What do I need to operate a CB radio in my house?
by David Harvey VK2DMH on Monday, August 10th, 2009 | 2 Comments
I want to buy a CB radio for inside my house. What equipment do I need?
Do I need an external antenna, or is there a CB I can buy that has an antenna built in to the radio set already?
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You can get either kind, but an external antenna will determine your broadcast range. If the antenna is going to be over a certain height you have to notify the FAA. I should know this but I don’t, so I’m guessing you don’t need an FCC license for CB, but ham radio operators DO need to be licensed. The current fine for unauthorized use of the bandwidths regulated by the FCC is $7,500.
It’s okay. We are discussing CB radio in this post, and there is no need to get a special license any more to own and operate a Citizens Band (27 MHz) radio, at least not in the USA. And 27 MHz CB is legal and license-free in Australia as well, though they did charge us back in the early days.
A full-sized external two-way radio antenna will always send and receive a much better signal than a small indoor antenna. What is more, an indoor antenna will splatter your CB signals into the TV set and hi-fi system or anything nearby. That includes your angry neighbors!
FCC rules say you can mount this external CB base station antenna up to 20 feet above the height of your home. You will do best to buy a 1/4 wave ground-plane antenna, or a 1/2 wave antenna or a 5/8th wave antenna. And you will need a 12v DC power supply (its actually 13.8 volts at 2 or 3 Amps) to power your CB set.
As for Bill, who wrote, ‘I want to install a cb radio in my flat what do I need?’ the answer is much the same. In an apartment you may only be able to place an antenna on your balcony railings… (You could always try the MFJ-1622 apartment antenna, http://www.mfjenterprises.com/Product.php?productid=MFJ-1622 ). However, an antenna on the roof will be much better as long as you can run a coax cable down to your flat and your cb rig. Even a half-wave dipole (that’s about 19 feet end-to-end) should do well, and with much less chance of causing radio interference to your neighbors.