CB issues in an International Pro Star truck

I just got a 2014 pro star. The plug for cb install is one green wire and one white. Which one is hot and which is ground

 

I forget. And you should check anyway. Go to Auto zone and buy a cheap test light, they come in handy and they are easy to use.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/201025954488?lpid=82

 

green is hot, white is ground

 

Same issue. Thanks. Also any idea why I can't hook mine up at all in my Nat w/o tripping the breaker. Either way I hook it up (red to green or red to white - although I now know green is hot - thanks for that) as soon as I plug the connector into the back of the radio TRIP goes the breaker and my radio is off when I plug it in. My radio seemed to be working fine when I took it out of the KW. It's a 25 amp plug in type breaker in the fuse panel. I thought about just buying a 30 amp to see if that worked but this International has enough electrical "issues" (my only beef with it - that and the roof leaks and runs down the inside of the top console and drips on the dash in a fine mist or heavy dew, if I'm sitting - heavier rain or rolling it doesn't do it, but I've had KW's and FL's do the same thing). Figured just upping the breaker might lead to more issues. LOL.

 

I don't care what colors your wires are, you should always verify the hot and the ground wire if you don't want to be on here asking "what happened to my radio." May never have a problem, but if you verify your hot and your ground wire, you know you won't fry anything.

 

I know this thread is many years old but it's still in need of expertise from a highly experience Prostar Owner...

It's NOT a grounding issue. Costs only $12 to prove this by buying a multimeter and running tests.

The Prostar issue is that International installed a AM/FM splitter devise that forces the CB Antennas to work for the radio at the same time. A very stupid idea. Between that and the mirror assembly (assuming yours had Antenna Mounts installed inside the mirrors like my Prostar) there's 8 breaking points in the Coax rather than just 3 being the connectors. That's a simple yet lots of loss power.

It's best to just install new mounts on the top mirror bars, plural because you're better off with Dual Antenna in any semi. Route new coax. Tune and check VSWR. Should be perfect!

BTW, using the mirror bracket bars you no longer have a need for ground wire because the bars are the ground. Use aluminum mounts not steel. And get a cheap $12 dollar multimeter! They're extremely easy to learn and use for testing every part of a CB System and NEVER take it out of the truck or at least ALWAYS keep it with the CB.

 

Dude, there are two types of grounding in a radio system, one is a DC ground and the other is an RF ground, You can not test an RF ground with a multi-meter.

 

DC Ground is the Negative wire coming from the CB Radio!

RF Ground is what comes off the Antenna!

And yes you can check both using a Mulitmeter. Never depend on a test light because just the slightest bit of short in the resistance can be too small of current for a test light and then you're stuck still trying to figure out why the VSWR is still off thinking there's no short when the short is still right in front of you.

Never Half-### anything. Do it right the first time and relax soon after that way you're not wasting time for days one end on something that could've taken only an hour+/-

 

I own a 2016 Prostar. I've most recently gone though this. Don't believe me then look up "AM/FM/CB Prostar"!

I installed my very tuned and amped classic 10 Meter Galaxy DX 88HL SSB Radio pushing 200+ watts in my Prostar with lots of head scratching till I suddenly realized there's no AM/FM Antenna on a single Prostar yet always great signal on FM stations. Then I got a hold of the CB Cable Diagram and there was the ONLY issue! Stereo was sharing the Left CB Antenna and the TV was sharing the right CB Antenna. That's not bad ground noises I was hearing on all CB Channels instead it was other radio waves that a CB can't decode, duh.

Also, never ever ever use a factory hot wire they put in place for a CB. There's tons of lights and such using that same hot. Route a new Hot straight to the battery and place the Negative (DC Ground) as close to the CB as possible. Grounds always need to be as short as possible otherwise the energy the ground is suppose to get rid of just sits there in a longer wire and will also cause bad VSWR readings and will just keep getting unnecessary interferences.

One more thing I want to mention because even most CB Shops neglect to learn this one. Know the difference between a 10 Meter Radio aka SSB and a CB Radio. Most Antennas are only for CB and not SSB. SSB Radios are much more powerful off the shelf than CB Radios meaning you'll need an Antenna specifically designed for a SSB. However, if the Antenna, Wilson T5000 for example, being designed for SSB you can also use it with a CB even though that's too much Antenna and a waste of money for a CB. But it won't work trying to use a SSB on a CB designed Antenna and too small of an Antenna can gradually kill a SSB Radio because it hasn't a powerful enough Antenna to push. And you really don't want a much more expensive SSB got to waste over something that simple.

Anyways, I finally decided to join this Forum Site and I hope I can help in any way I can. If anyone needs to ask me anything about new trucks with bad CB issues I'll be glad to help.

 

I will repeat this, Dude, there are two types of grounding in a radio system, one is a DC ground and the other is an RF ground, You can not test an RF ground with a multi-meter.

I understand where you are coming from but the fact is that the grounds are not something that you can figure out with a meter. It takes a little more than that.

OK looked it up, and?

OK ...

Yep this is on my macks and Western Stars, nothing new. We just bypass the system and stick an antenna on the right side of the truck. Works good.

OK, but you should keep the ground a ground and not worry about anything like SWR readings but the ground has nothing to do with it. If you are getting noise through your positive side, then you need to add a filter to the line.

OK ... BUT ....

10 meter radios are junk.

CBs are made also as SSB radios.

Well that's really kind of really wrong.

The mode of transmission in the 11/10 meter band isn't effected by the antenna as one would think like say 2 meter, where verticle is better for SSB and horizonal is better for FM (or maybe it is the other way around? ... who cares?)

BUT that said, power is also not an issue.

Glad you did, maybe you can talk to Rabbi about these things.