Cb Radio: A Guide For Beginners

The first thing you need to do is choose a CB radio handle

. To announce yourself to other CB users, a handle is anonymous identification. Your handle should be unique, but otherwise could be anything. Voices are heard, so age and sex may be readily identifiable, unlike the Internet, where the gender and age of a person is unknown.

The handle you choose should not have been chosen by anyone else, but reality suggests that, since there are no lists of handles, that some duplicates do exist. In the past a legal call sign or license identifier was required. Thankfully, that is no longer the case.

When choosing a 'rig' you will get one of the two types. Mobile, using a 12 volt power source or CB base station using 110 volt house current. A mobile may serve for both by adding a 12 volt supply in the house. Regardless, separate antennas will likely be needed.

Mobile radios may be vehicle mounted or hand held. Installation in a vehicle is fairly simple. Many plug into a cigarette lighter socket. Position is important. It must be easy to reach and see without interfering with driving, and you need to connect an antenna to the radio. Avoid blocking hand brakes, shift levers, and keep away from heater outlets.

Read the instructions. Is your vehicle positive or negative ground. Lift the hood and see which terminal of the battery is connected to the frame or to the engine block. That is your ground terminal. Most cars are negative ground, but exceptions exist and some trucks may have a positive ground. Your new radio may be badly damaged by an improper connection.

A simple method of installation is to add a plug to go into a cigarette lighter socket. This allows easy installation, easy removal and the ability to use in different vehicles if you aren't always in the same one.

CB radios are small and light and targeted by thieves. Some mounts let you slide the radio in and out and others require the use of a key to take it out. Removing your radio from sight is the best prevention of theft. There are disguised CB antennas that look like car radio antennas to further avoid tempting thieves.

A receiving antenna is not as critical, but a transmitting antenna uses the car or truck body as part of theantenna system. Experimenting to find the best location for the antenna is recommended once you know more about how it works. Using a corner, or the front or back may produce a somewhat directional function. A typical installed antenna is a 100 inch whipmounted on the back bumper. Some antennas have magnetic mounts. They will stay well in winds of up to 120 mph if mounted on a flat, smooth metal area of the vehicle.

Once you have some experience, you will likely end up with both base and mobile CB radios. Then enjoy the company at home, around town and on the highway.

by:Tom Thors

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