I was over at my grandpas place the other day rooting around in his shop helping him look for some peg board hangers when I ran across this box with a whole mess of wires in it.
Of course knowing my grandpas propensity for saving everything he has ever owned I dug in. Wouldn't you know it I found 2 old (well not to old I'm guessing) CB radios. Sadly he chopped the wire off the antenna so he could tie a flag on the antenna to make it easier to find his rig in parking lots. Well short story still short I now have 2 CB radios.
One is a Cobra unit 19 Ultra II that also has a PA function. This one seems to be the cleanest and least hacked up. The other is a Radio Shack TRC 487, this one seems to be a little more "well used". The wires for the power have been kinda half assed spliced onto a cell phone cigarette lighter charger. This one has no PA function but does have the weather alert on it. Neither has the mounting bracket or hanger for the mic but I can make the bracket and more than likely find the hangers easy enough.
Is it bad that I'm looking for an excuse to put one of these into the Olds? I'm sure one of them will end up in my truck.
I wanted a 7 foot whip and a cobra when I was driving my Crown Vic...I don't think I have enough space in the Aspire...
CB's are cool.. My Dad had a couple back in 70's/early 80's. Still has a base unit in the closet and the 10ft antenna is still bolted to the peak on the roof of his barn. I've been thinking of gettin one in my truck, but I dunno.
JThw8
SuperDork
7/31/09 10:34 p.m.
I've become a big fan of them since the BABE rally, its a great way to keep track of the teams you run with.
We have a cheapo midland with some no name antenna but it does the job. Our partner team picked up a wilson 1000 antenna this year and they could be heard anywhere, nice piece. So imagine my surprise at the end of the rally when a team I had done a favor for gifted me a wilson 5000....can't wait till next year to try it out :)
CB Radio = Redneck internet.
That being said, my 1980 Y84 (black and gold SE) Trans-Am will be getting a magnet mount between the T-tops.
If you get a spring-loaded 9-foot whip you can pop nearly every fluorescent tube in an underground parking lot. Not that I would know anything about that.
Shawn
Yeah I might hook the one with the weather alert on it in my truck. During winter out here we have storms move in quick, normally when I'm always on the road. Also I live right off 84 and its my main road anywhere, it is also a major trucking line. Also there are places I go where there is no such thing as cell service.
Lousy thing is this town doesn't even have a radio shack anymore, truck stop has a few bits for CBs then there is WalMart but I won't expect much there. Thank Dog for the net.
We have always had CB's in Virginia radar detectors are illegal so the CB has become the best "alert" I also like to have one when traveling, especially with the camper attached.
I can also tell ya best bang for the buck mag mount antenna is a Wilson...various element lengths...with a mag mount style the coil makes the antenna!
They still have one that kind of remebles the rad shack antenna that was on the general lee!
I've got an old CB in my truck ~circa 1988, but I rarely pick up any conversations when I'm on the interstate. Do truckers not use CBs like they used to, or did everything switch to digital there too?
My last couple of hwy trips I've carried my CB and we've had plenty of conversations. Keeps you occupied which makes the trip seem shorter and since we've had weather it's saved our back sides.
On one trip from NY down to Fla an ice storm was hitting not long after we left. If we'd have stopped for the night as we wanted to we'd have been snowed and iced in for 2 days. The CB told us to go about 1 hour more down the road. We did and we got out the next morning and finished our trip. Had we stopped where we wanted to we'd either not have made it out or had to fight all the ice and snow for hours.
maroon92 wrote:
I wanted a 7 foot whip and a cobra when I was driving my Crown Vic...I don't think I have enough space in the Aspire...
haha my bro-in-law has one in his room... think it's a 10 footer... ironicly never had a CB... just the antenna... and you'd prob guess right... it was mounted to his POS pickup truck... back in his "i wanta be a redneck" days... came complete with the fake hook on his camo hat and everything...
I just dug out my old Cobra CB radio, complete with mag mount whip antenna. I'm seriously considering temporarily putting it on the E30 for our trip to Atlanta next week...
the antenna can make the radio.. trust me on this.
Ok, I went ahead and did it. Power is coming from the cigarette lighter for now, but I'll neaten it up when I get home from the lake.
Now I'll fit in with the yuppies and the rednecks!
You all are a bad influence.
I used to have an old cobra in my truck, i also set it up with a comp atx ps plug so I could power it off of my computer in the dorm.
I had a four foot whip and a cheap unit in an old pick-up I had in college. Barely worked line of sight, but it was fun on the interstate
Maybe a big 01 on the side?
Actually, it turns out the radio is broken. I guess I'll just use my handheld one for now. Anybody know where to get an external antenna for it?
Tommy Suddard wrote:
Anybody know where to get an external antenna for it?
Special order at Radio Shack would be a good bet.
I've owned a number of RS CBs, and a bunch of Cobras. Had a Cobra 19; it's a good unit, and the PA feature can be fun if you mount a speaker horn behind the grille of your car. You can berate bad drivers in real time, and keep your hands on the wheel instead of flipping the finger.
You got the Dreamweaver here.. out.
If the handhel has a bnc or twistlock connector on it, you can probably get an adapter to hook it to the whip. I got one to hook my scanner ou to the mag mount I had.
Well I went to WalMart and picked up a cheapy $10 antenna to test the radios and make sure they work. If they do I will order the Wilson antenna. I also "rescued" a couple old cell phone car chargers that I will tear apart to convert to cig lighter power at first and easy to swap between rigs.
Hmm I might have to make a little road trip just to test things out lol.
Well sweet I now have 2 working CB's. I initially tried to use an old cell phone car adapter but I was not getting enough juice. I went to NAPA and bought a lighter plug and wired up my own cable and the keyed plug to match what I put on the radios wires. I can swap the cable between the two and I will use the same plug when I hard wire into the harness so I can move the radios to the other rigs.
I was shocked I did pick up some conversations and I'm a couple miles from the main road. I can't wait to see what will happen with a real antenna.
I do think when it comes time for the Olds I will get a better unit that also has the more "classic" look over the black plastic.
I need to figure out new batteries for my dynamike for one of the OLD cb's that I got after my grandfather passed away. It has a PA feature, so there may be an E30 with a PA soon 
what was the name of that movie with the IIRC asian who had a PA on his car and would challenge people to a race with it? something involving sports fans in what he would say.. this takes from it http://www.hulu.com/watch/50438/family-guy-maid-race
for some reason I see myself having a bit of fun with this...
edit SCORE! Better off dead
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0QKTT0YbRQ <--------------
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsa_kL5HMKc
I've got one in my truck. It's required to have a working CB in any chase vehicle on the Salt Flats at Bonneville Speed Week.
I remember that movie man has it been a long time since I've seen it.
Oh I'm sure the Olds will get a PA.
I always wanted a CB in the car for autocross so I can hear the course workers make fun of my hoonage and bitch about clean up
