Cars - Ford Ranger / Mazda B-Series 1999 Ignition Switch Accessory Terminal

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Ford Ranger / Mazda B-Series 1999 Ignition Switch Accessory Terminal

Ok, dumb question for the rest of you who know what you're doing:

Just bought myself a CB radio, something I've been wanting for a long
time. I've got a 1999 Mazda B-2500 (Ford Ranger), and the manual for
the CB says to connect it to the ignition switch accessory terminal.

Where is that? Sorry if I sound ignorant, but the most technical I get
with the truck is ... well, not this technical.

Any help appreciated. Pictures of the new set-up to follow once I can
get it in. The new CB is a Uniden Bearcat PC78 Elite. Nice one.

Ford Ranger / Mazda B-Series 1999 Ignition Switch Accessory Terminal

Hehehe, yeah I know what the accessory position is, I'm just wondering
where I can attach wires to it. The wiring for the CB is a plug at one
end and two stripped wires at the other, which means I won't be able to
just "plug-n-play" this thing.

The next hurdle is where to PUT the dang thing! Beatrice (the truck)
has a five speed manual, which means putting it on the dash under the
radio & A/C controls is out.

Ford Ranger / Mazda B-Series 1999 Ignition Switch Accessory Terminal

> wrote in message
ups.com...
> Ok, dumb question for the rest of you who know what you're doing:
>
> Just bought myself a CB radio, something I've been wanting for a long
> time. I've got a 1999 Mazda B-2500 (Ford Ranger), and the manual for
> the CB says to connect it to the ignition switch accessory terminal.
>
> Where is that? Sorry if I sound ignorant, but the most technical I get
> with the truck is ... well, not this technical.
>
> Any help appreciated. Pictures of the new set-up to follow once I can
> get it in. The new CB is a Uniden Bearcat PC78 Elite. Nice one.
>

Try the fuse box.

Personally, I just get a cigarette lighter adapter and plug them in there.
It's fine if you're running a low-power (4 watt) AM rig (unless you actually
want to use the lighter for...gasp...lighting cigarettes!). Higher power
sideband or 10-meter radios I wire right to the battery with 10 guage wire
(with in-line fuses on both the pos and neg lines).

Ford Ranger / Mazda B-Series 1999 Ignition Switch Accessory Terminal

Hit your local TA, Pilot, Flying hook, what have you truck stop and for
about
$5 you can buy a power plug for the radio that will plug into the cigeratte
lighter. And dont go putting twin antennas on the thing, it isnt wide
enough, they need
at least 8 ft between them or they fight one another..
My antenna of choice is the good ole 102" stainless steel whip mounted on
the left rear
cornor. Radio Shack $19.99. But skip radio shack for the coax, their
cables are lousy,
the ends corrode terrible, and the "cable" quality is really poor. Nothing
kills your ablity to
talk or hear like poor quality cable. Cable should be 18' , dont coil the
excess in a tight coil,
loop it like a skein of yarn 14"-16" and wire tie it in the center. Tight
coils act like a "choke"
mess up reception, and make it very hard to get a good match. Mounted right
you should have a near
perfect match with the 18' cable and 102" antenna. Make sure the radio has
a good ground from the
radio chassis/housing to the vehicle.
Next choice after Stainless steel whips is a 48" Francis. Wilsons are good
too, but not any
better than ether for the first two, and way more expensive. Firestick used
to be a
good buy, but thats was 15 years ago, the new ones are the pits. Hustler
center loads
used to be top shelf, way back when CB was king, the 19" Hustler ceramic
center load was one
of the best.

http://www.firestik.com/ good page with lots of info even if the antennas
are lousy
http://www.wilsonantenna.com/ One upside is Wilson is made in the USA.

As to your radio choice, its not a bad radio, but I hope you paid less than
$90 for
it. The Uniden Cobra 29LTD is only $59 after rebate right now at Pilot
travel centers.
The "soundtracker" radios from Uniden are paper weights. I will say the
older Cobra 29 LTD Classics
are better than the new ones ie made in Japan vrs made in China.

Microphones, get a good noise cancelling mike, ether a Turner Road King
RK56, or an
Astatic 636L. Forget power mikes, and for god's sake dont go getting a
roger ping,
bloody echo, or any of the "video game" noise makers. Be very careful of
radio
shops offering "peak and tune" there are a lot of hacks out there today.

Whitelightning

Ford Ranger / Mazda B-Series 1999 Ignition Switch Accessory Terminal

Years ago, I had a CB (citizens band) radio, when they were popular. Most
of us mounted it under the dash (might be hard with todays cars) and simply
hard-wired it to the battery, or on any convenient hot wire on the engine
side of the firewall. You just had to remember to turn it off when you
parked or you could run the battery down. With the computer chips and
sensors in cars today, I still think that might be the best way to go. Easy
to undo, too, if you decide to bail.

> wrote in message
ups.com...
> Ok, dumb question for the rest of you who know what you're doing:
>
> Just bought myself a CB radio, something I've been wanting for a long
> time. I've got a 1999 Mazda B-2500 (Ford Ranger), and the manual for
> the CB says to connect it to the ignition switch accessory terminal.
>
> Where is that? Sorry if I sound ignorant, but the most technical I get
> with the truck is ... well, not this technical.
>
> Any help appreciated. Pictures of the new set-up to follow once I can
> get it in. The new CB is a Uniden Bearcat PC78 Elite. Nice one.
>