UHF CB Radio Install & TIPS 

Love that wire offset cutting tip 👍

Good advice gents, and that's coming from a qualified comms engineer. Soldering is fine for cable to cable connections that "float". Connecting to fixed items, like a relay you must use a crimp connector as the solder can and does fracture due to mechanical vibration. You may want to consider "dual wall" heatshrink for those solder joints (and crimp connections). Its cheap given the small quantity required and it will seal the joint against pretty much everything. Cheers, gents and thanks.

Little antenna up high beats a low mounted high gain antenna everyday. Always been a fact, just not a trendy thing to do. This will video will change the trend! Well done 👍

Love the format and the dual perspectives. Much better than your average DIY segments on other channels. Great idea recapping the tools "back to the future" style so nothing is forgotten but we can gather ahead of time to follow along in the correct order. Showing them instead of listing them helps us overseas viewers that have different name's for the same tools.

Yellow tongue - Ronny “Can normal people buy this? “ Torben “ yep” Classic Great show fellas thanks

Greetings from Canada! Thanks guys for your fantastic contribution to the 4x4 / overland community. Will be hooking up a UHF unit to my modified Commander very soon . I have watched you for many years now along with another well known overland channel, the difference with your channel is that you remained true to us regularly Joe’s with lots of great DYI information. Unfortunately the other channel slowly became a fantasy builder of hard to afford Kit to mount on our 4x4’s ! Thanks for keeping it REAL.

Hey guys great vid. Here’s a tip . To stop your connector at the back of the unit shaking loose when travelling. Once it’s done up nice and tight a couple of blobs of neutral cure silicone will stop it from shaking loose. And you can get if off easily later.

Love the install videos... You guys work well together! Keep up the DIY!!

I know Andrew St Pierre White hates antennas & aerials on the front bar but I have a feeling you’ve just started a new trend 🤙

I'm the biggest fan of your work Ronny, I'm from Tunisia and I'm grateful for all your advice, it really helped me to understand off-road. Good luck for your work and if you want you can come to Tunisia to go on trip in the desert of Sahara

Diy electric is one of the most rewarding work you can do, saves you huge amounts of money on labor but you need to be sure how to do it right. So this type of video can be really really helpful for people.

"No one knows you've got a uhf" 2 ariels on the roof a dead giveaway

Honestly can't believe you guys just put out this video I'm going to get a UHF today.

Way better than any 4wd action diy video. Awesome job very well done video

Awesome content here Ronny, Big thanks to Torbs and yourself for your Shows. Keep them coming. I need all the help I can get with the black art of auto electrical.

BEST "UHF CB Radio Install & TIPS" video i have ever seen!! Thanks Ronny & Torben!! Would've loved to have seen just a little bit more on how you mounted that fold-down 90' mounting bracket to the platform. step by step would've been choice!! Love the video!

I like the roof top fold down antenna. I have a rear door mounted quick release so I have to remove it to get in my garage. The fold down is just as easy but stays on the vehicle. Great video.

Lovin’ the vids came from 4wd action been watchin all your vids. Really diggin the torque n 4x4 episodes

You are right on the money with your content Ronny. Fantastic video.

Another great video Ronny, these diy videos are very inspiring

Good tips. In your sit-down discussion, I'd recommend covering wire gauge for rated current for any wiring project. Also, all of your antenna mounts are grounded, but it was something that wasn't really mentioned. Getting a good ground plane on the antenna is a large factor impacting antenna performance. From a US HAM and offroad camping enthusiast, 73, de N0IV.

Antennas at 1.5m+... Even the antennas are being socially distant.

Great vid fellas, loving the info and banter, keep it up the good work..

Excellent video, One thing, the most important thing with any type of radio system is good low loss antenna cable. Good quality cable will make a huge difference to your signal strength.

If you put a rubber o-ring on the center pin of the UHF connector before connecting to the radio it cushions it and keeps a little tension on it preventing it from rattling loose.

I just picked up an 80’s era Uniden for $10 Canadian for my bronco sport Your videos were super helpful!

Great video mate, now I know and learn more the used of this radio... will install one on my rig next time thanks for all the tips. cheers mate!

You should film and make more DIY electrical videos! Great watch!

Great video, really useful. I love radios and comms in general.

The Magnet for the Handpiece. Best upgrade ever.

Great video! Doing my CB install this weekend. :) offset on the cable splice is a great tip. Will do that on everything from now on. 👌Thanks, Simon

I love that Fold-able C.B. Mount

I've got a special pair of cutters for zip ties that cuts them completely flush. No more ripping your skin off when you reach up under the dash. Bought it when I was rebuilding fraking trailers and its worth every penny.

I don’t even have a car😂 but I am saving your video to my “things to do when I get graduate “ playlist cheers

The little antenna that hes putting on the drivers side roof is a GROUND INDEPENDANT antenna which means you dont require to ground to the vehicle. The vertical on the passenger side is a GROUND DEPENDANT antenna which means you require to mount the antenna to something metal to ground it to the car. If your mounting it on the roof rack you need to make sure you ground your roof rack to your car for an effective ground situation.

Thanks guys great tips 👍👍👍 still got to but a CB in my 80 👍👍👍

Hi Bud tours around the hood .luv them I watched the whole the Tee hrs and couldn’t figure out to buy you a beer. Damn I’ll ask my son when he comes around how to do it lol . Keep them coming 👍

Excellent video boys, thank you, cheers.

You didn't discuss drip loops for outside to inside. The loom helps, but you can let the cable hang lower then the passthrough hole and put a cable tie on the cable to help shed water. Also, in the outside cable connections you can put di-electric in the connection to help keep water out and corrosion down.

I'm just about to fit one to my Prado. Good to see this Cheers

Great quality video! fan from UK

Great video guys. Thank you 👍

Totally fab, good on ya guys, nice one.

Excellent content, thank you

Hey Gents! Great tips & video, thank you! Ron, you made my day with your 'ever - ever - ever - ever' editing effect! Quite funny! :) :) :)

I like the magnet for the hand piece.

An analogy that we use to describe transmission pattern, is the balloon. Low db is like a round balloon, or a spherical transmission. Now flatten the same balloon between two flat surfaces, it flattens and spreads outwards. The flatter and wider it is, the higher the gain equivalent. Hopefully this can help visualize the concept.

awesome guys. thank you for doing this for the newbies. can you do a video on what reasonably priced 4x4 for a newbie please.

Love this. 2 things. Bullbar mounting: hit a roo and you broke your antenna. Hard to call for help. And cable across floor I'd hate to drop something heavy on that spot. (Remember screw with eye?) But great guide 👍

Nice work. A bit of blue loctite will help to prevent threaded connections from loosening up on those corrugated roads.

Cutting the wires offset is a brilliant idea

great work guys.

What do you think of mounting antennas on the roof with a rooftop tent as far as interface with the ground plane

Good video thanks for the efforts! Question, if mounting antenna to an aluminum roof rack which is mounted to an aluminum canopy do I need a separate earth feed from chassis up to antenna base? Or will it work fine? Thanks

Im surprised with all these HAM radio operators & engineers commenting on here no one has mentioned anything about Torbs statement about antennas throwing out "radio active" waves at 13:23. Would have thought he broke the internet with that comment but nothing. Good vid guys, looking forward to the range testing between the antennas.

Another great video Ronny and Torb 👍 2 quick tips you missed though - 1) when drilling metal above your paintwork, always put down a big piece of cardboard or a sheet as that hot swarf falling on your paintwork will do wonders for the clear coat 2) heat shrink those power and earth cables guys - just in case they run through. Oh yeah, and be careful pulling any electrical cable or antenna cable through freshly drilled holes in metal due to the sharp blurred edges from your drill 👍 Keep up the good work gents 👍👍 If people are after that yellow tongue plastic too, often timber yards may have some available separately or alternatively, keep an eye out on job sites as you’ll often see it in skip bins or on piles of rubbish. 😉

Great informative video. Do you have any additional advice for aerial placement for my 4wd which will often be towing a caravan. Keen that I can communicate with road trains etc behind me.

Great as always 👌

Good stuff guys just rewiring my rig please more vivid 👍 PS yes going to mic magnet for my CB

Saludos de Tlaquepaque Jalisco México excelente vídeo

So how did you connect the coax cable to the male screw in plug for the radio?

glad to see you showing everyone the little upgrades here and there that most people don't look at. a question I have is what is your personal opinion on CB vs Ham / or / as our buddy brad from trail trailrecon has. CB and Ham? I have done wiring for years and have learned 1# all ways get more wire then you think you need. 2# routing it smoothly and safely will help it last. 3# and you know you have done a great job when no one else can see what you have done.

Been swearing by the market for years and god it's the best thing ever

Good Video with loads of good advice BUT as an Hamradio Guy I can tell that Antennas where you are not allowed to cut the Cable are no good because that means that you have a lot of standing waves. That means that you have to cut the cable at a point where the SWR is low and on UHF that can be very critical and also dependent on the Radio AND it means that you have more losses in the cable than necessary. It is generally much bette if the Antenna resonant on that Frequency or matched by a matchbox (but than you need an Antenna analyzer or a SWR-Meter). I also would try to never solder anything on a vehicle. A soldered connection is much more likely to break from all the vibrations. I like crimping much better ;) For the upcoming talk you could compare a 12dB omnidirectional Antenna on a Car to a small, handheld directional Antenna (Yagi) with a small HT. You will be surprised! There is no use for Omnidirectional Antennas with more than 5dB of Gain on Cars!

Brilliant, at last a fellow sparky, great work Ronny and Torbs, gotta get myself a radiation hat , classic.

Hi Ronny. Could yo do a video on winter camp setup. For example: awnings dont go well in rain so how do you stay dry, how do you keep the moisture seeping in through the floor of your swag. Thanks

Could you get a signal strength meter and test the different aerials in different conditions?

Great video 👍

Nice install guys. just a couple of questions. Firstly, did you have to cut the hole in your roof lining (near you mirror) for your antenna cable, power etc, or was that already there from an accessory? Also, how does your radio work (transmit and receive electrical noise) with the antenna cable being up against the power cable, or does it only negatively effect the signal if it's running parallel with the power cables? Thanks.

How good are those XRS radios love mine some great GPS functions for finding your mates in the bush aswell...

Hi Rohny, Is it possible to install 2 aerials to suit hilly terrain and flat vast desert areas? Even if you have to physically swap the plug for each, or a switch between the two?

Hi, guys. Great video ! One thought, maybe you could add a link with the stuff you used, the yellow tongue, corrugated tubing, etc.

Great vid, thanks.

You can cut the cable to whatever length you need, it won’t make a difference in a 4wd application. You can even use extension cables and connectors mid line, you will start to see a reduction in performance but most people will not notice.

Hi, Questions. Is it safe to mount antenna above you your head or best to have it passenger side? Any tips for getting antenna wire into the cabin on a wagon?

Awesome video. But could you brush over where to get power, how and fusing and all that ?

Aerial brands? Preferences? Does it matter if the brands are the same for uhf receiver and the aerial itself? I am using a gme head unit 4500 and a uniden 3.1dbi fiberglass aerial.

Damn good video, as always. Thanks. Watched it for a second time today. As I live in Central America we have the 22 channels GMRS (+HAM) band only, and doing simplex with a handheld isn’t much to write home about. - But with the right antenna on the roof it’s a different ballgame. Might get a 15-50W mobile later if I see the use of it, which I don’t at this time. As for now I’m good with the 5W handheld with the antenna/-s on the roof.

Hi Ronny, the quality of the vids is really up there now 👍🏼 was wondering, want to install the RFI on the 2018 Hilux roof rack, does the rear wall have grommets?? Or should I go under passenger floor??

Good stuff!!

How much should people be spending on the uhf and antenna? How do you know what to look for in brands and all the different part/model numbers? Thanks for another great video

Good video, about a month too late for me as I did my one. One of the key bits of info besides putting the aerial on the roof was putting the aerial cable in the tube if it’s exposed to the elements. And I’ll add that I won’t cut the aerial cable after another RU-vid video said “no worries”.

Gentleman, what about mounting the antenna on a 76 series? Is the rear wheel carrier with mount (specifying the Kaymar bar with UHF antenna mount) a good place? If so , what length antenna ?

Hey Ronny and Torbs great video, just wanted to know if it's possible to wire a CB radio using a cigarette 12v plug to connect power to it? Thanks guys

Can you use some loc-tite on the coax cable so it doesn’t come undone through the corrugations , or would that somehow interfere?

What type of shrink wrap did you use, and did you use more than 1 layer, good vid guys, keep em coming!

2:25 ... Ronny's nail clippers... love it... esp Ronny's giggle in the background. Pretty much the set up that i am looking at (1x xrs370 6dB antenna). I need to figure out how to run the aerial on the roof of Subaru Outback... do you have any "neat" recommendations? Currently have the Rhino Pioneer Platform.

I like the mike to magnet idea but will it stay-put driving on a corregated road?

Great vid, i bought a gme raidio similar to the one you put on the centre console but in a bundle with an areal, my areal is very thin compared to the one you installed will this affect the signal?. Cheers

Another tip request, how best to run wiring from the roof into the interior without drilling holes in the body shell eg a 76 series wagon?

thnx for sharing guy's ,, I juse the plugs the one I juse my HF transmitter if you could place the antenne in the middle of the roof is the best spot

I will comment this under every video I have watched..

Have you used 2 antennaes on one radio with a change over between them? (E.g. a 2 db for tracks and 6db for highway)

where you removed the dash blank and used an insert that fitted in for the hand set to connect to, where do you get them from? looking at doing same to my 79. oops found it in your list of item installed RED XRS-RJ45, guessing that would work with a uniden unit

The antennas .. rule of thumb is 6.5db is good general use and 3db for bush or hilly environments The interference was probably from those solar panels The loss every time you add a conector is .2 db you wouldn't be able to tell the difference The reason you are getting better reception off the roof is the height and ground plane created by the roof I've installed thousands of radios and altered coax length with no issue

Nice one 👍

Thanks bro for showing tips, just quick question , how many stickers you put them inside your car on the roof? just curious ha ha

Can you do a dual battery setup for under the bonnet?

Just curious as to why you used 2 different types of radios (one hand held) and (one box controlled) rather than just having 2 new hand held ones? Also, will your set up now be just the small 2.1 and large foldable 6.6 on the roof? Or is the 6.6 interchangeable with another one which will be used? Are the antennas on the bull bar being removed?

Great video! Question though, where's that overhead console from? I'd love to find a similar one!