Merlin

yeah, 800w will pretty much drain your battery quick. to optimize your electrical system to handle that kind of draw, you'd be talking running at least 2/0 gauge cable to the amp, at least two batteries (or a maul), isolator, bigger alt (stock alt in the 3rd gen T4Rs wasn't very big), and your lights may still dim when you key up. lots of expense for something that you may not use that often.

welding a tab to the roll bar would give you lots of elevation, just make sure you get a good ground to the bar, and the bar to the truck. not sure what kind of ground plane you're going to have, though.

if you're going to try working skip on low power, you may want to consider a skipshooter (fiberglass antenna). they work well, can handle decent power, have a nice radiation pattern, and are flexy like a firestik in case you hit trees on the trail. skip also comes in and out of season, so it would depend on where you were and the skip action if we could hear you. also, if the big boys are playing on the band, they're working with well over 1kw, so they'll pretty much step on everyone who doesn't have at least as much power as they do.

it actually will help save your amp if you have your radio output tuned to match it. you don't want to try to drive a non high-drive amp with 4w off a stock radio - that's asking to damage things (unless it's a big amp that needs more drive). likewise, if you're running a big comp box that doesn't have a driver stage, you'll need to know what kind of a kicker to run. while it can work, it's generally not recommended to just hook up a cb to an amp and key up. SWRs are also more critical at the higher power levels as well.

hope this helps,

ozziesironmanoffroad

thats the thing about cbs i dont get. im gonna stay away from linears, 4-5 miles should be enough anyway. and if im gonna go fiberglass, shouldnt i mount it on the rear bumper? or on the bar would be best? and i have no idea how to tune CBs and swrs.

Merlin

if you're convoying around, 4-5 miles should be plenty.

you can mount a fiberglass stick anywhere, they come in different lengths. as long as the loading coil is over your roof, you should be okay (they're tuneable at the tip). rear bumper is a good, sturdy mount (you can use one of the holes in the rear step of the bumper, assuming you have a truck with a step bumper/hole for towing in the middle - just pop out the rubber plugs and the hole is about 1/2", perfect for a stud mount).

mounting it to your roll bar makes it easier to whack trees, drive throughs, parking garages, etc..., even a 3 ft. stick.

with a tuneable tip antenna, anyone with an swr meter (cheap at radio shack) can do it. adjust for lowest swr by raising/lowering the tip, and you're good to go.

tuning a cb in the sense of "peak and tune" refers to adjusting the VR inside to increase modulation or power output to provide more "clean" modulation or output. clipping limiters can increase modulation at the expense of a less clean signal (prone to "spatter" on a scope, or overmodulation).

GenXr

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116/cb-mount-121231/

I love my cb.