In October I'm gonna be travelling from Newcastle to Adelaide for a wedding. We're going to take two cars, my TE and my Dad's BA XR6. So I'm gonna put a CB in my car and just wanted to run my plan by everyone here and get some advice and suggestions.

Unit: I'm looking at getting the Uniden UH090 which is a combined UHF/27Mhz AM installed unit (I believe dingo once mentioned that his Dad had one of these in his Patrol). This will be installed under my stereo using the DIN kit. I want to be able to operate it without having the ignition in ACC, so I'm thinking about using the power from the hazard light circuit or, maybe, the constant power from the radio, suggestions? Is this a bad idea? I don't really want to have to run another cable direct to the battery. I have decided to use two separate aerials instead of the combined one available, as I have some kick-ass AM CB whips in the shed and prefer the idea of separate upgrades, etc. The reason I would like to get the combined AM/UHF radio is because I own a handheld AM unit (which is great for convoys), but my folks have a UHF in their 4WD and my sister has an AM CB, so I figure I can be the "middle man". lol

Aerials: Okay, here's where it gets tricky. The aerial mounts need to be relatively easy to remove. I know that the best place to mount an aerial is above the 'B' pillar as that is the highest point of the car, and thus should give the best gain and coverage, right? The problem is I will not be mounting anything directly to the body of my car, it's just not an option for me, so there will be no ugly antenna mounts permanently mounted on the bonnet, boot or above the side pillar. And a magnetic base is also out of the question, I have had bad experiences with scratching. So what I am thinking of doing is cutting a piece of flat steel about 400mm x 70mm and drilling a 25mm hole in the centre of it so that I can attach it to my towbar between the tongue and the towball. I can then drill two more holes and mount the two aerial bases to the steel, run the aerial cables thorugh the centre console, under the back seat and out the boot. When I don't want to have the aerial mounts on, I can easily remove them.

So, can anybody think of a better place to put the two aerial mounts (remembering that it must be outside the car, and not bolted to the actual body of the car)?

And can anybody suggest a place that will give me an absolutely awesome deal on this kind of package? I've been checking out prices at www.prestigecom.net.au (http://www.prestigecom.net.au/) and they seem to be very reasonably priced. I don't mind buying online, but if any of the Newy boys can suggest a retail outlet, or work for a retail outlet :cool: could you post some details. Thanks.

Just got an online quote from Prestige Communications: $502.00 for the UH090, the DIN mounting kit and a CB6 1630mm UHF Kevlar aerial. What do you guys think? All suggestions and advice are welcome.

Thanks everyone!!

I've been looking at the same CB set at Dick Smiths - they were doing $498 just for the set. I reckon 502 including aerial and mounting kit is a good deal. Let me know how you go as I too have been lookingat non permanent mounts. I was looking at a rubber backed removeable mout to go on my boot.

Show pics when complete too please? I'll be interested to see how it all goes.
Dave

$498 just for the unit?!?! :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:
What a rip-off, check out that website I posted, they seem to have really good prices and they are always doing package deals and free shipping deals. I've emailed them for their best price on the package I put together.

I have been doing some research on Uniden CB units and have found some interesting info: Apparently their units do not always put out the power claimed on the box (one guy said he tested a supposed 5W unit at only 2.7W), and they need servicing every year to maintain their highest output power. The dillema I'm faced with is they are the only brand who make a UHF/AM 27MHz combined unit.

And, as for the antennas, I'm kinda worried that they will be too low if I mount them on the Towbar, but I'm not exactly after mind-blowing distance coverage, but I would like to get the most out of whatever unit I end up buying. So, that's why I'm looking at getting the (very long) 1600mm UHF whip, and the biggest AM 27MHz whip I've got is about the same size.

Yeah, I'll put up some pics when I'm done. And I apologise to everyone for asking about CBs, I know there's been lots of stuff put up before, but the new search feature won't let me learch for 'UHF' or 'CB' - apparently they're too common or short, what's up with that?

Crumbs $348 for the unit, RRP from Uniden is $495. I will be doing a little more homework now! Ears have pricked up but wallet is sagging.

Just went and got some quotes. alked to a CB installer. He's recommended against a towbar mounted aerial, saying it's gonna cost heaps to custom make a braket and raise it to be high enough to get coverage. He stated a simple glass mount would be cheaper and more effective than one on the towbar. I'm gonna go with a glass mount - it's 3DB gain, more up than forwards (I think) but I'm on open and dirt roads most of the time, not in the mountains or forest.

I've decided to go with a GME 3200TX unit too.

Dave

The main problem you may have with two aerials side by side is cross talk or the like, one overpowering the other. What sorts of distance are you really after? If you were after doing a towbar mount, don't drill into your towbar to mount it between the ball and the car, put your flat bar under the towball. If you either drill a really big hole for the towball itself, or just a cutout, you will get good grounding, etc. If you don't drill a hole, but just use a cutout, don't tow anything at the same time.

I used my AM CB with a 90cm whip mounted on the towbar using a piece of aluminium shoved under the towball, and had no problems with reception. The aerial didn't even protrude over the roof. The other option you have for a removable one is to get an angle bracket and a longer piece of solid-ish metal, and bolt the angle bracket to a tow hook with the other piece poking out far enough to clear the bumpers. You could then put one aerial on the front, and one on the back.

Have fun, and drive safe, it's a long trip.

New plan: Trunk lid mounts, rubber backed to prevent scratching, I got the design from Diamond Antennas K400 series (and the idea from Preacher Man), but I'm making my own. I'm gonna make two, one for each antenna on opposite sides of the boot, which means they should be well out of the way of each other. Thanks for all the suggestions by the way, I appreciate it.

As for the towbar mount, it would have been a piece of flat steel that could have been mounted between the tow-ball and the tongue (hence the 25mm hole in the centre, and it would've needed to be 400mm wide so the antennae didn't obstruct the number plate). So, assuming a piece of flat steel costs me no more than $20, I don't see how that's expensive, but it would be too low to make the most of the unit.

Preacher Man, keep me informed on how that window mount goes. The only reason I've decided against something like that is because there are only low gain aerials available in that style (which are good for mountainous terrain, but I do a lot of highway driving, so I wanna go 6dB/9dB interchangable). And the GME's are a top unit, much better than the Uniden, but they don't make a combined UHF/AM, otherwise I'd be going with a GME as well. Don't pay any more than $299 for the GME 3200TX though, that's the cheapest I've seen it for.

89GSR, yeah, I wouldn't drill into my towbar, I'm not that silly. And I guess for AM the towbar would be okay, but UHF is much more directional and I don't want to restrict my range just because it's the easy way out. Thanks for your info though, that's the kind of stuff I was after. Yep, it's a long drive alright, and we're doing it in one day, probably leave here at 3am, aiming to get there around 8:30pm. 5 drivers, 2 cars. Should be okay, we've done it before in one day with one car and 2 drivers.

If anybody want to see pics when I'm finished, let me know.

yeah, mounting on either side of the boot will be fine for cross talk... its only from around a foot or closer that it becomes a major problem!

are you making the mounts to fit to the boot or just to the side of the boot? would be good to get some pics as i'm sure others would be interested in such a mount!

I have used a magnetic mount system many time and just slap it on and rip it off, no scratch's as of yet.

But anyway the "crosstalk" you speak of is because for optimal performance of the radiating element of the antenna's must be kept atleast 1/4 of the wavelengh apart from one another.

This means on UHF 470mhz no other antennas within about 15inch's radius, but with 27Mhz CB this is harder because the wavelengh is somthing like 10 meters!

But because we are not silly, did you not say you where getting the combined Uniden unit? so you cannot really Transmit of UHF and listen on CB both at the same time so the problem is going to be what exactly?

I made up a special bracket for my GSM antenna that I could slot in to the window once that would raise the antenna above the roofline, it took 5 seconds to install and remove and left no marks.

Hell I am actually selling my GME car mounted radio to buy an ICOM handheld, if you are in convey with another car the ICOM handheld will go many Km's and with an external antenna the range is even greater.

good luck.

I had a UHO90 in my GU Patrol. They're an excellent unit - and I can highly recommend them.

But having said that, I wouldn't install any UHF in my Magna at all. If you are only going to be using it for convoy work, use a hand held.

I have a pair of 0.5W hand held 40ch Unidens and they work really well. They've come way down in price now, and you can get TWO of them for around $100. That's one in each car - jobs done for $100 ;)

They have all 40 UHF channels, so you can talk to people with mobile rigs, and they work fine in convoys. We've used ours heaps, and they work up to a couple of Kays no trouble. You don't have to worry about installing them or mucking around with aerial mounts - you can take them with you and go fully mobile, and you get around 20hrs from each unit on one set of batteries. I use rechargeables in ours, and easily get the 20hr+ usage - just recharge overnight when necessary.

We just went around Tasmania on four motorbikes using the Uniden 0.5W handhelds, and they performed flawlessy! Just used an earpiece and throat mike which plugs in to the top of the unit, then put the handheld in the pocket of our jacket. The throat mike/erapiece was around 30 or 40 bucks from Dick Smith. I bought the genuine one from Uniden for about $100! and the Dick Smith job worked much better :nuts: :D

If you need more distance than that there are many higher power handheld options available that come in heaps cheaper than the UHO90 (or other fixed options).

And....for what it's worth, I've owned numerous GME's and Unidens, and have found them BOTH to be excellent.



:D

Well alot of people use AM anymore :confused:

but remember CB can be very noisey when the motor is running compared to UHF

on a side note, I played with a Am Cb set sat by the lake one night and listened to a converstation, but it was different, it was between a guy in Melbourne and a guy in Queensland.

Skip, just one advantage to AM :D

Yeah, far fewer people are using AM these days than UHF. UHF is much more popular. Sure you get skip etc...but hey, we're talking about a convoy here :P

Anyway, Damien said he likes AM because some family members have it, but I'd still say going the hand held UHF option is much more versatile and cheaper. :)

Haha, I'd totally forgotten about this thread. It's been a while since I checked it. Thanks everyone for your replies! There's some great info here, and I've spent the last couple of months thoroughly researching this stuff, so now I'm up to scratch with it all, and have made a few crucial decisions along the way. New plan altogether, but still going the installed unit.


Cheers guys!