So I was given a CB radio for christmas. I plan on installing it come spring, and was wondering what your recommendations are. I searched "CB Radio", but the search only came back with results with "Radio" in them, which made it fairly difficult to narrow down and find the CB-related options. I was curious as to how you guys hooked up the radio itself, and what your different methods were with regards to where/how to install the whip as well.

I'm fairly sure the model is the Uniden Compact Professional Mobile CB Radio (SKU: PRO520XL), but I'll check that once I get home.

Mine is about the size of an old CD Walkman, I was debating mounting it right up in the middle of the dash, where the rubber change-holder sits above the centre vents. Also, are there any advantages to different methods of wiring? Should it be wired to come on with the ignition? Or if I was to wire it directly to the battery somehow, this would allow me to keep the radio on at all times. Thoughts?

What about antenna location? Rear bumper, or rear roof?

I'll post all my install progress here, but was hoping to get some input first.

Thanks,

 

Obviously there is a difference from RR to DII, but concept is the same. I removed the radio, drilled holes, got creative with the Home Depot hardware section, and mounted it up. My thought for putting it where I did, is that if I ever wanted to move it, or remove it, the holes would be easily covered up by the little removable rubber trough thingy.

I mounted my 4' Firestick on the roofrack temporarily as the antenna cable I bought was too short to reach to the spare tire where I wanted it originally.

2011-08-26_17-50-21_634.jpg?t=1321897435

 

Looks clean. Any input on how you wired it to the vehicle itself? Electrics are fairly new to me with regards to vehicle installation.

 

Thanks. I direct wired it to the battery. Ran the wires between the dash and the windshield, then down the door jam area, then through a gasket below the steering shaft area. I've heard that if you wire it into the fuse box, you have an increase in interference.

I'm still having issues with my antenna ground so I can receive OK, but can't transmit out without a really bad squeal in everyone else's radio.

 

JMason,
You probably tackled this project already but if anyone else is curious on how to install a CB radio in their Rover another thought is to purchase a cigarette plug ($4 Amazon) and splice it to the radio wires. This way the radio can be removed and hidden when not in use.

 

Radio here



Route Mic to here, Love's sales a nice adhesive mic clip to prevent unneeded holes being drilled.


Run antenna wire underneath carpet to this point, route outside and immediately under bumper cover out of view



Buy one of these to mount your antenna with, any CB radio shop would have them, among other places ( A "firestick" style antenna or anything at all can be placed here in exactly the same manner.)

Mount antenna here (Oddly enough one of the few pictures where you can see my antenna.)

 

Excellent thanks for all the responses! I think I'll tackle this within the next couple weeks. Should be a fun little project. I've decided that I'd like to have the CB power with the ignition, as I worry that it may draw power when the vehicle is off, not to mention the risk of accidentally leaving it turned on overnight. Where is best recommended for this sort of connection?

 

I was playing around with installation locations today. I looked at putting the unit on the dashboard (up above), but decided I wanted something a bit more subtle.

I really like the idea of having it mounted on the side panels of the gear-selector area. I thought of putting it on the driver's side as pictured below, but realized after sitting in that side with it mocked-up in place, it would get in the way of my knees, as I like to rest my legs on that panel as I drive (I didn't realize I did that until now).



However, the passenger side I think works well. The unit I have comes with self-tapping screws, but I was curious as to whether these would provide adequate support? If I put it on this side (as pictured below), it prevents the glovebox from opening all the way. It still would open to allow for full access into the glovebox, but normally it would drop a couple inches further. As such, I was thinking of removing the switchpack and selector covers, and drilling a couple holes to put some small bolts and nuts through. This would provide a bit more strength I would think so that the CB mount could occasionally hold the weight of the open glove compartment. Additionally, I could run the power wires right in there, and back through the center of the vehicle for the rear-mount antenna and the power cables.

Then I realized that if I'm running the power cables back through there, I could theoretically hook them up to the 12V cigarette power source as well. Would this provide adequate power to the unit without too much noise and interference?



Lastly, for the mic mount. If I mount the CB where I would like to (pictured above), I was thinking of mounting the mic to the dash location between the center vents and the SRS panel. For this I would likely end up using the self-tapping screws provided, as I don't know how easy it is for me to get behind there. What I wanted to know is this; How strong of a location is this? The surface is soft (the leather cover around it is cushiony) and I don't know how much weight/clipping and unclipping of the mic that could deal with. Additionally, what is below/behind that? I don't want to accidentally screw the mic mount into something vulnerable behind it.



Thanks,

John