How Do I Just Listen??

The converter has to be wired to the car radio ... but you are CORRECT about scanners ..this is why I said " Handheld with a magnetic antenna. LEGAL in Florida "

The FCC changed certfication requirememts in 1977 and nothing built before then was still llegal HOWEVER they openly do not enforce it ... SPARKOMATIC was one of the converters sold back then because it was a CB receiver it fell under the part 15 part of the rules and with the drop in cb sales and drop in cb prices made little sence ....

Our jail is full of people arested for having illegal scanners ..... well not quite ....In 20 years of workiing for law enforcement and 15 here at the jail I have seen 2 ( TWO ) arrested both were dealing drugs and using radios to spot the cops ....... unless they catch you using one to avoid the law your safe ......

 

My 2 cents on this subject....

OP if you just want to listen to what goes on channel 19, and not talk back, get yourself a scanner. I recommend a Uniden BC350C scanner. It's 5 3/4 long, 5 1/4 wide and 1 3/4 thick. It monitors CB, fire, ambulance, weather, ham radio from 10 meter to 70 cm...this unit is small enough to fit most any vehicle, and the supplied antenna is 2 wires on suction cups for stealth interior mounting. Plus it comes with a mounting bracket if you want to hard mount it.

Now if you want to be able to communicate back, if you're really tight for space in your vehicle....Cobra makes a 75WX that is basically a CB radio in the microphone....it has all the dials and such on the mic handle, and there's the guts in a separate box that mounts under your seat or under the dash. Only thing is you will still need to run a CB antenna to make it work. Since this radio is iffy, I'd run the best antenna you can. If you can swing a 102 whip, go with one of those.

The next step up would be a Cobra 19 or a Uniden 510. I'd go with the 510 over the 19 unless it's one of the really old 19's that they don't make anymore.

 

That is an option but I think the OP would be better off getting a low/mid range CB to monitor.Scanners have a very wide front end and would stop on the wrong channel while scanning.I'm sure even the cheapest CB would have better selectivity than a scanner and probably better sensitivity as well

 

I think Mad Dog has the best idea as far as performance. Use an antenna splitter like a FireStik AR-1A (or similar) and you'll receive better than a random chunk of wire lying on the dashboard and still have your be-bop radio in service. They're available for around $15, found it on a quick web search. AND to save a little space & bulk, if you're sure (at least for now) that you won't be interested in talking on it, just have a microphone plug with a shorting wire soldered into it so the receiver on the CB will work without having a mic plugged in. If you're not going to transmit, tune the antenna splitter by peaking the little adjustments for loudest/strongest signal as you listen to someone on the air. Keep the mic in the glove box, "just in case".
I've used similar couplers in the past, back in Fairbanks during the CB sorta-craze of the early 70s, and while they weren't as good as an actual CB antenna, they did let me get into parking structures without having something to unscrew or unstick or swivel down. For receiving local stuff, they were fine.

 

Get the little Wilson magnet antenna and a cobra 19 simple setup

 

You can get a Radio Shack 67" whip and a 5" mag-mount for about the same money as a Little Wil and you'd have a much better antenna setup. Before I got my 102, I had that setup and after adjusting it I was getting 1.1-1.3 across the board for SWR, range was excellent, both tx and rx.

Food for thought.