CB Radio in the jumpseat console

HeySkippyDog · March 22, 2019

I want to add a CB to my 2017 K2, and wonder if you guys have any input on my intended method.

I would like to put the radio unit in the jumpseat console, for two reasons:

1. Clean installation with no permanent holes

2. Inside that console, there is 12V power and 3.5mm aux audio port

I plan to power the radio with the 12V cigarette lighter-style port, and then use a male-to-male 3.5mm audio cable to connect the audio-out to the truck, so that I can get the audio through the speakers by selecting that audio source through built-in methods. The handset cord and the coaxial would then come out through the front in the little clearance cutouts.

I suspect that I might have some RF noise on that audio cord, and plan to tune the noise out with snap-on ferrite cores.

Has anybody tried this? Any reason why it would not work?

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thheat · March 22, 2019

I did something similarwith a vhf radio.

HeySkippyDog · March 22, 2019

Are you getting what you expected with regards to audio through the aux port?

I don't want the radio squawk full time. But I do want the ability to check it when I'm about to choose a significant portion of my commute route. By having it as auxiliary audio, I can quickly switch between AM/FM/XM or my bluetooth audio.

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thheat · March 22, 2019

I wired an external speaker and velcro'ed it in the tray on the back of the console and works fine. I primarily use mine during hunting season. The radio is also velcro'ed in.

Ravenkeeper · March 22, 2019

I ran mine (on my '15) off the DC outlet in my (full) center console box (up through the "cutout" to the radios), CB/Scanner sat in the deep "pocket" just forward of the center console box, external speaker just forward of the cupholder (which was in the forward-most position), and my antenna was on the forward right stake hole (in the bed). My antenna cable went through a hole I drilled in the center console, to where my radios were sitting, under the carpet to a drain plug (which I punched a hole in), through the drain plug to the right "longeron" (long frame), back to the forward support tube/rail for the bed, and up through the stake hole to the antenna/mount. My mic was magnet mounted to the driver's center vent.

HeySkippyDog · March 22, 2019

That's kinda how I'd have it set up if I had the full console to the dash and not a jumpseat.

I'm fairly confident I can get it running in my jumpseat console. I also ordered an SWR meter. The little Uniden I ordered doesn't have one built in. Fine with me, it's a roughly 4" x 6" unit. More compact is preferable so I can still use that console space for other things.

I plan to use a magnetic antenna and put it on the roof. The goal is no permanent modifications. Something I can easily move. If the SWR isn't quite right, I'll move it.

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HeySkippyDog · March 28, 2019

Radio arrived today, I put it in as described, and it works!

SWR initial reading was 2:1, but that was doing a test in my driveway. Need to take the scenic route home from work tomorrow to dial it in. 2:1 is a little high, but usable. Hoping to get it lower with antenna adjustment.

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Ravenkeeper · March 28, 2019

3 hours ago, HeySkippyDog said:

Radio arrived today, I put it in as described, and it works!

SWR initial reading was 2:1, but that was doing a test in my driveway. Need to take the scenic route home from work tomorrow to dial it in. 2:1 is a little high, but usable. Hoping to get it lower with antenna adjustment.

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What antenna/configuration are you running? Where did you mount the antenna? Definitely retune it out in the middle of nowhere.

HeySkippyDog · March 29, 2019

What antenna/configuration are you running? Where did you mount the antenna? Definitely retune it out in the middle of nowhere.

+100 on the SWR. I knew that going in. I drove out to the sticks on the way home with an SWR meter hooked up inline (my little Uniden didn't have one built in). I started on channel 19, since that's my primary and close to midrange on frequency. Adjusted my antenna to about 1.1 SWR. Checked channel 1, it was at 2 SWR. So I adjusted up another 1/8" and rechecked. 1.2. Switched to channel 40, got 1.1. SWR is good. So I did a voice transmit test and picked up another radio about 10 miles out and confirmed signal.

You are gonna laugh. This was a Uniden PRO505XL with a 2' Tram center-load antenna bundled from Walmart. It cost about $25. I bought an SWR meter for another 25 from a separate source.

However, I found that with an aux cord plugged into my console to the radio as an external speaker, I get an RF howl through the truck speakers on transmit. Happens with engine off and engine on, so it isn't alternator noise. So i disconnected the aux cable to just use the built-in radio speaker and it was fine.

So i figured i was getting RF on my audio line, as my power connections were the same in both configs. I put some snap-on RF chokes at either end of my audio cable. Still howls.

I have read that RF noise can come down your microphone cord and make the stereo howl unless you have a microphone with HF filtering.

I'd rather listen to music than sit there in silence so I gave up using the truck speakers and I listen to music and wait for the radio to squawk separate.

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HeySkippyDog · March 29, 2019

Here's my setup. The antenna is magnetic, sits on the roof about midway over the rear section of the cab.

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HeySkippyDog · March 29, 2019

My SWR meter is tucked in the top of the console and lets out the coax through the channel already given.

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Ravenkeeper · March 29, 2019

Even if you have a SWR built in, I would still use an external one. 10 miles? Wow, that's really good. Hoping to have mine in/up/running by summer.

HeySkippyDog · March 29, 2019

Even if you have a SWR built in, I would still use an external one. 10 miles? Wow, that's really good. Hoping to have mine in/up/running by summer.

Yeah man. I made a transmit check, asked for location and he was an easy 10 miles from me.

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Ravenkeeper · March 29, 2019

Before my wreck, I caught a great skip, talking with someone in NM. Last local guy I talked to was between 6-8 miles west of me, and I was in the middle of Lancaster, about to eat breakfast with the family, when I got off work (worked graveyard at the time).

HeySkippyDog · April 2, 2019

I haven't tried looking for people on Skip, I understand you want to use the higher channels for that.

In my work commute I drive a fairly long stretch of I-95, and there are a plethora of CBs running on channel 19 for traffic reports or the occasional report of a well-endowed female motorist. [emoji1787]

An 18-wheeler hauling 2 backhoes had one of the booms up too high and it struck an overpass, creating a traffic nightmare. I knew about it well before Google maps did from the radio.

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