Who is a REALLY good installer of cb?

I've put radios and antennas for 3.5 to 29 MHz (1 radio, 100 watts); a stock CB; a 110-watt 53 MHz FM two-way, a 45-watt 146 MHz radio, and a 40-watt 440 MHz radio in my van. All of the coaxes run together (zip-tied into a bundle) away from the base of the dash console, up through the A-pillar, and back through the roof to their respective antennas. None of the radios are detectable on any of the others when I transmit, but I'm using decent coax and all the radios are tuned correctly.

As for leftover coax, as long as you're not running a "no-ground-plane" antenna, you can either cut off any excess coax and save the tiny amount of signal loss, or bundle it loosely in any shape that isn't tighter than the "minimum bend radius" specified by the cable's manufacturer.

There are some myths about the shape of the bundle, but they arise from the idea of making an RF "air choke" purposely to keep stray RF from traveling on the *outside* of a coax and either causing interference or fouling up other equipment inside the radio shack. Just keep the bundle(s) looser than the maker says, and you can stow it however you want. Personally, I always leave an extra two feet (if there's that much left after I make the antenna run) so I can get a meter onto it to test with later on, or in case I have to replace a connector that gets taken on and off a whole lot (like on a slipseater truck).
Aside from that, there's no magic involved in doing an installation, and doing it oneself is a good experience, even if you have to go to a shop to have the coax ends put on correctly and check the antenna tuning when done. Use big-enough power leads for everything, avoid sharp kinks and edges, and learn while you save $$.
Given the chance, I'll always help a customer save his hard-earned; sometimes *not* making an extra 50 dollars is good for everybody involved.
-- Handlebar --

 

Folks would save a good bit of coin if they would run 12' coax instead of the 18'
The old 18' rule needs to go away,12' is so much easier to work with and the wasted
6' bundle can be a thing of the past.

 

Nice ...... I had a RCA LBVHF unit back in the 70's it was 60 watts tubetype on my repeater it was a topshelf the new car makes it hard to go with things larger that my IC-706 .....

 

If it is coiled then that is bad regardless of the diameter of the loop from what I understand. Everytime I had a new coax installed it was 18 feet long and bundled together but not in a coil it was laid across and back and forth and so on then zip-tied. swr's stayed flatlined for years till normal wear and tear or weather corrosion made the swr's unstable. In fact the last time i had any installed was 6 years ago and it still works fine. Just my $0.02

 

I-40 in TN. Exit 163 CB shop about 40 miles west of Nashville. open 24/7/365 Been there a long time, so they must do something right. Never heard any complaints about them.

 

CB myth...Actually by coiling the extra coax up in a tight coil close to the antenna creates a "RF Choke" which can cut down on stray RF from the antenna getting into the electronics on your truck...Specially if your running a Amp, this comes in handy...Myth says it will cut down on your signal...Wrong!

Your signal is traveling at the speed of light, and it can't tell if the coax wire is laid out flat or coiled up in a little round ball...

As for a good shop to install your radio...IMO it's best to do it yourself...with most shops, "Time is Money" and they are not going to take the extra time it may take to run wires and cables so a install looks factory done...least not in most cases...

By doing the work yourself you save money, and you can take your time taring the cab apart to hide everything...Any 5th grader should be able to install a CB Radio...There's only two wires...maybe a couple of screws to mount the radio, and one coax cable hooked to the back of the radio.

"How difficult can that be to install?"

 

Why do folks feel they "still" need 18' of coax for a single phase mirror mount
application ?

 

Beats me...Maybe because when they buy a new antenna that has coax with it, it's always 18' worth...