Best Place to Mount CB

Look up Trailrecon on YouTube he did a video on where he put his

Mandogus

Look up Trailrecon on YouTube he did a video on where he put his

thanks

It's a good video. I have that same radio MXT275) in my RAV4 and whats cool about it, it uses an RJ-45 8pin connector for the microphone so you can literally put the head unit anywhere and just run some cat5 from it. I mounted it in the rear of the car and ran the network cable up to the arm rest. Having a problem with this one right now, I suspect is related to the network jack I installed.

In my TJ, I put in the other version of this midland radio (MXT115). That one has the controls on the head unit itself, and uses an RJ-11 6pin connector. Slapping around in my rig offroading, with the weight of the cable hanging on the RJ-11 fatigued and broke the tiny wires so I had to crimp on a new end, and hot glued the cable to the connector. The original cable had a molded strain relief, but it just couldnt take the abuse.

My buddy has the MXT275 in his jeep, and it was mounted high as well, and the weight of that cable actually busted the female connector on the head unit.

IMO, the midland radios are just not durable enough for serious offroading use. They're great radios, but that's 3 out of 3 that have had some kind of issues. (Granted, the problem im having in my RAV is most likely my doing).

RuggedRadios has a GMRS radio that uses a more durable mic connector, and they also have one that is water proof, but you would be hard pressed to find an extension for the mic cable so it has to be mounted somewhere you could hear it.

correct me if im wrong but isnt CB "good enough" for this stuff?

GMRS is like a longer range radio and requires government approval?

isnt CB fine if you are just talking to each other in a convoy?

Mdbeachguy

correct me if im wrong but isnt CB "good enough" for this stuff?

GMRS is like a longer range radio and requires government approval?

isnt CB fine if you are just talking to each other in a convoy?

is dial-up internet still fine?
Times change, equipment changes, it all depends on who you are riding with, some clubs/groups have their standards to ride with them
GMRS is a very simple app process, that takes no time and you are then licensed and good.
Range all depends on equipment and terrain

ResidualGenius

is dial-up internet still fine?
Times change, equipment changes, it all depends on who you are riding with, some clubs/groups have their standards to ride with them
GMRS is a very simple app process, that takes no time and you are then licensed and good.
Range all depends on equipment and terrain

okay you didnt really answer my question so i will try again

CB is designed for people who want to talk to other cars very close by , and (in better conditions aka highways for which they were designed) longer ranges

GMRS is longer range , midway between CB and ham correct? so the only benefit would be if somebody trails off a distance (2 miles or something) and you need to stay in contact.

Also i dont like giving the government my name on technology use , nobody should.

Mdbeachguy

okay you didnt really answer my question so i will try again

CB is designed for people who want to talk to other cars very close by , and (in better conditions aka highways for which they were designed) longer ranges

GMRS is longer range , midway between CB and ham correct? so the only benefit would be if somebody trails off a distance (2 miles or something) and you need to stay in contact.

Also i dont like giving the government my name on technology use , nobody should.

OK, again ill say it sorry.... Range all depends on the equipment and terrain you are using and in. No matter if its CB or a GMRS
Sure if I have more watts than a CB but even with a GMRS, I can get farther on mobile versus hand-held given more watts and the terrain allows it.
GMRS is designed for short-range two-way communications basically line of sight, so the difference really is less traffic and more professional (IMO) on GMRS channels which is why clubs/groups use that versus anyone and their dog can jump a CB/FRS

Not like they're really gonna be able to stop you from talking on the radio without a license or restriciting the sale of the thing, just saying. Most people I hear on GMRS don't self identify with their call sign like they're supposed to anyway. I have a license because I thought it was a good idea to be official.

In practice, gmrs is easier to set up, and isnt as sensitive to poor antenna design or ground plane problems. I had a CB on my Jeep, worked okay but the 4' antenna was smacking off of everything constantly. Not to mention everyone else had GMRS walkies so I had CB and couldn't talk to anyone, except the occasional irate trucker who doesn't like "4wheelers".

Range with GMRS is selectable. You've got 5 watts on the lower channels (which is out of the box higher than the legal limit for CB transmission) and then you have a maximum cap of 50 watts I think for the higher/repeater enabled channels. The midland radios I mentioned before are only 15w transmitters.

FourWheelKyle

Not like they're really gonna be able to stop you from talking on the radio without a license or restriciting the sale of the thing, just saying. Most people I hear on GMRS don't self identify with their call sign like they're supposed to anyway. I have a license because I thought it was a good idea to be official.

In practice, gmrs is easier to set up, and isnt as sensitive to poor antenna design or ground plane problems. I had a CB on my Jeep, worked okay but the 4' antenna was smacking off of everything constantly. Not to mention everyone else had GMRS walkies so I had CB and couldn't talk to anyone, except the occasional irate trucker who doesn't like "4wheelers".

Range with GMRS is selectable. You've got 5 watts on the lower channels (which is out of the box higher than the legal limit for CB transmission) and then you have a maximum cap of 50 watts I think for the higher/repeater enabled channels. The midland radios I mentioned before are only 15w transmitters.

whats the fine if some dweeb on the trail gets you in trouble? i like the rugged radios. But im not paying the FCC some dumb fine because some dude likes callsigns so much he would tattle. Ham community is like this

The license is only $35 for 10 years. No idea what the fine is or how they would actually identify you, but maybe dont be a jerk on the radio and you won't have an issue?

Everybody knows GMRS is super local. Once in a while I hear some guys on ch 18 or 22 talking halfway across the east coast on repeaters, but they'll never hear me with my setup. Ham is a different beast. You can really reach out and touch someone there, and it also kinda has a feel of a tech/nerd club. Makes sense they would be protective of it.

FourWheelKyle

The license is only $35 for 10 years. No idea what the fine is or how they would actually identify you, but maybe dont be a jerk on the radio and you won't have an issue?

Everybody knows GMRS is super local. Once in a while I hear some guys on ch 18 or 22 talking halfway across the east coast on repeaters, but they'll never hear me with my setup. Ham is a different beast. You can really reach out and touch someone there, and it also kinda has a feel of a tech/nerd club. Makes sense they would be protective of it.

its just a political thing for me. I would get the license and pay the money except I dont want my name on some list the FCC has. I was asking for the $$$ fine because if its less than the cost of the radio its worth it for me

FourWheelKyle

Not like they're really gonna be able to stop you from talking on the radio without a license or restriciting the sale of the thing, just saying. Most people I hear on GMRS don't self identify with their call sign like they're supposed to anyway. I have a license because I thought it was a good idea to be official.

In practice, gmrs is easier to set up, and isnt as sensitive to poor antenna design or ground plane problems. I had a CB on my Jeep, worked okay but the 4' antenna was smacking off of everything constantly. Not to mention everyone else had GMRS walkies so I had CB and couldn't talk to anyone, except the occasional irate trucker who doesn't like "4wheelers".

Range with GMRS is selectable. You've got 5 watts on the lower channels (which is out of the box higher than the legal limit for CB transmission) and then you have a maximum cap of 50 watts I think for the higher/repeater enabled channels. The midland radios I mentioned before are only 15w transmitters.

Most of the folks I've rode with use CB. You can have your CB tweaked to get more distance. Is the GMRS the same as HAM radio?

Mdbeachguy

its just a political thing for me. I would get the license and pay the money except I dont want my name on some list the FCC has. I was asking for the $$$ fine because if its less than the cost of the radio its worth it for me

No, not sure exactly but FCC fines are $100's. I helped a SAR renew a license and it was listed but I got CRS on the non-important things.
And I have less to worry about with the FCC than I do on these forums, the internet, and our phones, shit even the Bronco LOL Cant easily track me on GMRS like other means

The guy in the video describes it best, get whatever makes the most sense for you and your friends. GMRS and CB share the same cabling and PL/SO connectors, so if you plan it right you could mount the antenna on the tail gate and easily switch antennas and transcievers for what you need for the day.

GMRS is an adjacent (not overlapping) frequency to one of the amateur bands, but its closer to TV frequencies. A lot of amateur radios can actually tune in to GMRS frequencies, but Im not sure if this is allowed.

ResidualGenius

No, not sure exactly but FCC fines are $100's. I helped a SAR renew a license and it was listed but I got CRS on the non-important things.
And I have less to worry about with the FCC than I do on these forums, the internet, and our phones, shit even the Bronco LOL Cant easily track me on GMRS like other means

well not to get political , but if one day the government decided it wanted to come after citizens , the first thing they would do is try to control communications. A nice handy list of people competent in off grid communications is helpful for things like that ;)

Mdbeachguy

well not to get political , but if one day the government decided it wanted to come after citizens , the first thing they would do is try to control communications. A nice handy list of people competent in off grid communications is helpful for things like that ;)

Well, to add to that if I am off-grid I am definitely not at my listed address so no worries there if they come looking from my listing LOL and given the number of frequencies available versus that of a CB, that one would be so much easier to "control" by the government

I think we've floated far off the original question. Use what you want/need. CB is fine if that's what everyone else in your group is running. If they are running GMRS, then you need that if you want to talk to the group. Personally, I have handheld versions of both just in case the particular group I'm running with happens to have one or the other. From my experience, the handhelds work fine as long as the group stays relatively together. GRMS works a bit better if the group spreads out too much. The question, however, was where to mount an antenna on your Bronco? One of the main reasons that I haven't yet taken the leap off a handheld is that I can't decide where I would want to mount the antenna, so I would love to hear from folks that have mounted an antenna. Where/how did you mount it, and how's it working for you?

Like mentioned above use what ever you feel is right. I plan on getting gmrs because that is what most clubs nearby use. Have small handheld for simple close talking better then hand signals. $35 for 10 years isn't bad, wish it was free but whatever.