Removing antenna from liftback...

[Sodium Duck]

I did it. Then I put a plastic plug in the hole and epoxied it into place.

There was a thread about it a while ago before the hack, but the pix and info are now lost. Pretty simple though, you just drop the back half of the headliner and unbolt it.

*waiting for CB antenna's to arrive*

[Sodium Duck]

I lay claim to being the first... muhahaha!

[Sodium Duck]

It's been a while now, so I thought I'd make an update. Absolutely no problems, leaks, rusting, etc. I'm very happy with it.

[custom Lftback]

that looks nice! I would have gone with one of those shark fin antenna's imo.

[Sodium Duck]

Before the hack, I explained what my intentions were... I'm going to be running dual antenna's off the side cowl pieces, the triangle thing in front of the side view mirrors. One will be for my CB, and the other will be for my AM/FM radio, 4-footers each ! =]

[custom Lftback]

oh ok, awesome! good luck!

[Reddog99]

The stock antenna is crap, mostly, just too short. I have station dropouts and static all over the place compared to my Ranger pickup. I'd be interested in seeing what you replace the stock antenna with, that's something I'd like to do.

[Sodium Duck]

Maybe somebody here knows. Can I use a CB antenna as an AM/FM antenna? Or are CB antennas tuned to the CB band, and unable to pick up AM/FM frequencies. I know there's splitters out there, so you can use your AM/FM antenna to transmit CB... *shrug*

[battleversiontc]

i would go buy touch up paint and paint the cap so it blends better

[Reddog99]

My understanding is rudimentary, but generally, the antenna length should be some even multiple of the wave length of the frequency you're transmitting on (you've probably heard of 1/4 or 1/2 wave antennas).

Antenna length is much more important for transmitting than for receiving due to the power involved and such things as voltage, impedance, and the SWR (standing wave ratio). Thus, a 1/4 wave CB antenna is about 8 1/2 ft. long (I don't remember exactly, but it can be calculated), and an FM antenna is 39 inches long , and your cell phone antenna is only a few inches long. The wave lengths in the examples given are progressively shorter, so the antennas can be shorter. An ideal AM radio antenna would be about 1/4 mile long!

For receiving only, generally, the longer, the better, within the same rules as for transmitting, but breaking the rules only results in decreased sensitivity, not a burned up transmitter. Thus, the stock Yaris antenna is about half the length it needs to be, resulting in crappy reception. Toyota has installed an in-line amplifier, but you can't amplify what isn't there.

So, to answer your question, yes, you could use the CB antenna for the radio. I've never done it (or heard of it), and how you would handle the splitter part, or if a splitter would work (with the transmitter), I don't know. I would guess that the CB performance would be compromised too much to make it worthwhile. :thumbdown: On the up side, a long CB antenna would probably give you a good boost to your AM radio reception! :w00t:

You'd be better off having a separate antenna for the CB & radio. Less complication & better performance.

[bzinn 1]

Yes it can be done......my dad did it in the truck.....he is dead now so I do not know how he did it.

Many truck stops have tune shops for CBs and if you goto one they can tell you exactly what to do.

[rningonfumes]

Hope this helps you:

http://www.firestik.com/Tech_Docs/am-fm-cb.htm

[Sodium Duck]

You guys got a lil confused. The CB and AM/FM are going to be separate. The left hand side of my car is going to be for my CB antenna -- going straight to the back of the CB unit. The right hand side of my car is going to be for my AM/FM antenna -- going straight back to the stereo.

I brought up the splitter because I thought maybe somehow there was something different about recieving the AM/FM band on a CB antenna, like the splitter maybe converting something. I duno.

I shot off an email to Firestik as well yesterday, so hopefully they'll e-mail me back.

I have sourced out an antenna Firestik makes that is specifically for AM/FM, but the only one available is the 4 foot version. The 3 foot version is discontinued, and I think after the 4 foot one is gone, then they'll all be gone for good. I can't find them anywhere else on the net.

I've been going back and forth on whether to have 4 foot or 3 foot antenna's. So I haven't purchased anything yet. But based on what RedDog has said, I think I may just go out and buy 2 Firestik CB antenna's and see what happens.

[Bob_VT]

DO people actually still use CB's? I considered my need for a 2 way radio years ago and went and got my amatuer license. Ham radio is alot more powerful and has more uses. One of my current radios is about the size of a pack of cigarettes and my range is limited to 100 or so miles.

[Sodium Duck]

I really thought about doing it, expecially since you don't have to know morse code anymore...

I duno, my primary use would be for cruising on the highway and talking to truckers. I assume they all still use CB? Or is the trend now in getting into HAM based rigs?

[Bob_VT]

Actually cell phones has bumped alot of radio traffic. Yes there are truckers who use Ham too but most used CB and linear amps. Back in the day I used CB's and linears too but I once fried the ECM on a ford I had using one.

FOr the tech level morse was not required anyway.

[Sodium Duck]

Are linear amps legal to use if you have your HAM license?

I think I'll just stick with the plain ole CB for now.

[Sodium Duck]

Just checked up on a CB forum I post at. They say I can use a CB antenna for AM/FM, so I'll be ordering 2 antenna's soon. Woot.

I'm going to go with either a 3' or 4' Wilson FGT, going to a Uniden PRO538W, for anyone interested.

Anyone have a comment on what size to get? I propped a tape measure on the side view mirror at 3' and 4'. I like how they both look and still can't decide.

[Bob_VT]

Well if you are going CB do not skimp on the money and go SSB Get a good side band unit. Galaxy or Ranger are top units.

[Sodium Duck]

Isn't SSB outside of normal 40-channel CB bands?

[Bob_VT]

SSB Upper side band/Lower side band yes but your range is alot greater. I would guess for your purpose stay with a regular CB but I do advise the upper end uniden or cobra that has mic gain.

[Sodium Duck]

Yup, the Uniden has an RF gain, plus PA capabilities -- ooo. And it's DIN sized, with a front firing speaker, which works out awesome for me.

[CTScott]

Just checked up on a CB forum I post at. They say I can use a CB antenna for AM/FM, so I'll be ordering 2 antenna's soon. Woot.

I'm going to go with either a 3' or 4' Wilson FGT, going to a Uniden PRO538W, for anyone interested.

Anyone have a comment on what size to get? I propped a tape measure on the side view mirror at 3' and 4'. I like how they both look and still can't decide.


For best reception a dipole antenna's length should be a fraction of he wavelength (1/1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8. etc.) of the signal. Considering that FM radio goes from 87.5 - 108.0 MHz:

1/2 Wave Dipole Antenna
87.5 MHz: 5ft 4 - 3/16in
108.0 MHz: 4ft 3 - 31/32in

3/8 Wave Dipole Antenna
87.5 MHz: 4ft 0 - 5/32in
108.0 MHz: 3ft 3 - 1/32in

Most vehicles which have a whip antenna, use a 1/4 wave dipole (@~97 MHz) which is about 29 inches long. When you are tuning over range, you usually try to select an antenna length in center of the band.

CB runs from 26.965 MHz to 27.405 MHz. An 1/8 Wave antenna would be 4ft. 3 - 21/32in @ the center frequency of 27.185 MHz.


So, if you are going to use a matching pair of antennas, the 4' ones would probably be the best compromise for both FM and CB...

[Sodium Duck]

Scott, you always got the best info! haha -- 4 footers it is.

[si9yaris]

I want to remove my antenna mount also.

What other parts need to be removed before I can drop the back half of the headliner to access the antenna?

Do I need to remove all those parts described in the service manual?

What about the "special clip" for things like the "roof side inner garnish" that is referred to in the service manual. Do those really have to be replaced?

[Sodium Duck]

What other parts need to be removed before I can drop the back half of the headliner to access the antenna?
You pretty much have to remove your entire interior to do this. From the sill plastic at the bottom of the doors, all the way up to the plastic that rests on the headliner -- and also all the plastic pieces in the hatch area. It all comes out like the service manual says.



Do I need to remove all those parts described in the service manual?
Yes.



What about the "special clip" for things like the "roof side inner garnish" that is referred to in the service manual. Do those really have to be replaced?
No.

[WolfWings]

It's worth it to pick up another ten body-panel-clips from the dealership before you go tearing the interior out though, it might be a buck to ask for some at the service counter generally.

And honestly, a well-tuned antenna system matters far, far, far more than length of antenna. I say that having run everything from a 2ft to a full 9ft antenna on my Yaris so far to date, I've stuck with the 2ft antenna in the stock AM/FM antenna position because that position gave by far the best reception when I was moving the magnetic-mount antenna all over the car to test-fit locations. And our Yaris doesn't have enough sheet-metal to gain any benefit beyond about a 4' antenna on the roof, on the sides of the car it's even worse. The roof at least is a large, flat, horizontal panel of sheet-metal which is crucial for CB reception on a vehicle!

And there's zero, I repeat, zero tuning needed for the recieve-only AM/FM side. Any long length of wire will work great for an antenna. All CB antenna's work wonderful for AM/FM reception, even a length of coat-hanger wedged into a CB antenna mount works fine. The only time an antenna needs to be tuned is for transmission efficiency and to protect the transmitter from burning out.

But if you're going for left-side/right-side, get two matching CB antenna's, right down to everything shrot of the color of the vinyl cover, tune them individually, then hook them up with a co-phasing harness and you'll get vastly better reception and be able to run a far larger antenna while still getting full benefit from it because they'll act as a fair bit of a ground-plane for each other.

And I know I told you a'while ago, the CB->AM/FM splitter box you're looking for is the AR-1A by FireStik. :-)

It's well and good and all to quote signal theory at me, but I've tried no less than five lengths of antenna's on my car starting with the 'definitive' 102" stainless-steel whip antenna, carefully tuned them all, and invested a few hundred dollars in testing stuff until I found what works very well for CB reception. I'm usually able to pull in 10 miles range easilly on the highway vehicle-to-vehicle, and I'm only using a shitty Radio Shack CB that only cost $25 five or six years ago. All on a FireStik FireFly FL-3 3' antenna, w/ their 'light' strength spring.

It just goes to show, money invested in a good antenna is better than money invested in a good radio. :-) I'm gonna try to hook up an old 23-channel SSB remote-head unit I salvaged from an ancient Volvo truck, if it still works that'll be glorious as it's from the days of CB being something you needed a license to operate so they were quite a bit more powerful than modern units. And 'remote head' means all the controls are on the mic, the main unit gets mounted behind the dash or in the truck area.

[Sodium Duck]

I actually decided to get into HAM radio instead, lol. The CB radio's I wanted simply wouldn't fit in the Yaris. But -- there are tons and tons of HAM radios that do, and you get far superior range. So I'm ditching the dual antenna idea. I'm instead going to get a hidden antenna and mount it in the drivers side mirror, and the ham antenna is easy. I'll prolly end up getting a simple glassmount, people say they get good results with them.

I think for my first radio I'm going to get into 2 meters. I know a local HAM, and he's going to show me his setup and get me going. Once I finish finals at school, I'll study a little and take the test then get on the air. Woo.

[TinyGiant]

i never understood why you need a license to talk on a cb or ham.. why is that? can you be fined or arrested for talking on one without it?

[Sodium Duck]

CB doesn't need a license anymore - HAM does. Probably because with CB you just can't get your signal out far enough. With a repeater and 5 watts, a HAM can easily hit 50 miles. The guy I know runs a a couple hundred watts in high frequency, and he talks around the world.

"Why Do I need A License?
Written by ARRL
Sunday, 14 August 2005
Although the main purpose of the hobby is fun, it is called the "Amateur Radio Service" because it also has a serious face. The FCC created the "Service" to fill the need for a pool of experts who could provide backup emergency communications in times of need. In addition, the FCC acknowledged the ability of the hobby to advance communication and technical knowledge, and enhance international goodwill.
Last Updated ( Monday, 14 August 2006 )"

As an example, during Katrina, many HAM's were firing up their rigs to get communications out since traditional means of communication were all destroyed.