of 25 miles are common if there isn't any noise or interference on the frequency you pick and if the area between the both of you isn't blocked by mountains. I'm telling you, SSB (single sideband) is the only way to go. A modded cb or 10 meter rig is the bestest!

That's become a bit of a joke these days. CB band has been de-regulated, both here and (as far as I know) in the states. If you buy a new modded 10 meter rig like the Ranger 2950, it'll run you maybe $500? The radio goes from 26Mz to 29.999Mz. You stay out of the 10 meter band (in other words, keep it below 28Mz), and no one will bother you.
Your biggest problem will be deciding at which frequency to match your antenna, seeing as a cb antenna is designed for a relatively narrow band. I always tuned mine for a perfect SWR up at 27.405.
Go on EBay and see what's out there. As well, alot of electronic stores and flea markets sell these modded 10 meter rigs brand new in the box.

Not an issue. The only time that you will be hassled (and by that I mean you will simply be issued a notice to "cease activities") is if you're causing intereference to neighbors. If you're smart, you've already made friends with all the neighbors, even the PITA versions. Then simply call them up while modulating on a few different freqs and ask them to call you back if they experience any snowy tv images or interference on their radio/computer etc.
I've run 100 watt amps from my base station in a suburban area with only one problem. My neighbors garage door would open and close while I was modulating. Poor bastard, he thought he was losing his mind I was obviously causing secondary harmonics which can affect door openers, car alarms, tv's etc..
Pulled it back to 70 watts and everything was hunky-dory. But for all intents and purposes, a well-tuned radio running 25 watts on sideband shouldn't be an issue for anyone, especially with the advanced electronic filtering technology present in most of todays tv's/radio's etc.

peter wrote:I've run 100 watt amps from my base station in a suburban area with only one problem. My neighbors garage door would open and close while I was modulating. Poor bastard, he thought he was losing his mind

That's the Petey we know!!! Poor guy was probably ready to pack his bags and call the old folks home.