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. On the up side, a long CB antenna would probably give you a good boost to your AM radio reception!

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.