shawn0890ss

I JUST GOT A KENWOOD TK-862H RADIO AND I NEED TO KNOW WHAT KIND OF ANTENNA I NEED BECAUSE IT IS A PRETTY POWERFUL RADIO THE SPECS CAN BE FOUND HERE http://moradio.com/PRODUCTS/KENWOOD/TK762.HTML
ANYBODY EVER USE THESE OR HAVE ANY INFO AN WHAT IS COMPADIBL WITH IT?

WATRD

That is not a CB. For that radio, you will need a UHF antenna and a license. But, you won't be able to talk to CB's, they are in the 26/27 mhz range, not the 450-496 mhz range of your radio.

Poul D'eau

That's a ham radio not a CB radio. The frequency for cb is 27 MHz which is way lower than what that radio can do. Plus its FM cb is AM.

It looks like you need to get a UHF/VHF 70 cm antenna. Here is a link with info for that. Linky.

You might need to get a least a ham tech licence to use it to avoid problems with the FCC and other ham operators.

A Yotatech thread about Ham radios. Linky II.

Watch that caps lock.

Poul D'eau

DOH, turn away to answer the phone...

shawn0890ss

oh darn it i go tthis thing and its not even what i want. phooey! i dont wanna get a license to use it i just want a basic cb and antenna for my 84. i guess i could sell it on ebay. i was wondering why everywhere i looked to buy a used one was like 200 bucks. o well i guess if i make like 100 bucks of it on ebay then i could buy a real cb radio. who uses ham radios in vehical anyway? i thought they were only for nerds to sit in their basements and listen for aliens.

WATRD

Some of us might not take that the right way...

BTW, I believe you will find that the radio you bought is a business band radio, not a "HAM", amateur or "nerd" radio...

shawn0890ss

i know i didn't mean to offend anybody. i do know that some people do use those radios in their vehicles but nobody i know. also the radio was free so i can sell it and make enough money to buy a good setup offline or somethin.

but i did just get a COBRA 19XS CB radio from a friend who had it in his basement and i have an old cb radio antenna also but no base or coaxial cable.

Poul D'eau

Go to a truck stop and you should be able to pickup a mount and coax cheap. The best place to mount it would be the middle of your roof. But most people have an adversion to drilling the hole (myself included). The next best place would be on the middle of your bed rail right behind the glass.

Also get a spring for the antenna and make sure that at least 2/3rds of the antenna is above the cab. (if its shorter than that, to much RF will reflect back to the radio = high SWR levels = BAD)

shawn0890ss

ok well their arnt any truck stops near me and i dont have my license yet to go look for some so i wen to radio shack and got a cheapo magnetic mount antenna with build in coaxil so once i sodder togeather a connection for power i should be able to get it working. i do plan on getting a better radio and antena, soon but this will do for now.

Erich_870

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure these are often used by construction companies in thier dump trucks and work rigs for fleet management. They have much better range than CB's so the office can keep in contact with all the drivers.

Erich

bob200587

my CB has been pissing me off ever since I got it, placing the antenna and the unit have been problems, I'm actually considering just getting one of my handheld units and trying to make it work for emergencies.

Poul D'eau

What kind of problems are you having Bob? And where do you have the antenna mounted?

Jeffires

No offense intended, but if you ever have the misfortune to experience a natural disaster that renders nearly all cellular and land line communication useless, you will definitely appreciate this type of communication.

EDIT: I'm just saying look into getting a license or at least learning more about these radios as they can be a valuable tool.

WATRD

That is correct. With a subscription to a repeater or series of repeaters, companies cover whole states with those radios. But, without a repeater, they are good for less range than a CB, not to mention that they have to be programmed so that their channel numbers correspond with certain hardcoded frequencies.

The average off roader would get more use out of that radio by attaching it to a chain and dropping it off the side of a boat than they would as a radio.

Homer666

I don't believe that specific radio will access ham repeaters. The VHF amateur band runs between 144 and 148 Mhz. The UHF is between 430 and 450 Mhz. I'm not sure you can reprogram that radio to actually have access to Ham repeaters. You would need a completely dedicated "private" repeater to use that for long-distance operation. While there are thousands of VHF and UHF amateur repeaters across North America, I have no idea about the commercial bands (although I do imagine many are code-locked unlike the majority of ham repeaters.).

As a side note, most ham radios would be able to receive your transmissions but would not have the ability to transmit out to you (most radios have broad reception capabilities but strict transmission limits within the band plan). I can pick up the RCMP (Canada's national police force) when they are using VHF repeaters in the 154-155 Mhz range, but cannot transmit to them.

James

bob200587

half the time it won't come on. I have a small magnetic bottom antenna on the center of the top. My power wire comes disconnected from the fuse all the time. I have the unit itself shoved up under the dash below the CD player, but not in the DIN slot. I can't put it on the passenger side on the glove box cause every jackass that gets in is too stupid not to kick it or rip the wires out of the back. My antenna cord is too short to work from where I have it now, and I can't mount the unit in the ash tray slot like on 2nd gen 4runners because its higher up and the space behind it isn't as deep. I also have nowhere to hang my microphone, and it just lays next to the shifter being in the way. My external speaker is also shoved under my seat with wires going everywehre.....I'm just tired of fooling with something that never works right.

snap-on

i use my 2m mobile rig every time im in the truck. about 10 of us that make up some of the "core" of my local wheeling club all have ham liences and we can hit each other on them up to 10 miles away.

LOOONNNNNGGGG before your puny 4watt CB is going to be any good.

oh ya and there is that weee little thing like being the ONLY operational communciations net in the LA gulf reagon after hurican katrina for ohhhh about a month with (ya that includes fire, police, and medic). it was a good 2+ months before most civilian (read red cross) wasnt relying on the network of HAM operators for there day to day operations.

(i was within 2 days of going down and being a radio operator but the addtional call for help was cancled before i was up)

KC0TXH

Poul D'eau

I put mine up here just to get it out of the way. Also makes hearing it pretty straight foward.


I did have to add a 1' jumper just to make it to the back of the radio as my coax was short as well.

What radio do you have?

bob200587

I've got the small midland, I forget the model number. Did you have to drill to put that on the celing?

Poul D'eau

Not into the toyota. but I did on the sheet metal that I fabed up to mount the cb on. Its 16 gauge and cut out to fit between the metal part of my rearview mirror/map lights and the headliner. So its sandwiched up there. I'll try to take a better pic of it today.

Midlands have a so-so rep. Some are great and some have issues. Cobra is like that now (because midland makes their radios now-uniden used to)

The ironic thing is that cobras cost more than unidens?!?!?!

I would look hard at the uniden line (the elites are getting the best reviews as far as RX and TX) followed by Galaxy and then texas ranger.
But stay away from the handhelds. Unless you are planning on walking and need that flexability.

Lots of good info on this radio board