CB Converter Install Questions

[DonQuiXJote]

Hi all, I just wanted to get some extra eyes on something because I'm a functional know-nothing when it comes to electricity. I picked up this Sparkomatic CB-10 AM to CB converter at a secondhand store and it seemed pretty plug and play; on/off switch a sensitivity knob that I assume controls something like squelch. You hook it up between the antenna connectors by the passenger fuse panel and run the red wire to power. So I did that, running the red wire to the leftover hot wire from when I swapped the passenger cigarette lighter for a USB socket (link to relevant thread - link to my very professional diagram of what I did). The wire coming out of the CB converter seems like it might be the next narrowest gauge from what I hooked it to behind the dash there, and I was wondering if that's going to be a potential issue, and if so, what I can do about it short of popping the converter open and trying to put in a new one. I'm more than happy to splice it in somewhere else too, but I'm not going to start digging around in the dash for wires until I have a little more of a direction.

Not really as dire as the above, but I was also wondering if anyone with more radio experience than me (ie more than goofing off with a handheld GMRS) has any advice on whether these converter things are even worth running and what might improve performance (other than the obvious, getting a real radio + antenna). There's a blurb in a Popular Mechanics article on these things that mentions they get a lot of static interference when the car's running, but I'm not sure if fixing that is within the realm of posibility.

 

[Rob Mayercik]

Interesting. A quick Google search turned up an ended eBay listing with good pics, and from what I can see it's receive only (so no transmit), and it's crystal based (CBs haven't used crystals in a while, and from what I remember from my late father's HAM experience they can drift off-spec over time).

I'd not be too worried about the wire gauge, since this is receive only, it's not going to draw much power. If it had transmit capability I'd be concerned.

Any CB can be susceptible to static from the other electricals/electronics in the vehicle, a good ground close to the unit will help a lot with that.

I don't see any way to select CB channel either, so there'd be no way to tell what channel you're listening to, unless the one I saw on eBay is different to what you have. You might have to pick the channel by changing the crystal, if it came with a manual you can check that.

Seems like a bit of a gimmick device to me, and limited compared to a real CB and proper antenna. That said, let us know if/how it works - in some parts of the country the CB band is pretty quiet, so if you don't hear anything, see if you can find someone with a full radio to compare against.

 

[DonQuiXJote]

Interesting.

Unfortunately it came without the manual, but I found the chart of frequencies (CB 19 = AM 1220). Drove from Western NC down to the SC lowcountry over the weekend and kept it on 19 the whole time, minus a few times seeking through the AM channels when we ran into or passed big traffic with lots of trucks. Got absolutely nothing the whole time, not even a warble (tho I didn't expect to get anything until we got clear of the mountains). I wouldn't be surprised if it's something in the converter gone awry considering it's five decades old. Is the crystal something I can just swap out if it's gone hinky?

Wiring held up fine. As far as the static and grounding it goes, the unit itself doesn't have a ground wire, just the two cables to loop it in to the antenna-to-radio cables and then the wire for power. I'm pretty foggy on electronics so not sure how to go about doing that past the step of finding the metal to ground it to.

I guess I'll have to track down somebody with a radio to know for sure!

 

[Tim_MN]

You have a low cost item that was often sold on final pages of magazines alongside the SeaMonkeys, X-ray glasses, and Ant Farms. I would suspect the 1970's electronics may have failed from age. Even if everything works perfectly the reception range is very limited.

With satellite radio, WiFi, GPS, and cell pones, CB radio is seldom used anymore, and driving hours and hours and not hearing anything is normal. Perhaps you should look at a used CB radio and a CB dedicated antenna to have the best CB reception. I used to see garage sale CB's for $10-25 often.

I still have a home CB station and CB's in my vehicles, but they are not turned on very often anymore.

 

[DonQuiXJote]

You have a low cost item

Yeah, I suspected as much might be the case. Well, at least I've got a cool box if I ever want to gut it and use it for something else. Might consider installing a full CB rig later on, but I don't do any trail riding or anything like that, so I suppose with what you mentioned about it being practically obsolete it probably wouldn't be worth the money unless I can find the stuff cheap at a garage sale like you mentioned.