cb wiring

I got a cobra 75 wx st for Christmas, and I'm trying to decide on where to wire it to. As for an inline fuse, what amperage should i run on the fuse, slow blow, fast acting, etc? Also, i got a mag mount antenna. Is it better to run the cable through a cracked window or shut the cable in the door?

thanks

my stepdad just gave me cb from his RV and it plugs into the lighter i didnt even know they could do this. i have a firestik ajustable whip. i used to have the cablke that went with it but someone hit me and it snapped the cable in half so now i gotta go get a new one. i think im gonna mount the antenna plate on the hitch above the taillight ive seen that before but ill look into it further how you mounting yours?

holy crap 31's with 4.88 and f/r arb. that is quite unique

Fuel90 said:

I got a cobra 75 wx st for Christmas, and I'm trying to decide on where to wire it to. As for an inline fuse, what amperage should i run on the fuse, slow blow, fast acting, etc? Also, i got a mag mount antenna. Is it better to run the cable through a cracked window or shut the cable in the door?

thanks

Click to expand...

I used the accy fuse line on the fuse block.

I'm thinking a (ed) 3-5 amp fuse would work OK. Fast blow is fine. Isn't there one in the power cable that came with it?

The coax should put up with the awsome pressure put on it by the door gasket, so no need to run it through the window. Just be sure not to pinch it in a hinge or latch.

* I edited the fuse size. I orignally said 5-6 amps, but after researching a owners manual, found that most CBs use less than 2 amp in transmit.

RUnning it directly off the battery would be best....only down side is you MUST remember to turn it off after your done with it our it will drain your battery(ask me how i know)....

Next best option would probably be to splice it into your cigarette lighter...probably one of the better 12V sources in your dash and its easy to get too....plus, when you turn the key off, your radio will turn off with the rest of the Jeep.

Shomsky462 said:

holy crap 31's with 4.88 and f/r arb. that is quite unique

Click to expand...

Bet that thing screams bloody murder at anything over 65 on the highway!

Don't put it through the window or the door.

Find a plug in the firewall, remove it, and run the cable through. Then run it under your rig, to wherever you have your antenna mounted.

Cigarette lighter is the better option. Like previously mentioned, it is a keyed power source. You won't have to worry about shutting it off. Trust me, it sucks to forget to shut off your CB, come out in the morning to find your battery dead or too weak to start the engine.


Erik

I rigged up a switchable cigarette lighter plug, with an inline fuse between the plug and the CB. best part is, the plug has a green LED in it, so I know if the CB is getting power or not. in my 2001, I have two lighter outlets, the right one is always "hot", but the left one is a "keyed" outlet. So, I leave it in the keyed outlet, leaving the other for my brothers GPS when we scout trails we haven't done before.

cigarette lighter. its easy.

Jeffro600 said:

Bet that thing screams bloody murder at anything over 65 on the highway!

Click to expand...

i don't do a whole lot of highway driving, but it doesn't really bother me. cruising around 70 at 3k. i would be running larger tires, but i ran out of money for some odd reason.

as for the antenna cable, i'm only going to have the antenna on when i'm on the trail. not permanent. i just didn't know if shutting the cable in the door over time would break/weaken the coax.

in that case... magnet mount! as for coax, it's easy with a 4 door. run the coax between a front seat and the center console, then open a rear door and bring it up the pillar. carefully close the door and manuever the cable behind and over the rubber guard just under the gutter rail. do it right, and you'll have minimal stress on the cable, and it won't be pinched between the two doors. put antenna just in front of the crossbar on the rack, so an unexpected low branch won't knock it over.

you run a risk of engine noise ie. alt or ignition noise in the wiring. to the batt. is best but if your not gonna use it that much wire it up to a cig plug and just plug it in when you need it with a mag mount ant. and your set.

I just installed mine with a nifty littel fuse wire tha tconnects to the cb power wire, it has two slots for fuses in it, the top one for the new fuse for the cb and the bottom one for the fuse taken out fo teh block. then you plug it in to whichever fuse you want and put that fuse in the bottom slot and done. then i ran the wire to the back and in to the tail light housing which i drilled a hole through and seales with hot glue and screwed cable clips to hold it tight to the body to the antenna bracket i made located by the 4x4 decal. works like a charm.

mylt1 said:

you run a risk of engine noise ie. alt or ignition noise in the wiring. to the batt.

Click to expand...

And why wouldnt you if you wired in somewhere else?!?!

Straight from the battery is the cleanest possible source unless your running through some kind of filter.

Cobra 75s have a fuse inline on the positive lead, so making the extra run through the fuse block is kinda redundant.

What I did with mine was to run the positive to the power outlet (always-on, unlike the lighter) and ground to a screw running into the unit body somewhere in the tranny tunnel / centre console area. I installed my transmitter to the inner part of the centre console, so also ran a separate ground from it to the body. Works fine. 2000 Limited here, YMMV.

direct from the battery with good sheilded wire will minimise the RF in the system caused by interfierence of the motors and other things on the jeep that make CB's suck.

XJ_ranger said:

direct from the battery with good sheilded wire will minimise the RF in the system caused by interfierence of the motors and other things on the jeep that make CB's suck.

Click to expand...

Hmm, perhaps one could get the best of both worlds by doing this, but between the battery and the radio put in a shielded relay actuated by a keyed 12V source?

Would give clean power from battery for low interference, but the no-dead-battery benefit of switched power.

Gotta think about this some more...

Rob

I have the Cobra 76XTR.

I run mine straight to the side terminals on my yellow top and back. Through the firewall.

I use plain jane wire. Whatever gage was included with the kit, that's what I used to lengthen with crimp on connectors. I should have soldered, but I had the connectors on hand.

My antenna runs from the center console, under the drivers seat and up the b-pillar and out the door to the center of the roof. Mounted on a mag base.

It's been like that for 6 months of shutting the door on it every day several times per day.

It works and I get no noise and I can hear and transmit with it great.

I don't worry about leaving it on since I did once with my yellow top for a very long time and it still started right up.

If you want pics, I got 'em.

Installed the radio (Uniden Grant LT) when I first purchased the Jeep in Oct '97 and ran 12 ga wires directly to the battery with an inline 20A fuse. The radio is attached diagonally to the passenger side of the console. The antenna is a Wilson 1000 magnet mount with the coax run across the roof to the passenger side then down the back of the B pillar thru the rubber plug in the B pillar down the inside of the B pillar behind the seat belt retracter and along the door sill inside the dash panel and under the console.
The type of radio I am running requires more than the 3A that the standard AM CB radio requires....
This setup has worked VERY well for me over the years...

Charles

Dirk Pitt said:

I have the Cobra 76XTR.

I run mine straight to the side terminals on my yellow top and back. Through the firewall.

I use plain jane wire. Whatever gage was included with the kit, that's what I used to lengthen with crimp on connectors. I should have soldered, but I had the connectors on hand.

.

Click to expand...

This is a good starting point. For a cb I would use at least 10 gauge wire.

It would be a VERY VERY VERY wise move to install a fuse in this line AS CLOSE TO THE BATTERY AS POSSIBLE. If anything stupid happens you sacrifice the fuse instead of the whole Jeep that way. Passing thru an existing rubber plug is definitely my preferred way to get inside.

I haven't wired anything up in my XJ yet, but in past vehicles I have used the big fuse holders from http://www.partsexpress.com/ and a distribution block that takes a 4 gauge wire in and 4 up to 8 gauge wires out, they are less than 5 bucks apiece. Rather than spend stupid money on the fancy colored wire I use 4 gauge welding lead. You want fine strands for DC current, not the heavy stuff like home wiring. running both leads to the battery helps avoid alternator noise. If you nose around using Google you can find what some of the hams are doing with their mobile installs and get ideas. My 50 watt 2 meter rig started giving me closer to 60 watts out after I switched to the system with the larger wires. Then you have a nice source of 12v for things you use often enough not to hang them all from the cigarette lighter.
Oh, I also prefer to use the dual terminal batteries and drop off the sideposts for the accessory stuff. Not sure what I'll do in the XJ, not much room for the terminals on it unless I go to a smaller battery.