Well i was gonna go wire my cb today but noticed that the cb has three wires coming out of it. 1 Red, 1 Orange, and 1 Black. The wiring directions don't make any sense. It says to
"Connect the orange lead to a constant 12v fuse(i.e. cigarette lighter)" <Ok got that...
"Connect the red lead of DC power to an accessory 12 volt fuse." The thing i don't understand is why do i need to have both of thing hooked up to power. there is inline fuses in both the red and orange lines.

 

The black is ground, one is a memory wire that should always have power to it then the other is the switch wire that turns it on, if you want you can hook both wires together and use the on/off switch on the radio.

It sounds like the orange is the memory wire that should always be hot and the red is the switch wire.

Your best bet is to run the red wire to the battery and make the ground wire as short as possible, I like to use a body ground.

You can use the wires on the back of the radio, but you might end up with engine noise over the CB speaker.

If you have any questions about CB equipment let me know and I will answer the best I can.

 

3 wire.....weird.

 

Cool i'll try that thnkx.

 

That is weird for 3 wires for a cb. Got pics?

 

I have seen some with 3 wires before when I worked at a CD shop, lol.

 

It is odd though, just wondering what brand/model he has. Most are just a fused red and a black ground that you run to battery.

 

My Cobra only has two wires.

 

I'm running a Cobra 25 and it only has two wires.

Some radios have three so you can hook it up to a switch or the ignition wire.

My cobra 25 has been peaked tuned and has a swing kit, along with an Astatic D104-M6 MinutemanII mic, kicker and a Wilson 5000 antenna.
It's a bad *** combination.

 

So did ya get it mounted yet? We need pics hahaha. How much did the swing kit do for ya been thinking about doin it to mine? Sorry don't mean to hijack thread.

 

I'm not posting pictures of the kicker, It's still under/behind the seat.
I think its staying there and I'm just going to put a switch somewhere so I can turn it on and off without opening my door.

My radio has a 2watt deadkey and swings 45watts.
I'm uploading new pictures right now, look in my latest thread.

 

hahaha I was askin for pics from blackhawk.

Sounds good. How much for the kit. I got the 25 NW LTD

 

I have no idea, I bought the CB off a guy on the radio for $25 and he bench tested it right in front of me.

 

I have a Cobra 18 or 18 and it has 3 wires.

 

Its not uncommon. It allows you to hook the red main power wire up to an ignition switched power source so the CB turns on and off with the key. The orange wire with constant power is so it remembers what channel it was before you shut the power off.

 

The 3 wires is used more on digital CBs that don't have a huge clicking **** like my Cobra 29 LTD, lol. I know mine has 3 pins in the back, but the wire I got has just two wires connected from the plug, no need for a memory wire for me.

 

Yea i have the Cobra 18 WX ST II. I haven't worked on it any more though. What little i have done was to mount the whip. I get pix after i mount the radio. I might be a few days before then though cuz i plan to try and mount the radio with a din sized Pioneer DEH-4000, which i currently don't have, in the stock bezel.
You know what is really weird? there is an on/off switch on the radio already. I guess they still offer the option of wiring it to ignition so you can't leave it on accidentally.

 

Yup there ya go I wasn't even thinking about them little new fangled digital ones. With blinkin lights and digital meters. I couldn't for the life of me figure why you would need three power wires on a cb. By the way how do those little digitals work? I wanna get one with a mag mount whip for the wife?