hooking up a cb (dumb question for sure)

I know this is an easy job but i have never hooked a cb or anything for that mater to the fuse box. So could someone explain. What else do i need to do for the cb hook up - tune the antanna?

Thanks

I just ground my cb to a screw in the firewall and ran the red wire to the aux. fuse. I got one of those antennas that stick to the window and just wired that to the back of the cb....

For the best, no feedback, reception you'll want to hook the power and ground to the battery.

Hook up antenna before turning on reciever, and don't coil up antenna wire... try to keep wiring straight as possible throughout the vehicle.

Tune it with an SWR meter, not what your ear hears.

The Tech and FAQ sections at www.firestik.com explains a lot about CB installation. Mostly it is just finding a spot for the radio and the mounting bracket, power and ground wire hook up, and following the antenna install instructions.

I have my CB fused but its directly to the battery so that the car doesn,t have to be running. And I grounded it to the bolt that bolts the seat down to the car. And I have a antenna mount on my hood and I ran the cable through the firewall. any other questions please ask.

First, you may find it useful to provide an auxiliary fuze panel for electrical mods - I do. You can usually find them at auto parts houses, but I find better ones at boat shops (and I've found even better ones - I'm thinking about starting to carry them.) This will make it easier to wire accessories.

You might also want to decide if you are going to have your CB "always hot" or "hot in RUN only" (you have to turn on the key to make it work.) For the latter, you can pull a "trip" signal for a relay from any convenient circuit under the dash - that's how I did it. When you turn the key on, the relay will close, and feed power to the fuze panel you add.

If you make it "always hot," you have to make sure you turn it off manually, or you'll end up with a flat battery.

Most CB antennas should come with some sort of instructions you can use to "tune" them - but you'll also need an SWR (Standing Wave Ratio) meter to do that job. It should also come with instructions - what you're doing, essentially, is fine-tuning the length of the antenna to more closely match the wavelength of the radio signals emitted by your transmitter (you don't have to understand why just yet - just accept it. When you get a chance, see if your local Radio Shack still carres Now You're Talking! - it's a primer for the amateur radio service Novice and Technician tests, and explains a lot.) I've not done one in donkey's years, so I can't give you any useful advice.

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I couldn't find clean power from anywhere in my cab. Even when I ran directly to the battery it sounded dirty. However, I had a little box up between the visors where someone tore out the insides (been told this was for keyless entry), I found power there and ran the CB from it and it's much cleaner there than it was anywhere else. Thought that was really strange but whatever. Mounted it to the roof and all is well.

Power filters can be had - check with amateur radio suppliers for those, or maybe stereo shops.

I'd be tempted to run it more directly than using an existing circuit - but i'm just cranky that way. Thus, I'd pull a circuit in from the battery, put a filter on it, and use that fuze block for sensitive electronics (like other two-way radios, computers, and suchlike.)

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