CB installation update
I've been using the Midland 75-822 handheld radio with the mobile adaptor for about a year now and finally had a chance to add a dedicated 12V outlet (wired to the aux battery) and RF port.
Original CB set-up:
Midland 75-822 CB radio
2-ft Firestik No Ground Plane (NGP) antenna kit
Bandi mount (by AP)
I studied BigBill25's write-up prior to installing the Firestik on the Bandi mount and chose to route the RF cable through the rear door harness for a cleaner appearance to minimize cable pinching. What a major PITA!! I did drilled two holes (one for the P-clamp) on the rear door and installed a grommet to route the antenna cable through the door and used one P-clamp.
The yellow band around the base of the Firestik antenna denotes that it's a NGP design. I chose this type of antenna so I don't need to worry about grounding the coax and antenna to the FJC chassis. It's important to remember that with this design, the antenna cable length cannot be shortened since the length is matched to the antenna (tuned circuit). I used a SWR meter and tuned the Firestik (best match was 1.2:1 and worse match was 2.5:1).
New addition:
Marinco 12V receptacle (purchased from West Marine)
UHF Female to Female Bulkhead adaptor (purchased from Powerwerx)
UHF Male to Male adaptor (purchased from Powerwerx)
Installing the 12V receptacle and UHF bulkhead required removing the top center console trim. The UHF Male to Male adaptor was screwed onto the Midland mobile adaptor's UHF connector. The antenna cable and outlet harness were both zip-tied to existing harnesses to prevent potential interference with the transmission and transfer case levers. The red cap shown on the UHF bulkhead connector protects the connector contact from contamination.
The Midland CB is shown here connected to the 12V source and antenna.
There's enough slack in the CB cables to allow either driver or passenger to use the CB.
