What kind of Cb

youngsamuel · Nov 9, 2009

I am looking to buy a cb and would like to have some recommendations as to what type. A buddy of mine said he bought a Cobras with the blue tooth feature so it could be used with a cell phone. What preferences do you have? Can someone recommend a brand, power,etc? I do like the idea of using my cell phone hands free with the cb. Thanks

greg334 · Nov 9, 2009

One that works.

get the simplest and moderately priced one there is, don't worry about bells and whistles unless you intend on using it a lot and then you don't need much.

I have a few here but the one that works well in the truck above all the others is pro510xl, not fancy or really great to look at but it works.

Dakota · Nov 9, 2009

I just bought a CB and bought this one
Seems to work fine, no complaints
I needed a compact one

Uniden Compact 40 Channel CB Radio PRO-510XL
On Line Price $49.99

I think this is the one Greg recommended too

danthewolf00 · Nov 10, 2009

i've got the cobra 29 with weatherchannel with a 40watt mod so i can hear 60 to 70 miles out.

youngsamuel · Nov 10, 2009

danthewolf00 said:
i've got the cobra 29 with weatherchannel with a 40watt mod so i can hear 60 to 70 miles out.

What does mod stand for? Does mod increase distance as well as help prevent you from being bumped off?

greg334 · Nov 10, 2009

Modification.

It helps only to transmit.

The key to having a good setup has to do more with the antenna and coax for the antenna than the radio. Get a good antenna but buy the best coax you can and have the ends put on right (I don't trust crimped ends). Then get the antenna tuned with the coax on the truck.

Radios have come so far and unless you get into a different technology, the radio only offers a few tweaks that make life fun while your bored.

Dakota · Nov 10, 2009

I haven't quite figured out the range of my CB, but I do know it works well for what I use it for. Plenty of road/accident alerts and help at certain deliveries. I've been quite happy with my Uniden 510 Pro XL Plus it was cheap, the antenna nearly cost more then the CB LOL

jrcarroll · Nov 11, 2009

Galaxy 949 peaked and tuned
soon to be un-tuned (see below)
Wilson 5000 roof mounted
road king mike

& for those times a lil extra is needed
palomar 250 amp

Always on 19, it has got me out of quite a few problems. IE: major accidents, road construction, sever weather, etc...

greg334 · Nov 11, 2009

why would you need a P250 when you can only hear so far?

youngsamuel · Nov 12, 2009

Thanks fellas.

guido4475 · Nov 15, 2009

greg334 said:
why would you need a P250 when you can only hear so far?

Most amps/linears have receive amps as well built into them that pulls in distant transmissions.

guido4475 · Nov 15, 2009

I have a Northstar 4000 That I bought new in 1998 with 320 channels,puts out close to 50 watts, factory connex board,10khz, etc. I also run a Wilson 5000 magnet-mount on the roof of the van.I used to have a Gray linear hooked up to it that would put out close to 1,000 watts also. It was cool.Then I downgraded to a Texas Star 667 that did well also. Now I just run the regular radio and that's enough for me.

greg334 · Nov 16, 2009

I know most have preamps, some of them are cr*p while others are better - but it doesn't mean a thing when you are sitting in traffic on I75 in the Detroit area trying to hear what's going on and the guy sitting two trucks behind you is talking to some yahoo in texas with his 350 watt L'near on 27.455, you just can't hear a thing.

Channels?

pffff.... I got channels, no one to really talk to anymore or worth talking to on those channels ...

Heffard · Dec 31, 2009

What about the handheld CB's? My employer won't let me install a cb in the truck. Wouldn't use one a lot. Could a handheld do ok?

Moot · Dec 31, 2009

Heffard said:
Could a handheld do ok?

2 problems with hand held cb's are limited range with the built-in antenna and charging the batteries. You could probably find a hand held with an external antenna connection and a 12 volt plug but then you really don't have a hand held radio anymore.

I would think a Uniden 510 like Dakota has, or other small radio could be fastened to the dash or doghouse with Velcro™ or a tarp strap. What type truck do you drive? You may have to get a bit creative but I'm sure you could mount a small radio with a magnet mount antenna and keep the owner happy at the same time.

I drove fleet spec'd tractors that had no cb or radio of any kind. We built boxes to mount stereos, speakers and cb's. These were portable and could be strapped to the passenger seat or doghouse.

Poorboy · Dec 31, 2009

I too have a Cobra 29 with the Weather Channel, Connix Board and Galaxy Finals which Include Echo and Talk Back! Shoulda saved my Money on the Echo and Talk Back cuz I Don't Use them Hardly Ever Unless there's a CB Rambo or Pervert Out there that I Have to Get Over, Other Than that I Don't use them! Nice strong Radio Running Barefoot!!

Dakota · Dec 31, 2009

danthewolf00 said:
i've got the cobra 29 with weatherchannel with a 40watt mod so i can hear 60 to 70 miles out.

Can you put a mod on any CB, not sure if I want to hear 60 to 70 out but a little more than mine would be nice, at least 10 to 15 miles, this would cover most of Fort Wayne

Dakota · Dec 31, 2009

Heffard said:
What about the handheld CB's? My employer won't let me install a cb in the truck. Wouldn't use one a lot. Could a handheld do ok?

I was told only "lot lizards" use handhelds

Before I got mine permantley installed I used an old cigarette lighter plug in I had and ran the two wires to it. It worked fine.
Velcro and a cigarette adapter, then get a magnetic attenna or if you can(depending on truck) a permanent attenna, mine attaches to my passenger side mirror bracket. Not wanting to drill holes my wire runs down the door and then underneath the front bottom corner of door, and since the passenger door is not used much, that is why I ran it there, less wear and tear on the wire.

LDB · Dec 31, 2009

Watts do not equal reception (hearing). Watts only equal illegal and annoying. Reception range is a function of antenna quality, cable quality, mounting/location quality and radio receiver quality/tuning. You can only "hear" what reaches the antenna. That is a function of the power (watts) of the other guy's radio, not yours. I wish every CB running illegal power would fry itself at 12:37 p.m. so those running legally wouldn't be interfered with. Find a good CB shop and get the best quality cable, connectors, antenna etc. and you'll hear as well as you potentially can. Don't screw up your radio with a bunch of silly junk or an amplifier. If you can find a good shop that can truly "tune" the radio go for that. Tuning it insures the transmission is made in the exact center of the frequency and not off at the edge. Cobra and Midland are as good a brand as any to start with and only sell legal radios, a plus in my opinion. If you want to talk 40 miles away, or 4000 miles away, study and get a ham radio license. You can literally talk around the world with it.

greg334 · Dec 31, 2009

Heffard said:
What about the handheld CB's? My employer won't let me install a cb in the truck. Wouldn't use one a lot. Could a handheld do ok?

This is what you need;

A-1 Telecom, Inc.

It is a slip seat box with cutouts and a place to mount the bracket.

Buy a radio that will work for you, don't worry about things like the number of knobs or fancy display. Don't worry about used either, some of the older radios are a lot better than the new ones. The Antenna and a very good coax is the key here, not really the radio, so spend the money on a good antenna, try to focus on what the gain of the antenna is and stay with a name brand.

As Leo said, go to a good shop, have them tune the antenna on the truck (HINT a good shop will tune it on the truck and without your radio) and then get the radio looked at. A LOT of people will claim that you have to tune the antenna to the radio or something like that but the fact is that isn't near the truth. The placement of the antenna, the transmission line (coax) and even the connector matters more when tuning the antenna.

You don't need it peaked and sorry to correct my fellow HAM, the likeliness of it being off frequency is slim so I would make sure that the received is touched up a bit. I only know of one shop that waxes the slugs for trucks, he claims that the vibration causes them to move and the wax keeps them in place.

Stay away from echos, fancy accessories and a the typical cr*p that they sell, the same goes for the fancy radios with the freq counters and printed covers - it doesn't do a thing for you.