Good/bad cb shops in central NJ?

Discussion in 'CB Radio Forum' started by barrier12, Sep 27, 2014.

  1. barrier12

    barrier12 Light Load Member

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    I picked up used Cobra 29, it is in good cosmetic condition, but I have no idea whether it work. This is for my car, so no need for peaking etc. I guess I will stop at cb shop to buy antenna with magnet mount and hopefully they would be able to tell me what I got(whether it work).

    I was thinking about Wilson's Little Wil or Wilson 500 with 3'-4' whip. Or those smaller/cheaper antennas should be considered as well?

    Suggestions both antenna and shops wise, please?

    Newport Bay on Rt 18 in East Brunswick, NJ?
    Alan Radio on Hermann Rd in New Brunswick, NJ?

    Thank you.
     
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  3. Big_m

    Big_m Heavy Load Member

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    A small antenna does not work very well on the CB band. For the most past you will only get 12 miles or less. And a small antenna you may get about 1-3 miles. What vehicle are you installing this?
     
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  4. barrier12

    barrier12 Light Load Member

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    Thank you for your reply Big_m,

    It is for midsize car.
    I thought 2-4 miles of acceptable quality reception/transmission was normal range for regular(not peaked) CB radio. Do I need 12 or so miles?
    And another question, as I understand permanent antenna should be grounded, how it works with magnet mounts?
    Should I buy spring?
    Another option-one of my neighbors is CB guy, he have antennas on his vehicles and house, I was considering to ask him, when I see him next time.
     
  5. handlebar

    handlebar Heavy Load Member

    2-4 miles between mobiles with decent (i.e., fairly tall) antennas, mounted high. Yes, it's hard to beat an antenna that's mounted through a properly installed hole mount through a metal roof. With a magnet mount, the capacitance between the feedpoint's hot lead and the proximity to the steel roof surface approximates an RF "ground", or counterpoise, but the distance involved still makes for a pretty loose coupling of the RF signal to the roof. And remember, even a mylar sheet on the magnet side of a mag mount will still trap water and dust, eventually etching the paint, and the paint will not fade consistently with the un-mag-mounted roof. Better to just drill a nice 3/4" hole and install an NMO-style mount. It's low profile, and can be used for VHF/UHF antennas (should you or the next owner so desire) better than a 3/8-24 thread stud.

    If you buy a spring, it should be either to lengthen an antenna that's 4-6 inches too short to be resonant, OR to help preserve your antenna should it strike a relatively non-moving object just a few inches above the base. I personally use Com-Tel/PC Tel/Maxrad/Larsen (now Laird) clone antennas, base loaded, with tapered stainless steel whips. They hardly ever break. There's a reason you see them on lots of public safety vehicles :)


    Do yourself a favor and avoid, at all costs, a "CB shop" who goes by the handles of either "577 Jersey" or "Tomcat-something-or-other". He made a name for himself over on CB Tricks, doing hack jobs for truckers going by near his house on the Turnpike. He was, essentially, a completely untrained fan of the CB Doctor (RIP) and extolled the virtues of the NPC-RC and famous "red wire on the bottom". His only service instruments were a pair of flush cutters and a $29 CB SWR bridge and "RF power meter", with all the accuracy that can be imagined in a sub-$30 device.

    He left CB Tricks after several months of being called on his self-aggrandizing ads and parroting back of what he'd read three posts earlier in a thread, and appeared shortly after on Mauldroppers.com. His brand of "turn it til it hurts" was welcomed briefly, and he was quickly run off from there.

    These days, he shows up back on CB Tricks as 577 Jersey, having purchased an entry-level Griefkit signal generator for "aligning" CB receivers, but still extolls "Swaaaang" as the superlative measurement of good TX audio.

    To the credit of most of the techs on CB Tricks, his posts are mostly ignored there unless he asks a legitimate question.

    I guess we all have a starting point in our learning, but his seems to have been by butchering radios belonging to drivers with whom he'd never have to deal again.

    HTH
    73
     
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  6. barrier12

    barrier12 Light Load Member

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    Thank you Handlebar,

    I would like to do as least harm as possible to the radio I bought; if it is regular/normal working, I would be ok with it reaching 2-4 miles or so. Although if somehow it was already picked and tuned, it would be extra bonus(but I doubt).

    On whether to drill a hole..., I do not know, I would like to do it right way, properly mounted, as you said, as other folks here mentioned, with fuses, from battery, but as of now it may be just cigaret lighter(with fuse), magnet mount. But I would think about it.

    Thank you again, I hope someone would say something about those two places I mentioned, are they good, bad, so-so? I understand they are not on interstate, so only local drivers might know.
     
  7. kor b

    kor b Light Load Member

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    One thing you could do is go to Facebook and friend FINETUNE CB he has a mail in cb business and seems to be legit.
     
    Last edited: Sep 28, 2014
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  8. barrier12

    barrier12 Light Load Member

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    Thank you for the suggestion Kor b, honestly, I do not want to deal with shipping/peaking/updating etc. If the radio I bought is alive(not broken), I'd rather just buy an antenna from the store, which would check/tune it for me and be done with it. Not sure whether I should go with Wilson 500, 1000, K40 or check mentioned by Handlebar NMO things.
     
  9. barrier12

    barrier12 Light Load Member

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    Small update and question.

    I bought antenna with magnet mount, it is sealed(new, NOS), but old style one,I hope someone still remember it and would chime in and advise, ARCHER 21-960. I got it for cheap($10), hoping use at least whip off it.

    Is it something worth even opening? Or better to go with more modern stuff(Wilson, Cobra, K40, Sirio)?
    I would guess it can be used, but distance and quality would not be too good.

    Thank you.
     
  10. Big_m

    Big_m Heavy Load Member

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    I ran the Wilson 1000 & 5000 for about 17 years very good antennas. But I now run Sirio 5000 PL's (2 of them). And they beat my Wilsons by about 10 miles. When I did a side by side test on my mini van.
     
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  11. Mad Dog 20/20

    Mad Dog 20/20 Heavy Load Member

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    Is BuzzBros CB shop still open In Jersey? He was a good no BS tech.
     
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