CB Help...

I'm starting to look into a CB setup for my truck, but I know NOTHING about them. What kind of features should I look for? Power, channels, etc... I'd prefer not to have a handheld unit, rather something a little more classic:




I've read about features like bluetooth, NOAA, PA and lots more, but I don't know what of these are actually useful.

Thanks!

 

I'm a "purist" when it comes to CB. I have an old Uniden. It's a CB radio. No bells, no whistles, no toys. It'll put a crystal clear signal out to people using the expensive ones just as well as I get their signal (4W PEP is 4W PEP). And there's less to go bad on it, been reliable for at least a dozen years and a half dozen vehicle swaps.

 

Who are the good vendors? Uniden, Cobra, someone else?

And what is 4W PEP?

 

I prefer Uniden, they seem to be tuned right out of the box. But I have buddies with a bunch of different brands and most work very well.

4W PEP is Four Watts Peak Envelope Power. It's the maximum power output at the antenna jack allowed by FCC law.

 

..wow being a radio guy I am happy to see there's still a need for the old 27MHZ band! I was a CBer way back in the 70s when it WAS the thing. Lucy wil remember this-Midland base, Turner +3 desk mic, and an Avanti Astro Beam antenna was my base station growing up. You guys enjoy your rigs-if you need advice I'm here

 

Midland base unit! I still have one in the storage unit! I bought a "power mic" way back then I think from RS (not sure), had to solder my own plug on the end. Used to talk to people getting out of 2nd shift work from some factory in town. Late night chatting is still fun!

 

Yeah, I used to work for an excavating company that had several large dirt scrapers; we all had CB's so we could talk to each other to pass the time. Some of the guys had the high dollar models that had been turned up to like 20 or 30 watts, these supposedly could get out clearly for about 15 miles although I never seen it work. There was this certain model of cheap uniden that you could get at a truck stop, etc. and it was as clear and seemed to get out as well as the modded out ones. Wish I could remember the exact model, I'd recomend it to ya.

 

so, when you say tuned up to 20-30 watts, you talking about going over the 4 watt PEP? So, essentially they're illegally powerful?

 

I just ran out to the truck...it's a Uniden PRO 510xl. Has three knobs, one switch and a mic jack on the front...and that's all. Old dependable!

Here's one on ebay (hope ebay linking to an auction that isn't mine is OK): http://cgi.ebay.com/Uniden-PRO510XL-40-Channel-CB-Radio-Pro-510-510XL_W0QQitemZ380106387866QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCB_Radios?hash=item380106387866&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50

EDIT and a page of reviews for it: http://www.hat.net/gadgets/portable...cessories.cb_radios/uniden_pro510xl_cb_radio/

 

HA well you and I are about the same age-we went through it Oh man I would be up 'till 2am on a school nite with my radio buddys. I had to solder a 5 to 4 plug on that Turner too to fit the Midland man you bring back memories!

this is close to my old base^^
I never ran illegal power-my Midland put out 5.5 watts factory and the combination of the modulated power mic and the 7.sumpthin DB gain of my antenna, my voice punched up my power to around 20 watts...people said my carrier would jump up and down with my talking

 

Hey Jason,

Can't go wrong with this Midland. $25 shipped. I went with a Wilson "Lil Wil" magnet antenna. Works great.

http://www.amazon.com/Midland-1001Z...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1235625527&sr=8-1

 

I get discouraged nowadays when I go on the air in the 27Mhz band. Always seems there's some jerk who thinks they're a DJ and have the right to tape down the key in front of their boom-box. Even CH9 is getting abused now. Bring back the license requirements!

But yeah, those were the days huh. My father had a unit in one of those cast iron "removable" trays...with the spring contacts in bakelite insulators. Don't remember what brand his radio was but the thing weighed a ton, two tons with that removable mount on it!

 

Nice little radio and an antenna for 50 bucks...can't hate that!

 

Thanks guys! What about antennas? I've heard good things about the Firestick and they aren't expensive at all. But what about mounting a 4' antenna on the corner of the rear bumper? Will that get good reception? I have a tonneau cover, so mounting in the bed rails really isn't an option.

 

Antennas prefer a real ground plane...so top dead center of the cab roof is the preferred mounting place. There's a lot of antennas out there that "simulate" a ground plane, they can be mounted anywhere but in my experience they don't get out as well.

The rear bed corner would work fine. Just don't do what I see a lot of people do and mount it to the front corner of the bed...the cab will make that antenna very directional for receiving and soak up a lot of waves for transmitting.

 

..maybe a "President"? That was the Caddy of CBs-anyways my pop had NO passion for radios much less cars-but he did have the heart to feed MY passion by buying the equipment thanks Dad!

You know what I would LOVE to see someone do here? A ballspring mount on the rear quarterpanel-your "Firestik" would do very well on one of those setups...you have seen them on old cop cars and military-the Tacoma would sport one nicely! (sorry to hijak your thread)

 

+1 imagine your radio transmitting waves coming out from an antenna mounted topdeadcenter on your roof-using the truck body as its 'groundplane, those waves splay out 360* in omnidirectional pattern. Mounted on your rear bumper, they shoot across the truck body and off into that direction, but not so strongly behind the truck...and soforth

 

So, if it's on the top of the cab, does it matter how tall it is? And I completely understand the 360* line of sight on top of the cab, but realistically, how much "better" is this than the rear corner if the tip is higher than the cab?

 

good reading here: http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/question490.htm

 

i run one of these...not the greatest, but it works good on trail rides and doesn't take up too much space. i'm also running a Firestick 4ft Firefly antenna on a Firestick ball mount, behind the cab, pass. side. seems to do fine for what i use it for.

link: http://cobra.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=314&category_ID=30