Comm's, Radio's, Etc.

I really don't do any wheeling with clubs or anything. Mainly just need a way for my brother and I to communicate. We had settled on a couple Wouxun GMRS radios. But the more I read, the more confused/undecided i get. One guy says cb would be better, one guy says GMRS. I have no interest in learning all about radios as a hobby. And without sacrificing too much, id really prefer not to have anything else mounted permanently in the truck. So what do you guys recommend?

 

Just get a good 2 way hand held set.

 

Any you recommend? We have a set of Walmart radios and the sound quality is pretty bad.

 

I never use my CB and use regular old two ways. I have a set of ancient Motorola's that have always worked great. Anything at about the $50+ mark will get you a reliable set.

 

The answer, really, is always the same - though what you get may not be!

Get whatever the folks you wheel with use.

The folks I go with mostly use CBs, so I got one of those. A few have Ham radios, so I also have one of those. No one has GMRS, so I don't have one. But if they all had GMRS, I'd get that and not have the other two. You see where I'm going...

As far as benefits of one over the other... the major benefits are:

• CB - no license required, relatively cheap, can be very conversational in communications
• GMRS - longer distance than CB
• HAM - more powerful - 50W vs 1-5W (so longer distance than anything else), can add functionality like APRS

And, if you're interested, here are a few posts I've put together on communications that could be useful for you. They have installation steps if you decide to install a non-handheld device, and links to radios that I've really liked. And of course, feel free to ask questions!

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I have a couple Midland GMRS/FRS radios. The GX1000's I think. They work great. I don't typically go with clubs or anything. The groups I've gone with are just been a smattering of friends, and friends of friends, and we've all used the handhelds. A few have CBs, at least one of them has a handheld HAM. But he's a gear junkie and likes techy stuff. We all still just use the handhelds.

You need an FCC license to operate on the higher power GMRS channels (1-9 I think), but the FRS channels are more than adequate if you're within eyesight of each other. The GMRS "license" is just a fee you pay, there's no test or anything like for the HAM license. I think it's good for 10 years, too.

I would say stick to a handheld. You can take it with you when you go for a hike or are spotting someone. You also don't need to bother installing/wiring anything, which is nice because I'm lazy. I recently got a couple 12v charge cables for each of the radios, rather than keeping a set of spare batteries around.

That said, there have been tons of threads started on the topic, and they all have pretty good details for the advantages/disadvantages of each comm type. I suggest reading thru them and decide for yourself what makes the most sense.

 

tldr version: drilled a hole in my steel plated bumper that is currently line x’d can’t find a ground anywhere. Ran a ground strap but can’t figure out where to put it.


Current setup :
Radio : Uniden 520xl
Coax : 18’
Antenna : Firestik 2 with Wilson HD spring
Power is directly connected to blue sea and grounded there as well.


Ok really need some help as Im stumped and aggravated at myself more or less.

I am installing my cb antenna. I’ve had cb in my truck since I bought it but recently bought a cap and had to relocate my antenna. I can’t get a ground to save my damn life.

Here’s the issue. I have my antenna mounted straight to my rear bumper. ( I already know it’s not ideal but that’s where I want it and I already drilled a hole)

I ran my coax 18’ from the rear bumper through the frame into the cab to the cb. The bumper is currently line x’d included the mounting legs. So it kills the natural ground to the frame. So I ran a 15” ground strap from the frame up to the cb stud. Still no ground. I’m receiving great. Getting out hell if I know. My swr is reading at 3.1 antenna is a Firestik 2 that I’ve had a long time. It has read on this same setup different location at 1.2 before on channel 1 and 1.3 on 40.


Does anyone have a pic of where I should have put my ground on the stud? I used this picture for reference and I grounded where the red circle is.


I should also mention I am not above scraping some of the line x off the backside of the bumper. But didn’t want to start ruining an expensive ass “paint” job if I didn’t have to

 

I think you're going to have to do some scrapping. Even if you had a long enough grounding strap to go from the antenna mount to a bolt that holds the bumper on, it would create a short because you wouldn't have a way to insulate the threaded stud (H) from the ground strap. What I would do, is scrape off some of the line-x on the underside of the bumper where the antenna mount touches the steel (make sure you use the nylon washer with the shoulder to insulate the threaded stud from the bumper itself), and do the same where the bumper bolts to the body. I have my antenna mounted to a ditch light bracket, and had to scrape paint off of that in order to get a proper ground.

 

Got it figured out. Had to move the antenna but it was an easy fix. I put a rubber plug and sealed it from the bottom and re sprayed where I scraped the line x off. I just have to make sure to put the antenna down before going in a parking garage now