CB suggestions

[Elliott]

some decent prices on the Uniden 510 and 520 here:
http://www.jeepersandcreepers.com/gear/pages/cbkit.htm
I run a Cobra 19DXIII...and mounted mine here:

...and run a Wilson antenna...
Greg

I run the same one. It is a great little unit for $35. The most important part of the CB (or any radio for that matter) is getting your SWR numbers right. Tuning is everything.... but maybe its just me since I'm a ham radio operator too. Just for kicks I mounted mine here, the mic only gets plugged in on the trail.

 

[shawn]

$80 for a CB radio?
$40-45 for the 510XL..
It's AM radio fergawdsake, it's gonna sound like poo no matter how much you spend..

Exactly. My most recent CB purchase came from Wal-Mart.... I don't even remember what brand it is, but it works fine, costs $40 or something.

 

[Rob]

Exactly. My most recent CB purchase came from Wal-Mart.... I don't even remember what brand it is, but it works fine, costs $40 or something.

Probably a Maxon, I went through 3 of those in a couple of years. $40, cheap, works ok. That being said, I picked up my Unidin 510 for $40 and haven't had to replace it yet. www.walcottcb.com has some great stuff.

 

[khokhonutt]

$80 for a CB radio?
$40-45 for the 510XL..
It's AM radio fergawdsake, it's gonna sound like poo no matter how much you spend..

To each his own. To me it's worth the extra $40 for the 10 weather channels and the ability to lock the radio in the already full center console. If neither of those appeal to you, the $40 radios work fine.

 

[shawn]

To each his own. To me it's worth the extra $40 for the 10 weather channels

Yeah, but NOAA reception on a CB is never going to be very good.

 

[wbcarver]

Mid-price CB and a GOOD Antenna
I used to have identical CB's in my service trucks with different antennas.
The antenna made all the difference in the world.
Save a few bucks on the CB and spend the extra on the antenna and getting it tuned for SWR.


Wilson and K40 seem to be a couple of the better antennas in the *what most working guys can afford* price range.


One thing on the CB that I learned the hard way.
Some of the low end ones especially from Radio shack have their own style mic plug.
It is hard to get a replacement/upgrade mic for them. Get one with the industry standard plug.


And here is another vote for the weather band.
I use it all the time and it has been rare that I couldn't find a channel except some times in the mountains if you are in a low spot.
WAY more accurate than the local radio station weather guessers.


Surprized Joel hasn't posted this link. Or there may be a copy of it on here somewhere too.
CB Radio FAQ
By Tim King.


A long but excellent read.

 

[khokhonutt]

Yeah, but NOAA reception on a CB is never going to be very good.

As long as you go with one that picks up all 10 channels (some offer less), I have not had a problem. Reception is at least adequate, if not good in most places I've needed it. You can get FRS radios that pick up weather, but from what I've seen (with mine), they don't pick up as well as the CB does. If you shop around for weather only radios, you're not gonna find a good one for less than $30-$40 (and I'd question how good that would be) and you're still carrying two radios when one could do the job.

I'm not saying the weather capability is for everyone, but if you use it, it's a good add-on. At the beach alone, it can be the difference between being stuck at high tide or not.

 

[Joel]

I agree, I love having the ability to listen to the weather forecasts whenever and wherever. I rarely find that I don't get the NOAA channels and usually it is only for a moment.

Thanks Bill, I didn't think to post that link.

 

[hightime81]

cb

i got this basic midland for like 22$ on amazon.com with free shipping. has worked for all i will need it for. If i had the bucks, one with weather band would have been preferable.

X2 on a decent antennae. I got a cheapo mag mount and am about to upgrade. i have read a lot about fire stik, but seems most like the wilsons on here.