The Mod:

Add a CB to the Jeep.

What it does:

Many still exclusively use CBs to communicate on the trails. The CB along with an external antenna permits us to join in on the conversations.

Photos:

This is what you get. It's a pretty flexible CB. You can use the power from the Jeep, or outside of the Jeep with the small supplied antenna and rechargeable or non-rechargeable batteries:

Plastic furniture leg caps can be placed on the CB ends to keep the dirt out:

The antenna and CB must be tuned using a SWR meter and cable:

With everything connected, set the CB to Channel 1, key the mic, and with the meter set to FWD calibrate the meter:

With the mic still keyed, switch the meter to REF and check the SWR reading:

Repeat this procedure for Channel 40. If the SWR doesn't match, then adjust the antenna until Channel 1 and 40 are the same. Once they are the same check Channel 19 (Channel 19 is the center frequency and should be the "best"). You want your SWR to read 2 or below on all channels. For more detailed information check out the FireStick Library.

Here's the CB "installed" (I later installed a Toad CB Bracket to hold the unit):

I decided to connect the output of the CB to the radio Aux Input. First I had to make a cable with a mono jack on one side and stereo on the other. Here are the parts:

The stereo jack soldered in place:

The cables set to the correct length, tied down and wrapped:

Back in the Jeep and plugged into the radio:

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Last modified: March 13, 2011 05:25:26 PM