I didn't want to hijack anyone else's thread with my questions around my Midland 77-155 CB which I got off an older guy that lives next to my friend... I told him I was interested in getting an CB a week or two before... he visited my friends house while we were working on our vehicles outside and said that he picked up a CB for me and to give him $20 bucks. Mind you... I didn't ask him to get one, but needless to say, to be nice, I gave him the $20 bucks before seeing it and testing it out. Now I have....

This:



Now I have already cracked it open and it looks like there could be significant damage inside... e.g. looks like there may be plastic melted on the circuit board... I went ahead and rewired the power harness since he didn't have the original harness... I found that it gets power, lights up, I have channels 1-40, but when I connected it to my buddy's CB antenna (he has an old CB in his mid 80's yota... which he hasn't used in many years, so we are unsure if it works...he says it did last time he tried it...) The antenna strength (or what I am assuming it is) does not change when I plug in an antenna.. I'm referring to the meter on the top left corner of the CB on the face plate... that is the only part that concerns me thus far... Has anyone repaired CB's before? I've always been interested in tinkering with stuff... e.g. how I got into computer repair, now auto repair, why not electrical? It's always good to have someone that has been where you are now! So, very long post made short, anyone have experience with CBs, Midlands, or electrical work that can give me their two cents?


Thanks for reading, hopefully I don't get too many TLDR comments :P

 

I've never worked on a cb but you could set up the antenna in your truck and try to see if you get any reception. I had mine tuned at the truck stops by my house. It could be a matter of tuning or if that doesn't work then something inside the cb itself is wrong.

 

Yeah... I'm hoping one of our... senio....wiser...been 'round the earth longer than you, members may have one laying around or know of a location I might get a snapshot of the inside of it... I have no problem replacing circuitry and such if I can follow a picture :P

 

That gauge just shows the strength of a signal it is receiving. So if no one was broadcasting anything, it wouldn't move. The new version of that CB is $30-$50 depending on where you buy it, so it really isn't worth putting any money into it. I have had cheap fiberglass antennae just quit receiving for no visible reason-so it was internal damage that caused them to fail. It does seem more like a bad antenna if it's not moving the needle at all.

 

Interesting... well... I need to get an antenna for any CB I want to install in the future... the same guy that sold me this CB, gave me a... I think it was called a Monkey Antenna... not sure if that's the brand or just place he picked it up from.. I like the way it looks, I just need to grab some cb antenna cable... anyone know of local chains that carry these cables? I thought Wal-mart might, but I didn't see it in the automotive section...

 

You have any truck stops or something of the sort close to you? That is one of the only places ive found the cables. OR you could try an electronics store like Radioshack or something like that.

 

Yeah, radio shack sell 50 ohm coax. You have to buy connectors and build it up yourself but it isn't that hard.