April 26, 2015

Outfitting the vehicle with a CB and preparing the 2M

Since getting rid of my old 1999 Dodge Ram Sport, I haven't re-installed my CB in my "new" ride; today that changed.  I finally installed the CB in my Suburban, but I put it up in the headliner, where I never throught I'd ever put a CB.  I'd assumed it was too hard to get power up there - but luckily I had a universal car door remote that I never used - which has now been replaced by a CB!  The headliner console thingy where you could keep your sunglasses has been permanently trashed in order to make room for the CB, but that's OK by me.


The CB is a Galaxy DX-959, putting out 3.8W AM / 12W USB/LSB.  With a draw of less than 4A at full TX power, I'm pretty sure the original wiring up there will be able to handle it - even though it was quite a bit thinner than the 14ga. I ran from it to the radio.  The circuit up there has constant power; so I have to make sure to turn it off; but I like being able to use it without the keys in the ignition.

I also picked up a 2M Band HAM radio a while back that I haven't mounted yet, but I did get the power running to it from the fuse block today.  The rig is a Kenwood TR-7400a, a ~1977-vintage 144-147.995 MHz (VHF) FM transceiver, that puts out ~25W High / ~5W Low. It pulls a maximum of 1A on RX and 4.5-8A for TX, so I'm going to need to make sure I power it from an apprpriate source and with a fused link. The idea behind getting it was to have something other than the CB that might be able to reach help if needed with a higher power transmitter.

Now that I think about it some more, I'd like a similarly old fashioned 10M mobile HAM setup in the vehicle at the same time for essentually the same purpose - Comms from remote areas, but haven't found a cheap old mobile one yet.

Useful Links:

Galaxy DX-959 Owner Manual
Galaxy DX-959 Service Manual
Galaxy DX-959 on eBay.com
Kenwood TR-7400a Operating Manual
Kenwood TR-7400a Service Manual
Kenwood TR-7400a on eBay

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