CB Radio Installation - 10-4 Good Buddy

As a previous classic mini driver, I found having a CB in the car a bit of a 'must'. It was brilliant for events such as the London to Brighton run. Great for chatting to other minis while you're stuck in traffic trying to get out of Brighton at the end of the day, and good for keeping the convoy together.

So I've decided to install my faithful Midland 98+ into my MX-5. Here's how I did it.

Firstly, here is a picture of the dash as the install began. Note that the radio head unit is in the lower of the two DIN slots. I'm going to move it to the top slot and have the CB in the bottom one. There is a good reason for this. The CB microphone will be sticking out and I don't want it to get in the way of the CD loading slot. See, forward planning!



The first job is to remove the cubbyhole and clock. It's true that I'll probably miss that cubby hole, but the radio has a clock display. The second picture shows the radio and clock removed and the wire basket shifted up to the top DIN slot.



Rather than adding a second antenna to the car for the CB, I wondered whether it would be possible to replace the normal car antenna with a CB one. Then I'd need to split the signal into both the CB and the car radio. Turns out that this is entirely possible using a RM DX-27 splitter.

The complete list of what I bought was as follows. I used Thunderpole in the UK. They've always been helpful and knowledgeable. They also have a decent forum for any troubleshooting issues that you might have. (Advert over!)

• RM DX-27 Splitter
• Fixed Body Mount (This was the wrong mount! The CB antenna is at an angle on a Mk2 - more later). It can be bought along with enough cable to reach to the DIN mounts with plenty to spare and best of all the ends are pre-terminated.

I already had an Orbiter antenna and a DIN mount for my transceiver.

The install was fairly simple, although maybe a little more car had to come off than I'd first expected! I started in the boot and removed the lining. It's easy on a Mk2. There are press studs that pop out easily and you can lift the liner out.

I removed the standard radio antenna and the sealed mount on the body, leaving a hole that the Fixed Body mount would cover (and seal). The photo below shows the original antenna mount pulled down out of the way and the new CB cable in place.

The cable was routed from the dash, under the centre console and behind the carpet to a hole in the bulkhead where other wiring seems to congregate. With the help of an able assistant and a torch, it was pretty simple to grab the connector as it poked through and route it along the path taken by the previous radio antenna.

Here you can see the centre console removed and the cable being routed backwards:





(I've also found my alarm control box!)

The thick cable is the CB antenna cable lead, while the thinner one taped to it is the cable heading to my external speaker. (I always use pink tape - that way you can never confuse it with anything factory standard.) All CB units tend to have a very poor internal speaker. This will also tend to be pointing down behind the dash, so you need an external speaker.

Some people try to put the sound via an aux input on their stereo, but these speakers aren't really very good for the purpose - they're too 'hifi' and the inevitable bursts of white noise don't really do them any good.

So I've fitted an external speaker. Now, in my Mini, I just screwed it to a bracket I made and got on with it.
The interior of my Mk2 is much to nice to do that to, so I'm thinking hard about where to position it. For now, I've tucked it up into the mesh on my wind blocker. It works quite well, so it might just stay there. It's right near my ear.

At the dash end, I'd already removed the radio so that it was easy to get the cables into place. The end of the antenna cables goes into the input on the splitter which was then tucked behind the dash. There is a nice space for it to jam on the left handside in a Mk2. Hoping nicely jammed = no rattles. We'll see. The outputs from the splitter go to the CB and the radio aerial socket.

The only issue was power. There are several converters and connectors behind my dash that take the Mazda plug into an ISO plug and then convert to the Kenwood radio format. I cut into these to provide power for my CB. (I had to bolt and earth to the metal work behind the dash too.)

The picture shows the ISO to Kenwood cables and how they have been spliced to give me power for the CB. I built an extension cable for the power as the one on my CB is very short having been cut to size for my mini previously.



Then it was really a case of slotting it all together into the dash.

Warning! It is vital that you use an SWR meter to check that the antenna is working correctly before you try to transmit. You should check this article because they explain this process way better than I would. You'll obviously need an SWR meter, which you can get for about £10 from Maplin or even eBay. Just to prove that I take my own advice:



Here is the finished installation:



And the outside... see what I meant about getting the wrong mount? I need one that has the ability to turn a corner... about another £3-5 I guess. It's not awful for now.



And finally, my six year old daughter testing it all out and chatting to her brother in the house. :-)