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CB Radio trouble

4K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  Orange02 
#1 ·
my buddy picked up a cobra 29wxnwst at a swap meet i while back and i'm having a little trouble with the power. the radio didn't come with a power cable so i order one online. from what i've read and seen on putting power into accessories all you need to do is shove the black and red wires in with a fuse on the fuse box but that doesn't seem to be working. The wires seem too fat and i dont really want to force it in there with a fuse incase it breaks or something. the radio isn't getting any power when i hold the wires there myself, am i missing a step? is there a wire i need to ground or a special fuse i need to buy? i tried it with a fuse i know gets power (the back brake lights fuse) but nothing happened. i'm starting to wonder if the radio is dead. if anyone has any thoughts on how to fix this or how to test and see if the radio is getting power that would be great! thanks in advance. *jeep wave
 
#2 · (Edited)
CB and ham radios should get their power directly from the battery in order to get enough clean noise-free power. Many of the fuse box circuits have a lot of noise on them from things like the fuel pump and alternator. Plus the battery is like a giant filter capacitor that is going to provide the cleanest noise-free power on the Jeep.

Solder/splice the Cobra wiring to a pair of 12 gauge wires that you connect to the battery. Install a 5 amp fuse into both leads (negative and positive) near the battery. The radio will likely have three power leads, a black ground wire plus a red and some other color that is for switched and unswitched power. The purpose being that the radio is shut off when you remove the ignition key. You really don't have to run the black lead back to the battery so long as you ground it well to a ground point on the body that you scraped the paint away from.

However, I would twist the switched and constant power leads together and connect them to the wire going to the battery's positive post. That way the CB can stay on when you shut the ignition off or remove the key. That is handy when you're using your CB offroad so you don't have to leave the key on to use the CB. The CB doesn't draw enough power so you'd have to worry about it draining the battery if you shut it off. It'd take weeks for the CB to drain the Jeep's battery, if not months, if you accidentally left it on and left the Jeep parked.
 
#3 ·
CB and ham radios should get their power directly from the battery in order to get enough clean noise-free power. Many of the fuse box circuits have a lot of noise on them from things like the fuel pump and alternator. Plus the battery is like a giant filter capacitor that is going to provide the cleanest noise-free power on the Jeep.

Solder/splice the Cobra wiring to a pair of 12 gauge wires that you connect to the battery. Install a 5 amp fuse into both leads (negative and positive) near the battery. The radio will likely have three power leads, a black ground wire plus a red and some other color that is for switched and unswitched power. The purpose being that the radio is shut off when you remove the ignition key. You really don't have to run the black lead back to the battery so long as you ground it well to a ground point on the body that you scraped the paint away from.

However, I would twist the switched and constant power leads together and connect them to the wire going to the battery's positive post. That way the CB can stay on when you shut the ignition off or remove the key. That is handy when you're using your CB offroad so you don't have to leave the key on to use the CB. The CB doesn't draw enough power so you'd have to worry about it draining the battery if you shut it off. It'd take weeks for the CB to drain the Jeep's battery, if not months, if you accidentally left it on and left the Jeep parked.
x2
 
#4 ·
Thanks for the help! i still decided to go through the fuse box and then grounded the wire to a screw near the radio. i don't have the radio mounted because i can't really find a good spot on the dash anywhere. i got a 26' inch antenna from walmart and that seems to be working ok. i can pick up the weather station but cant pick up any thing on the cb channels, not even static. does this mean i have to callibrate my swr? or is my antenna just too short?
 
#5 ·
Where are you trying to pick stuff up on the CB channels? It may be simply that their isn't anyone near with a CB radio. It seems like they aren't as popular anymore. If you want to be sure, a highway would work that has a lot of trucks passing because they still use CB's frequently as far as I know.
 
#8 ·
well i didn't ground the antenna, i didn't know i needed to, but i did ground the wire for the radio.I'll look and see if there is anything on the antenna i need to ground. As for picking anything up, i haven't been anywhere yet that would pick up truckers so i'll try it out and let you guys know. I'll be sure to mess with the squelch and rf gain as well. thanks for all the help guys!
 
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