DJ Dank Posted September 17, 2005 Share Posted September 17, 2005 Just installed my Uniden that I've had forever and mounted my 3 ft firestik in the hood channel. Got my SWR's all at 1.0-1.5 across all the channels. What really surprised me was how clear I could hear some of the people on the channels which and I asked them how far away they were and it was over 20 miles.... You guys getting that kind of range too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gabod7 Posted September 17, 2005 Share Posted September 17, 2005 i get a ton of miles with my cobra and 8 ft whip. not sure how many, but i've talked to my friend clear across the county with his whip too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted September 18, 2005 Share Posted September 18, 2005 I've heard guys talking about being on a freeway that was about 15 miles away, although that's in "the valley" in S. King County, WA where its really flat and long. Never really tested how far it goes though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vsicks Pathy Posted September 18, 2005 Share Posted September 18, 2005 Just installed my Uniden that I've had forever and mounted my 3 ft firestik in the hood channel. Got my SWR's all at 1.0-1.5 across all the channels. What really surprised me was how clear I could hear some of the people on the channels which and I asked them how far away they were and it was over 20 miles.... You guys getting that kind of range too? Thats fairly good for UHF but not good at all if it's an AM radio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pezzy Posted September 19, 2005 Share Posted September 19, 2005 (edited) It's not usual that we would get reception anywhere quite that far - usually the farthest is about 6 miles... We have had days we've heard people in Georgia though... Thats on a Uniden 520 Pro - I have a K40 antenna, and my hubby has a 8 foot whip on the X... Edited September 19, 2005 by Pezzy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KILLVOX Posted September 19, 2005 Share Posted September 19, 2005 Hey DJ, Your hood channel? Can you take a pic. or two? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slick Posted September 19, 2005 Share Posted September 19, 2005 best I ever got with my uniden in my semi was 22 miles....that was going across nebraska Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ Dank Posted September 20, 2005 Author Share Posted September 20, 2005 Hey DJ, Your hood channel? Can you take a pic. or two? Yup, give me a day and I'll snap some pics. Since internet is down at home...I'll up load pics tomorrow at school. Yeah its a Uniden 510xl...Got it for $10 off ebay. The mount was an MK174 by Firestik and the antenna is a Firestik II. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted September 20, 2005 Share Posted September 20, 2005 Mine seems to have OK close-range reception and transmission (up to about 5 miles or so), but if I get into hills it goes down to about half a mile tops. I've got a bit of a cut in the antenna cable, so I need to replace that pretty soon and I don't think that adds to it's TX/RX power... Uniden Pro 520XL with a Firestik II 4' fiberglass whip antenna. I snipped a couple of resistors inside to get about 5 watts out of it instead of 3-4. Of course, the extra power just goes into overmodulation so the high volume bits get nasty fuzzy, but hey. It still works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pezzy Posted September 20, 2005 Share Posted September 20, 2005 I snipped a couple of resistors inside to get about 5 watts out of it instead of 3-4. How long ago did you do that? We were looking into doing that (well, the hubby was - must be a male **POWER** thing... heh) but were told the Uniden 520 wont last long if you boost it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k9sar Posted September 20, 2005 Share Posted September 20, 2005 I had an old Craig setup with a kilowatt heater under the seat. On a nice cool morning, I could talk skip to the midwest (though not for very long as the atmospheric conditions constantly change). Nowadays, I have a simple 'emergency only' setup with a telescoping antenna and plugs into the cig lighter socket. I can easily get a couple miles if I actually put the antenna on top but I usually just lay it on the dash and chat with whomever I'm travelling with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ Dank Posted September 21, 2005 Author Share Posted September 21, 2005 Ok Killvox, here are the pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPath88 Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 I had an old Craig setup with a kilowatt heater under the seat. On a nice cool morning, I could talk skip to the midwest (though not for very long as the atmospheric conditions constantly change). Nowadays, I have a simple 'emergency only' setup with a telescoping antenna and plugs into the cig lighter socket. I can easily get a couple miles if I actually put the antenna on top but I usually just lay it on the dash and chat with whomever I'm travelling with. I have one a lot like that. It's been so long since I have needed to use it, I wonder if it still does work lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 Ok Killvox, here are the pics. I've got the same mount and location, only with a K40 4' whip instead. Dude in the shop brought up a good point about bending and hitting on trees and possible breakage since he saw it going on a lifted truck. How well does yours flex, DJ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pezzy Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 I've got the same mount and location, only with a K40 4' whip instead. Dude in the shop brought up a good point about bending and hitting on trees and possible breakage since he saw it going on a lifted truck. How well does yours flex, DJ? Are you worried about your K40? I have one, on the magnamount on the roof, and it's been beatin on by trees & branches, and drive thru overhangs (click! click! click! click! click! click! fwung!) Ive had no problems. we had a Firestik on the Xterra, on the front bumber - on a spring mount to help with flex in case of hits... If I remember correctly - we ended up taking the spring off - as the antenna swayed too much (I think it was a 6' antenna) and it was fine with branch hits & whatnot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 Are you worried about your K40? Not at all, that think couldn't be hurt if I tried. I was just curious about how well the Firestik would hold up as I almost bought one. But the K40 has worked out great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ Dank Posted September 24, 2005 Author Share Posted September 24, 2005 The antenna has some sway/flex to it. So far its been good. Branches haven't been an issue......yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gabod7 Posted September 24, 2005 Share Posted September 24, 2005 I've got the same mount and location, only with a K40 4' whip instead. Dude in the shop brought up a good point about bending and hitting on trees and possible breakage since he saw it going on a lifted truck. How well does yours flex, DJ? i have a 8 foot whip and a 4 foot firestik. i just interchange the them as needed. look into getting a good spring and it'll flex and bend like crazy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clayman Posted September 25, 2005 Share Posted September 25, 2005 http://rangerusa.com/amateur.html You should look into the Ranger 6 meter ham radios if you really want some range. They can do a hundred miles or better. They are ham radios.... but are easily converted into a cb by moving a few jumpers inside.... they're more or less made to do this from factory. And yes you should have a ham license to operate one but... if you 'wink wink' keep the power down to legal limits and stay in the CB frequency range you're legal. Just click the link above and check out the 2950,2970,5054... all conversion friendly. Take Care, Clay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gabod7 Posted September 25, 2005 Share Posted September 25, 2005 http://rangerusa.com/amateur.html You should look into the Ranger 6 meter ham radios if you really want some range. They can do a hundred miles or better. They are ham radios.... but are easily converted into a cb by moving a few jumpers inside.... they're more or less made to do this from factory. And yes you should have a ham license to operate one but... if you 'wink wink' keep the power down to legal limits and stay in the CB frequency range you're legal. Just click the link above and check out the 2950,2970,5054... all conversion friendly. Take Care, Clay how do they catch you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slick Posted September 25, 2005 Share Posted September 25, 2005 heyyyyyyy Mr where'd you get those headlight protectors... and do they make them for 92's style of square lights? sssh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBikeMike Posted September 26, 2005 Share Posted September 26, 2005 how do they catch you? Its the FCC, they are sneaky little bastards! I've been thinking about getting a CB, somone needs to justify it for me And where/how do you mount them inside your trucks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dowser Posted September 26, 2005 Share Posted September 26, 2005 When I bought my Rig it came with a Cobra CB. Can't even recall what model or anything but I can tell you one thing for sure. Talk about HEADACHE. Not much but static here in Northern Ontario. I occasionally hear someone talking out there but when I do hear them its like trying to drown out the static just to make out a word or 2. Hell even if I could here them I don't speak Trucker. :confused: So thats no help. My 6 foot antenna is mounted on my Spare Tire Bar across the Back. Keeps it out of the way of most obstacles in the Paths path. Mounted on the hinge side. If I could get a bloody camera that works I'd post a pic but your all out of luck till then. When I first go the thing I couldn't figure out why I couldn't hear any one. I spent a good week and countless hours while on the Highways trying to get someone.... anyone... Till finally someone told me channel 9 is for emergency use only and my shouting on the channel "PLEASE someone talk to me!!! PLEASE... I'm Lonely." would most likely get me a fine. :X Thats when I swapped it to channel 11 and WOW tons of uncomprehendable chatter. WOO HOO it works. Dowser. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pezzy Posted September 26, 2005 Share Posted September 26, 2005 (edited) I've been thinking about getting a CB, someone needs to justify it for me And where/how do you mount them inside your trucks? My excuses: Need it for offroading - we usually chat on the trail, point out obstacles, ask for a spot, general communication. CB is much better than the FRS's, as they have better range, and in our case most people in the club had CB's so it was easier... Club get togethers... I had a handheld cb for a while, but found it didn't get very good range, finally I gave in last year when we did the SOXC trip up to Manitoulin and got a proper one installed in the pathy. Our club is pretty chatty on the CB, so it helps the time pass by, plus its good if someone needs to stop, to let the convoy know when to turn, or that someone didn't make a light... Now that I've had it - I've been thankful to have it on the drive home... When we're not on a club event, I usually leave it on the trucker channel (19), usually on low. But I have found it useful when traffic is heavy, or blocked, so I can reroute and find the easier lanes/way home. Also, quite often traffic in the opposite direction will warn you of upcoming traffic problems, so if need be you can get off the highway & reroute. I've also learned a few new words & heard some interesting conversations on 19. Dowser, you might hear more on 19 for truckers, or 4 for Jeeps... if you ever see a line up of Xterras coming thru, try 24 oops: forgot to add how to mount in the truck: here's mine (99.5) also check: http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=3820 Edited September 26, 2005 by Pezzy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBikeMike Posted September 26, 2005 Share Posted September 26, 2005 AH HA! There is a use for that stupid little place under the radio. If I try and put anything in there, it just flies out, I've been keeping my cell phone headset in there, thats all its good for. So how much does a setup like that run ya? And is it easily installable? (It looks it, and I do stereos so....) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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