Many still exclusively use CBs to communicate on the trails. The CB along with an external antenna (I have a FireStick Firefly installed antenna installed with the CB: https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/jk-cb-ham-radios-128/installation-firestick-firefly-antenna-spare-tire-mount-59752/) permits us to join in on the conversations.

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 got a bracket from Toad to hold the mic:


I’ve used the CB on one run and was told my transmission was clear. I could also receive the transmission from others on the run with no problems.

I recently decided it would be nice to have more volume on the speaker, so I made a cable to plug the output of the CB into my radio. Here are the parts (stereo on one side mono the other - right angle connectors):


Assembled and tied into the radio:


In the Jeep:

 

Thanks, I really like the portability and packaging of the CB.

When you "center" the SWR using Channels 1 and 40 you get a curve like a smile (the highest SWR is on channels 1 and 40), and you know that all channels will be below your reading on Channel 1 and 40. With this set-up I'm not really tuning it for a particular Channel - especially since different groups around here used different channels.

For this setup I'm using the CB in my Jeep exclusively for talking to others on the same run that I am on - not for random people that be many miles away. I decided to not get the top-of-the-line CB, antenna, etc. I just wanted a good solid setup that would work easily for all channels, would permit me to completely remove the CB when I wasn't on a group run, and permitted me to use the power adapter.

Many years ago (you can probably tell from by SWR meter), I exclusively used Channel 2. You can bet I had my CB and antenna "tuned" to Channel 2!