Winter Farkle-itis

[chrisflock]

Well, I asked Santa to bring me a J&M CB radio for festivus. I guess he did. Well, actually, he had one on his ride, and he left it unattended...so I was like :assassin: :yahoo:

Well, I didn't have time to get the antenna, and he must have had the headset and lower cord on his...person, so that leaves me with a pile of stuff, and it is where the trouble starts...

I have 2 (two) J&M headsets, they are both 'elite' series headsets, and they are both meant to fit open face helmets. I, of course, have a full face helmet. I have no lower cord that will connect either helmet to the J&M (I have one lower cord, it is to connect an 'elite' helmet to something called a 'goldwing'). So this leaves me in an interesting place. Is there any significant reason not to install the open-face 'elite' headset into a full face helmet? Will it cause some unforeseen difficulty with the boom mic? Will I die a fiery, molten aluminum and bubbling plastic death? Has anyone done this?

If I choose to buy a proper headset, I see the 'performance' and the 'elite' headsets. I think 'performance' sounds more like what an FJRer would be interested in, and they're cheaper too...and they use a much less expensive lower cord. However, I wonder if there is a significant reason to use the 'elite' series. My response from J&M about this basically just says the Elite Series helmets are 'better', but both say they use the same 'aeromike III' mic and 'the superior audio performance offered by our wide-fidelity helmet speakers'.

So, it leaves me with a quandry: Spend roughly $70 on a lower cord to attach one of the headsets I have to the CB, and then mcqyver the open face headset into my helmet, or spend $160 on the full-face helmet and lower cord and do less mcgyvering.

Also, I'm looking at different antenna options. Are the J&M antennas basically just 'firestik' type, no ground plane antennas? This last summer I used a hand-held CB with a rubber ducky antenna, I would consider the performance of that marginal at best, so something significantly better would be fine. How long of an antenna do people actually run? I've read a few threads talking about mounting the antenna, and several people suggested that a license plate mount would put too much torque on the plastic license plate/mud-catcher, but has anyone done it and had a problem? Is a low-mounted(license plate mount, or some variation thereof) 1 or 2 foot antenna worthless, should I low-mount a 3 or 4 foot, or would just higher mounting (at the level of the luggage rack) a 1 or 2 foot be good? Or do I need to go all out and mount a 3 or 4 foot on my luggage rack?

Is there anyone in my area that has installed the J&M and has any grand tips for me? I'd like to buy the stuff well ahead of time, but I probably won't get around to installing until spring...

Finally, would it be reasonable to try to trade an 'elite' open-face for a closed-face J&M (either elite or performance)? I'll post an ad for this in the commerce section as well...

 

[DaJuice]

Well, I asked Santa to bring me a J&M CB radio for festivus. I guess he did. Well, actually, he had one on his ride, and he left it unattended...so I was like :assassin: :yahoo:
Well, I didn't have time to get the antenna, and he must have had the headset and lower cord on his...person, so that leaves me with a pile of stuff, and it is where the trouble starts...

I have 2 (two) J&M headsets, they are both 'elite' series headsets, and they are both meant to fit open face helmets. I, of course, have a full face helmet. I have no lower cord that will connect either helmet to the J&M (I have one lower cord, it is to connect an 'elite' helmet to something called a 'goldwing'). So this leaves me in an interesting place. Is there any significant reason not to install the open-face 'elite' headset into a full face helmet? Will it cause some unforeseen difficulty with the boom mic? Will I die a fiery, molten aluminum and bubbling plastic death? Has anyone done this?

If I choose to buy a proper headset, I see the 'performance' and the 'elite' headsets. I think 'performance' sounds more like what an FJRer would be interested in, and they're cheaper too...and they use a much less expensive lower cord. However, I wonder if there is a significant reason to use the 'elite' series. My response from J&M about this basically just says the Elite Series helmets are 'better', but both say they use the same 'aeromike III' mic and 'the superior audio performance offered by our wide-fidelity helmet speakers'.

So, it leaves me with a quandry: Spend roughly $70 on a lower cord to attach one of the headsets I have to the CB, and then mcqyver the open face headset into my helmet, or spend $160 on the full-face helmet and lower cord and do less mcgyvering.

Also, I'm looking at different antenna options. Are the J&M antennas basically just 'firestik' type, no ground plane antennas? This last summer I used a hand-held CB with a rubber ducky antenna, I would consider the performance of that marginal at best, so something significantly better would be fine. How long of an antenna do people actually run? I've read a few threads talking about mounting the antenna, and several people suggested that a license plate mount would put too much torque on the plastic license plate/mud-catcher, but has anyone done it and had a problem? Is a low-mounted(license plate mount, or some variation thereof) 1 or 2 foot antenna worthless, should I low-mount a 3 or 4 foot, or would just higher mounting (at the level of the luggage rack) a 1 or 2 foot be good? Or do I need to go all out and mount a 3 or 4 foot on my luggage rack?

Is there anyone in my area that has installed the J&M and has any grand tips for me? I'd like to buy the stuff well ahead of time, but I probably won't get around to installing until spring...

Finally, would it be reasonable to try to trade an 'elite' open-face for a closed-face J&M (either elite or performance)? I'll post an ad for this in the commerce section as well...

No problem with the open face headset in the full face. The only difference is the mic for an open face is semi ridged so it stays put in mid air while the full face version is attached to a regular wire and needs to be mounted in the helmet to hold it in place.

As far as the Elite vs. Performance, I bought mine from a place that had a "test stand" so I could try on helmets with the different speakers. I didn't think the Elite were worth the extra money, they had a little more bass but that would be drowned out at speed anyway. All the business about the different headsets and different cords confused the hell out of me. I think your best bet would be to talk to a dealer to make sure everything you get fits together. I have the Nolan N-103 helmet with J&M's setup in it which they call elite, but the elite speakers are actually too big to fit in the space provided by the helmet so the speakers are actually the performance series (or something like that... like I said, I got really confused with the whole deal). The place I went was Dr. Mudspringer in Spring Lake Park, MN. They are more of a goldwing shop but they are a J&M dealer there are a few guys there that really know the J&M stuff. Last year they had a coupon at the Minneapolis motorcycle show good for 20% off on J&M stuff the week after the show. That is when I picked my stuff up.

For an antenna I went with a Firestick 3' No Ground Plane Antenna. I like the firestick since they are easy to tune with the tunable tip on the end rather than having to trim the wire off a std antenna. I picked up this SWR meter to tune it. You will also need a coax jumper to convert one of the ports on the tuner to a female connection since the meters have 2 male connections on the back and you will have 1 male and 1 female connection where you need to plug in the meter. I drive through La Crosse often in April and May while I'm scouting for the Bonzai Rally. I'd be willing to drop it off/help you tune it when the time comes if you don't want to buy one.

I mounted my antenna off the license plate holes in the "mudflap" like you mentioned. I was skeptic that it would hold but I put 21,000 miles on it last year and there are no signs of fatigue. A buddy of mine at work fab'd the bracket out of some scrap aluminum angle for me. Here is the best pic I could find showing the bracket.

The J&M antenna comes with a license plate bracket but it would not have worked for me as it would have not of cleared my trunk (Givi V46) so since I had to fab a bracket anyway, I went with the best.

With the 3 foot antenna I've been able to pull in truckers 5-10 miles out. I'm no expert but I've been told that a short antenna is better for transmitting in hilly areas short distances and a long antenna for long range. I've been real happy with my 3 footer.

 

[PopCycl]

I have a "goldwing" cord you can have if you think it will work for you. Just send me a PM if you want. Don't get the cheaper headset. They suck. (imho)

 

[DaJuice]

When I was shopping last year J&M had 3 tiers of headsets, Elite, Dual-Mode and Value. Looking at their site now they only have 2, Elite and Performance. My guess is they scrapped the value line or are phasing it out (I see cyclegadgets.com still has them on their site with the old nomenclature) and changed the Dual-Mode to Performance. I never considered the value line as I'm told it provided very poor quality when listening to music and the price difference between the value and the dual mode was about $30.00 total since both the Value and the Dual mode used P-series cords, which are less than half the $ of the Elite's Z-series cords.

 

[chrisflock]

I knew someone(s) at the rally had a setup like what I'm planning to do.

Interestingly, I already have a GW lower cord, it won't work

I also own half an SWR meter, as my dad was planning to adjust the antenna on his 1800 wing, I picked one up at the local CB shop for us to use.

So I think the plan for now is to buy that lower cord that I can use with either of my Elite headsets, and get some sort of no-ground-plane antenna and give her a go!

I'm thinking right now, I'll get a 2 foot 'firestik' type unit, and then I'll make a little mount to go off my luggage rack, probably make the mount so the end is about even with the split in the side cases...

 

[thomasz]

I like the Bluetooth headset from accessorygeeks.com, no problem at all, it run well. A smart and stylish Bluetooth headset with advanced Voice Isolation technology, with two different settings for a natural sounding voice and reduced background noise. There's a small clip on the back that you can wear on your shirt. It's a great-looking headset with outstanding sound quality at a very affordable price.

 

[Badcat]

I knew someone(s) at the rally had a setup like what I'm planning to do.
Interestingly, I already have a GW lower cord, it won't work

I also own half an SWR meter, as my dad was planning to adjust the antenna on his 1800 wing, I picked one up at the local CB shop for us to use.

So I think the plan for now is to buy that lower cord that I can use with either of my Elite headsets, and get some sort of no-ground-plane antenna and give her a go!

I'm thinking right now, I'll get a 2 foot 'firestik' type unit, and then I'll make a little mount to go off my luggage rack, probably make the mount so the end is about even with the split in the side cases...

I would go with at least a 3' antenna. I used a 2' NGP unit and did not get good results. 3 to 4 ft seem to work better. I am not impressed with NGP antennas and recommend providing a ground. YMMV.

 

[chrisflock]

I would go with at least a 3' antenna. I used a 2' NGP unit and did not get good results. 3 to 4 ft seem to work better. I am not impressed with NGP antennas and recommend providing a ground. YMMV.

Either a 2 or 3 foot antenna is possible, I don't want to get a 4 foot, as I'm going to be mounting it up on the luggage rack, so a 4 foot would be way up there. I'm not sure a 4 foot on the rack would actually clear my garage door.

As for NGP vs grounded, have you tried a grounded antenna and gotten better results? I mean, a grounded antenna is cheap, if I'd get better performance from a $20 antenna, I'm all over it, but I've been told they won't work as well as the NGP because the bike's frame doesn't provide a sufficient flat surface for the signal to reflect off.

If the performance is close to what my Dad and his fellow wingers get, I'll be satisfied. If my performance is a little less than theirs, I'll be OK and probably blame it on the cheap antenna. If I can tune my antenna so it works better than theirs (none of them have actually tuned their antennas yet, and there's a decent chance they won't bother with it) I'll use it as another example of how the FJR is superior.

 

[Moosehead]

Here's an alternative antenna mount. Has been on for 20,000 k. The antenna hardly moves in the wind. I thought at first I might be putting pressure on the plastic luggage rack, but it is stronger than you think.

 

[chrisflock]

Here's an alternative antenna mount. Has been on for 20,000 k. The antenna hardly moves in the wind. I thought at first I might be putting pressure on the plastic luggage rack, but it is stronger than you think.

I've got a luggage rack mounted on the back, and I want to mount my antenna off to the side so that I can still put, say a cooler on the rack (I'm actually probably going to strap on the cooler and my huge motofizz bag, figure out just where to put the antenna from there). Is that a 3 foot antenna or 4 foot?

I'm going to have to measure my garage door one of these days, I just know that it is pretty low...

 

[fljab]

This is timely as I am getting ready to CB the FJR and get confused over the right setup. I read another post that said to get a 3' non-grounded and use 9' of cord, no more, no less.

I also use my rack to attach things to, such as a small cooler, so don't want to lose the use of it. Was looking at coming off down near the plate somewhere, maybe off the fender/flap.

All info appreciated!

 

[Moosehead]

Hey Chris,

I'm using the 2 ft. firestick no ground plane. Great reception, nice and clear. I have become addicted to tunes while riding now. Never thought I would enjoy music while riding and now I can't ride without.

 

[DaJuice]

I knew someone(s) at the rally had a setup like what I'm planning to do.

I think you were looking at mine then, I don't remember anyone else having one. I also have the CFRG-D module for it so I could tie in an FRS radio along with the GPS (and radar if I ever decide).

I'm thinking right now, I'll get a 2 foot 'firestik' type unit, and then I'll make a little mount to go off my luggage rack, probably make the mount so the end is about even with the split in the side cases...

I set my bike in my garage door and measureed from the luggage rack to the door, a 2 footer would have cleared, a 3 footer would have hit the door. A friend of mine convinced me I'd be much happier with a 3 foot antenna so that is when I decided to make a bracket off the license plate mount. I made the bracket exactly as you say, it splits the case and the case door leaving about 2" of clearance between the antenna and the Givi. The antenna is much stiffer than I expected and does not flex enough to hit the case so by dumb luck I must have picked a good spot.

 

[chrisflock]

I knew someone(s) at the rally had a setup like what I'm planning to do.

I think you were looking at mine then, I don't remember anyone else having one. I also have the CFRG-D module for it so I could tie in an FRS radio along with the GPS (and radar if I ever decide).

I'm thinking right now, I'll get a 2 foot 'firestik' type unit, and then I'll make a little mount to go off my luggage rack, probably make the mount so the end is about even with the split in the side cases...

I set my bike in my garage door and measureed from the luggage rack to the door, a 2 footer would have cleared, a 3 footer would have hit the door. A friend of mine convinced me I'd be much happier with a 3 foot antenna so that is when I decided to make a bracket off the license plate mount. I made the bracket exactly as you say, it splits the case and the case door leaving about 2" of clearance between the antenna and the Givi. The antenna is much stiffer than I expected and does not flex enough to hit the case so by dumb luck I must have picked a good spot.

I may have to mount it down lower like that to get a 3 foot antenna on. Actually, the more I think of it, the more I worry about that, because my garage door is silly small. It is also one of those up-and-over solid garage doors, with big coil springs on levers and little rollers on a track, and an off-center touch when it is open can be enough to make it pop out of the track and fall down on you as you try, desperately, to keep it from crushing your motorcycle (ask me how I know). I wouldn't want an antenna to hit it and tempt the cruel, wrathful garage-door gods.

 

[DaJuice]

This is timely as I am getting ready to CB the FJR and get confused over the right setup. I read another post that said to get a 3' non-grounded and use 9' of cord, no more, no less.
I also use my rack to attach things to, such as a small cooler, so don't want to lose the use of it. Was looking at coming off down near the plate somewhere, maybe off the fender/flap.

All info appreciated!

I'm not sure the context of the post about the 9' of cord, but NGP antennas require special cords that need to remain that length to get them to work without a ground plane. Mine came with a 17' cord and I was also warned that coiling the excess cord in a circle is bad, you should instead fold it over on itself to make more of a linear bulge in the cord.

Here is an excerpt from wallcotts page on the Firestick:

NGP antennas can only be used with the included parts, you cannot cut the coax cable nor add any to make it longer. The coax cable included with this kit cannot be altered, changing the length will cause the antenna system to potentially damage your CB. It is highly recommended you do not change either the antenna or coax with this system. You may however use a different mounting bracket and stud.

 

[DaJuice]

I may have to mount it down lower like that to get a 3 foot antenna on. Actually, the more I think of it, the more I worry about that, because my garage door is silly small. It is also one of those up-and-over solid garage doors, with big coil springs on levers and little rollers on a track, and an off-center touch when it is open can be enough to make it pop out of the track and fall down on you as you try, desperately, to keep it from crushing your motorcycle (ask me how I know). I wouldn't want an antenna to hit it and tempt the cruel, wrathful garage-door gods.

Solution sounds simple to me... you need a new door! Or you could just move to a place with a better garage closer to the hotel for CFO. :huh:

 

[chrisflock]

I may have to mount it down lower like that to get a 3 foot antenna on. Actually, the more I think of it, the more I worry about that, because my garage door is silly small. It is also one of those up-and-over solid garage doors, with big coil springs on levers and little rollers on a track, and an off-center touch when it is open can be enough to make it pop out of the track and fall down on you as you try, desperately, to keep it from crushing your motorcycle (ask me how I know). I wouldn't want an antenna to hit it and tempt the cruel, wrathful garage-door gods.

Solution sounds simple to me... you need a new door! Or you could just move to a place with a better garage closer to the hotel for CFO. :huh:

A new door wouldn't be bad, but it is an odd size opening, so I'd be really tempted to 'correct' the size to a more normal, larger and more useful size, which of course would be a lot of work and money. And doing anything with the garage always falls somewhere below the top of the list. In fact, I think it was 'next' on the list pretty much every since I got the house, but before I get around to it, something always appears above it on the list.

 

[jekirby]

This is what I came up with. Firefly NGP antenna and quick connect adapter. Firestick helped me work out a connector just under the seat to quickly remove side bag.

 

[Pioneer007]

This is how I did mine, Although this is a ham radio setup it might give you mounting options.