Update

After nearly a year of using the new Grant, which I really liked, one thing became painfully clear: it was just too large. My girlfriend Jan was complaining every time she rode with me, because between the more forward position of the passenger seat in an '86 body, and the package shelf with the Grant sticking out of it, she (fairly tall, at 5'7") was simply out of room. Taking care of the seats and finding a different, smaller radio became a priority.

Not being about to spend a significant sum of money on yet another radio, I kept looking around until I found a used Realistic (Radio Shack) in a local pawn shop. Very small, 40 channels but no single sideband, and with the external and PA speaker connections that I considered a must. It's adequate.

This radio is a TRC-481, and a little research on the internet yielded an added "bonus". I discovered mine had a replacement mic on it. The original included the ability to change channels from the mic, a real benefit considering I already went to the trouble of wiring a remote power switch for it where it would be more easily reached in the dash. A new, future project will be to wire in a remote channel selection switch where it will be close at hand, and perhaps a remote, dash-level readout as well. *Sigh* If only it had electronic volume and squelch, I could remote *all* of the controls and mount the transceiver out of the way somewhere in the fender well in the rear?

I also scored an new, smaller, external speaker recently (dirt cheap!) at the Pomona Computer Fair. It was originally intended for a cellular phone and is much smaller than those typically found at Radio Shack. Compare this with the original speaker, shown below in the original article.

Original Article

There's only so much you can do with 20-year-old equipment (above). I originally planned on using my old Cobra 138 CB radio in Suzushi, but a quick installation and test showed that wasn't gonna work. Only 23 channels, I couldn't get the VSWR to come down to any sort of useful range and the final straw, half the time it wouldn't transmit at all.

With a trip to the Rubicon fast approaching, it was time to find a new radio and antenna.

After browsing the web for a while, it became apparent that much had changed: instant Channel 9, dual channel instant-switching, automatic weather channel, 40 channels! Arrrrgh! Too many choices. At a minimum I knew I needed 40 channels, PA, and an external speaker connection.

Ultimately I ended up visiting a local CB shop, the CB Radio Store in Fontana, CA. There I got to see what was what, and talk with some knowledgeable folks about what might work.

My choice: The Uniden Grant XL. While the full-size chassis was a minus, the company's reputation as a reliable vendor and the feature set of the Grant more than off-set this slight drawback. The Grant XL has all the basics, plus single sideband (SSB) capability.

Uniden Grant XL Features

Firestik II CB antenna

The antenna was a much easier choice. I'd heard nothing but good things about Firestik antennas. Rugged and reliable, and available in a variety of sizes (even four different colors!), the Firestik had been mentioned to me by a number of people. I found a complete kit at Frye's Electronics. Kit FS4-64A8A came complete with a 48" Firestik II antenna, multiple mount (mirror, rail or side), spring, microphone clip and 18 feet of pre-terminated cable.

The fiberglass, wire-wound Firestik II has a great feature: you can tune it just by twisting an adjustable tip. For those of you that may have to deal with antenna length restrictions, it's also available in kit form in a 36" version (FS3-64A8A). Bare antennas are available in 2, 3, 4 and 5 foot lengths and in black, white, red and blue. All Firestik IIs are 5/8 wave antennas. Warranty is 5 years on the antenna, and 1 year on the cable, mount and spring.

Installation is straight-forward. I bolted my CB mount through the package tray, drilled a couple holes in the right rear quarter panel, just below where the top snaps down, for the antenna mount and put everything together and wired it up. I set the CB to measure SWR and then tuned the tip of the Firestik II for lowest VSWR. All done in about an hour and talking to a guy nearly 15 miles away on standard AM. SSB performance is far better.

By the way, my second choice for a new CB would have been the Cobra 75 WX ST. The entire unit fits in your hand, although it's a full-capable mobile radio -- not a hand-held -- with 40 channels, weather, instant CH19, and dual channel monitoring. The only things that swayed me away from it were that I wanted SSB and I know I'm hell on cords. Damaging the cord (only a matter of time with this boy) on the WX 75 ST would have meant no communications, whereas I know I could quick-splice the mic cord on the Uniden and get back on the air.