I had my CB radio installed in my FJ Cruiser back about 2010. Red Monkey was a CB radio shop in Fresno who catered to truckers and the off-road community for CB radio work. They had a great reputation for CB work. When I made the decision to get a CB for my off-road adventures, they were my first choice. In my youth, I used and installed CB radios on a frequent basis and knew my way around them. But, I had been "off the air" for a long time and my skills and knowledge were rusty and out of date. After talking with the owner and sharing my intended use, he recommended an affordable and reliable small profile Uniden radio.
Long before fabricators developed and sold molle racks that fit over the FJ Cruiser center console for mounting gear, I decided to mount the radio on the passenger side of the center console as far forward as possible. This allows me easy access to it when using it. The unit is slim, which was important. I didn’t want to hinder the ability to slide the seat forward when needed or intrude into the navigator’s side much because the navigator’s usual required gear includes a substantial purse, travel blanket, and travel pillow. In retrospect, I’m thankful the molle rack wasn’t available because I probably would have purchased one and hung more gear on it, defeating my goals.
Since Red Monkey didn’t carry them, and had never seen one, I had separately purchased the ubiquitous “Bandi mount” for the antenna mount and installed it. It’s a clever widget that bolts over a rear FJ Cruiser door hinge and provides a secure and functional mount for an antenna to be attached to it. It’s a wonderful and popular creation in the FJ world. Red Monkey was able to use it for the installation. They recommended and I used a 4-foot Firestick antenna with a quick release mount.
Later, I often used a classic metal 6-foot whip antenna that I’ve had for years. Back when I had my first car, a 1966 VW Bug (white), CB radios became popular in my group of friends. With less ambient radio static in the natural background environment during that time, from Ventura I could easily talk to others in Oxnard and Santa Paula. With an acceptable amount of static, I could talk to others up the coast in Santa Barbara, down the coast to Malibu, over the hill to Thousand Oaks—and on some days, even to the northern San Fernando Valley. Those days are long gone thanks to all the wireless systems and devices that are now prevalent in the airwaves. In my truck driving semi-retirement job, I seemed fortunate to go a few miles with the antennas factory mounted on the trucks.
That metal whip antenna and I have a long history together. It served well on that first Volkswagen Bug, a GMC van I modified for camping, a Baja Bug I built, for a while with a strong magnetic base on top of my sheriff’s department patrol cars (the county shop even used it with a “permanent mount” on an assigned Chevrolet Caprice patrol car), my first company car a Chevrolet Blazer in Yosemite, my Yosemite Tahoe, and finally on occasion on my FJ Cruiser. After the first VW, I never tuned or matched the antenna to the radio, something I probably should have done. No damage done though.
I just like the look of an old classic metal whip antenna.
The Bandi antenna mount on the rear door hinge has one design flaw. The coax wire leading to the connector on the bottom is a bit exposed. It wasn’t exposed so much that it was in the way, and it didn’t cause any operational issues. The main issue was, after a bunch of trips through an automated car wash, the cleaning bristles took a beating to that exposed wire, eventually ripping it out of the connector on the Bandi mount. I stuffed it back in both for rare radio use, yet mostly for aesthetic reasons because I didn’t want a wire just dangling out of the door jamb.
Now that we’re traveling more with our little trailer, I thought it would be helpful and wise to get the connector fixed and the operation of the radio checked out in case we needed it for any reason. During my truck driving time, it was clearly apparent that by far, the majority of chatter on the radio would not be acceptable in a mature and unbiased conversation. Yet, during full traffic stoppages on the highway, truckers still share what they see ahead of them or what they have been told by others further in front of them.
Unfortunately, several years ago, Red Monkey closed its doors and moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming. That led me to Steve Fastenau, Airtime Communications in Merced, California. Steve’s late father started the company, and they were our primary radio vendor when I worked in Yosemite National Park. Steve is one of the very few I’d trust to do anything electrical. Off to Merced I went.
We hadn’t seen each other since I was laid off by Aramark in July 2018. It was really fun getting caught up with him after several years. Steve was able to refurbish all the antenna connectors inside and outside, then ensure the setup was tuned well. He even routed to coax wire differently that should help push back the past problems I’ve had with it. Interestingly, yet not surprisingly, the 4’ Firestick antenna from Red Monkey works better than my decades old 6’ steel whip antenna. Steve determined for a metal whip antenna, the antenna needs to be 2-3 feet longer. He didn’t have any in stock (confirming CB radios aren’t really popular anymore) but thinks a peer company he works with might have some old ones available. Maybe I’ll replace mine later, but for now, I’ll primarily use the Firestick. It worked great on the way home.
The bracket I'm currently using for the GPS is something I found on Amazon, and bought it on a whim. It's a suction cup mount that has an arm that's extendable. The suction cup has a sticky substance on it, so it seems that helps hold the mount in place. I extended the arm out to the point the GPS unit fits tight against the overhead console. As a secondary hold, I zip-tied the arm around the center mount of the console. I've been testing it for a week or so around town, and it seems to work well in holding it. I've got something going on with the power tho. I have a single power line running from the glove box up to the overhead console. The source feeds both the GPS unit and a dashcam mounted on the window. It tends to momentarily lose power. I'm wondering if a second power source is required.
