how do i tap into my fuse box..
 

I am going to be running a CB and a Ham radio in my truck and i need to clean my wiring up a bit i am for starters sodering everything but connects look trashy IMO and i am trying to decied wats going to be more work. running a hot lead down to the positive post of my starter or taping my fuse box. if its the fuse box how do i go about doing it. i mean i have some electrical back ground but i have no idea how to add a wire to the fuse box. any help is greatlly appreciated

:Thinkingo

If it were me, I'd just run a wire from the pos. battery terminal through the firewall (fused within 12" of the battery) so you wouldn't have to get into the fuse box at all.

Just run a relay triggered by a key on/acc circuit so that the relay turns on the power whenever the truck is running or the key is in the acc position (keeps you from running your battery down if you forget to turn something off).

Thats how i have the CB wired in right now but i get altenator bearing noise even with a filter

Why the hell would you ever run wires from your starter to power anything but the starter? Go straight from the battery

When i hard wired my radar detector, i used a Add-A-Circuit. you can get them at any auto parts store. works great and its very clean looking. i wired it to my radio fuse so it turns on when i start my truck.

The ONLY way to wire communication equipment is to go directly to the battery with with both the red and blk wires and a fuse on at least the red positive wire close to the battery.
An alternative is an Aux Circuit panel, not the relay type but something like the Blue Seas Panels, direct wire. Run the radios off of the circuits closest to the main wires. Keep this one panel for the Comm Radios.

Also, you can run separate wiring for both the CB and the HAM Radios directly to the battery, without a relay (noise) and with the fuses again near the battery for safety sake.

Some people have wired radio off the the AM/FM Radio wires, the cig lighters and off of the main circuit panels with good results but if you want to keep the power as clean as possible you need to go to the battery directly with both wires.

What I have done in the past is take the blk and red wires, twist them approximately 10 turns per foot and slide a piece of Braid over the two wires, pull it tights and then run heat shrink over that. RED = Positive on the battery; Blk = Negative on the battery; and the braid should be connected to the body on the battery end but not on the radio end. Does this do anything, who knows but that is why it is called Radio Theory.

And last but not least and nothing to do with the actual wiring of the radios, make sure to get your antenna tuned for low SWR (Standing Wave Ratio)to the vehicle the radio will be used in.

Luck, 73
W1IO

Because the starters positive post have battery voltage all the time.

And W1lO when u ran the twisted pair does it seem to cancel out any outside interfearence ?

Yes you will end up with voltage at the end of the red wire but it will be fused, the only draw back if it is a drawback is that the key will not control the component. Radios left in the receive mode draw minimal current so it won’t be a problem if something is left on. If you want to control the voltage on that wire you can use a fuse but that can create noise, a vehicle does not need more noise in its system.

Yes you will end up with voltage at the end of the red wire but it will be fused, the only draw back if it is a drawback is that the key will not control the component. Radios left in the receive mode draw minimal current so it won’t be a problem if something is left on. If you want to control the voltage on that wire you can use a fuse but that can create noise, a vehicle does not need more noise in its system.

Yes the twisted pair is suppose to reduce some noise but some people say it does not, it is a preference more than anything else.
The braid over the wires is suppose to bleed off unwanted noise back to the engine bay also, but again, theory…; most of my system work very well minimum noise and talk as far as I need to.

so then running a fused twisted pair from the battery to the coms will be my best option?

That is the way I would do it.
A lot of people just run the straight wires and a lot do the Circuit Panel hook up or tap a wire near their CBs that has the same type of power you want.

It is all your call except the FUSED part, that is a must and getting the SWR set to the lowest point by tuning the antenna. Watch the grounding at the antenna end and IMHO… (here we go again) if you don’t use the antenna bases with the coax already attached use ring lugs where ever possible.