CB Radio Favorite Brand

Vegas Teacher · August 23, 2015

Hello All,

This is my last day of Freedom before school starts tomorrow. I had a meetings last week now students on Monday!

What CB radio do you guys like. Back in high school I had a 35.00 cobra. Yep it was OK but not the clearest or strongest signal on the road. We used to play CB hide and seek. One person would hide and describe the area they were in and t he rest of us would try to find them. They would give clues every 15 minutes and a case of beer went to the winner. Now it was some high quality stuff natural light, PBR or if we were lucky Busch Long Necks. I remember one day we went to school and the sun was out, by the end of the day the temperature dropped 50 degrees and we got snow all day. It was February in Kansas. It was before cell phones and my parents were able to talk with me the whole time I was driving home and made sure I made it home OK.

Anyway just want to get opinions on brands that you all like or dislike. Also is it hard to install stuff on a semi, like a CB or a good head unit? I also worked in a stereo shop when in college. I was one of the annoying kids who would pull up behind you and your whole car would shake, or I would drive through you neighbor hood with AC/DC blaring, wake up your dog and shake the windows on your house. For all of you out there now who are ready to shoot me, I have paid for it through Karma. Yes as a teacher I have paid for my younger and more stupid years, some of my students have made sure of that.

So all opinions are helpful. Let me know what you think!

Later,

Vegas Teacher

Cory Ossana

sdixon747 · August 23, 2015

I had a Cobra 29. Last year on the way to the HDT Rally, SuiteSuccess was following behind me in clear view. If he dropped back a half mile or so, the Cobra was worthless. I installed a new antenna but no help. So a couple months later, I bought a Bearcat 980. Works great! Now I get to hear all the trash talk :wacko: I prefer the HAM Radio.

roadfitter · August 23, 2015

HI LVT

I have a cobra 29 I think. I mostly use it for weather reports. It has 5 channels or zones so where ever you are I can dial in the weather, good in the Mid-West for Tornado reports.

Many trucks have power posts on the dash for the CB as well as coax connection, at least my KW does.

HAPPY TRAILS and remember to keep your sense of hummer in school, it will help you through the day.

roadfitter

Nolan · August 23, 2015

I remember the CB hide and seek game. Had to go look in the truck on what I had. Cobra 29 DX III. Haven't used it for three years. Took it out only to have the wife tell me to put it back in. Might use it someday. Might be held up in traffic and want to get off at some exit take a different way.

beyerjf · August 23, 2015

In the 40 years in the biz, I have seen this item go from an absolute must have to almost nothing. The only time I use it is to talk to other drivers in our fleet if we are running together. Once in a while I will be at a shipper who uses it to communicate to inbound drivers, but that is being replaced by mobile phones.

So few drivers use it routinely that advance notice of traffic problems are no longer effective, the primary positive use.

As far as the trash talk, I recently tried to start an argument in West Memphis- ground zero for stereotypical trucker talk-( " I think President Trump will...") and almost didn't get a rise out of anyone. 20 years ago you had to have a 500 watt linear just to get out, and the responses would have carried on for hours. Now almost dead silence.

As far as the favorite, pick out any fully equipped one at the remaining cb shops in one of the truck stops. The more important thing is the antenna layout, quality and connections. An expensive radio is useless with poor antenna setup, but a mediocre radio will do very well with a decent antenna.

CrazyCooter · August 23, 2015

I have a Cobra 75 wx all in one so it doesn't take up a bunch of real estate. Hard to justify anything else since it's not a piece of equipment that will ever get used. The Ham radio is much more useful for us.

X2 on the antenna! The radio can be a junker, but the antenna and its installation is the heart of the system.

rvpopeye · August 23, 2015

Start checking out yard sales or swap meets.

For the little use you will get from it a cheapo with a properly tuned antenna will serve well.

Cobra 29's were the standard once upon a time. And ditto to the linears.

The high end hams like a Ranger , Kenwood etc can be tuned to the CB band and serve double purpose if you get a ham license.

LOTS more $$$$$$ though.

Jeff

Nice opening come on , no come back says a lot though.

sdixon747 · August 23, 2015

It is all about the antenna. That's why when the Cobra didn't work, new quality antenna (tuned with an antenna analyzer) was changed first. When that didn't work, new radio.

sdixon747 · August 23, 2015

Start checking out yard sales or swap meets.

For the little use you will get from it a cheapo with a properly tuned antenna will serve well.

Cobra 29's were the standard once upon a time. And ditto to the linears.

The high end hams like a Ranger , Kenwood etc can be tuned to the CB band and serve double purpose if you get a ham license.

LOTS more $$$$$$ though.

Jeff

Nice opening come on , no come back says a lot though.

Even with a license, it is illegal to tune a 10 meter HAM radio to transmit on the 11 meter CB frequencies. Major FCC fines if caught so just not worth the risk.

SunJuniper · August 23, 2015

I had a Cobra 29. Last year on the way to the HDT Rally, SuiteSuccess was following behind me in clear view. If he dropped back a half mile or so, the Cobra was worthless. I installed a new antenna but no help. So a couple months later, I bought a Bearcat 980. Works great! Now I get to hear all the trash talk I prefer the HAM Radio.

im running a Cobra 29 WX NW ST and have had the opposite experience as you. though i have replaced all coax between the mirrors and the CB itself and had the CB peaked and i adjust for the lowest swr via a external meter between the coax and antenna .im also running 2 ham radio's in my truck but you need a FCC license for those... im also running the IC-7000 as well as a IC-2200. they do get much better range than CB radios.

RandyA · August 24, 2015

CB radio favorite brand? Actually, none.

I do have a Cobra 29 LX with NOAA but it is turned off most of the time. Too much noise from atmospheric static and AM just plain old sucks. As noted above truckers have pretty much abandoned CB 19 and the emergency channel 9 provides little in the way of emergency help. I do occasionally use the CB when traveling with a group but most of us have FRS hand-helds that work better.

CB in a truck needs a good speaker. Please avoid those echo microphones that over modulate and splatter onto adjacent channels as well as linear amps. Having a RF gain control on the receiver end helps when noise levels are high. IMHO, the antenna is more important than the radio brand.

I am also a Ham - have been for almost 40 years. Personally, with the useable spectrum so overloaded I think it is time for the FCC to do away with 27 MHz CB and Amplitude Modulation. The Family Radio Service which uses narrow band FM in the 462+ MHz part of the spectrum makes a much better no-license citizens band. You can also get a no-code ham license by passing a basic radio exam that will give you access to the world through repeaters utilizing EchoLink with only a inexpensive low power hand-held ham transceiver..

CrazyCooter · August 24, 2015

I'd like the FCC open up more unlicensed bandwidth in the VHF area. MURS is just too crowded with driveway monitors and other controls.

RandyA · August 25, 2015

I'd like the FCC open up more unlicensed bandwidth in the VHF area. MURS is just too crowded with driveway monitors and other controls.

I seriously doubt that we will see any addition to unlicensed VHF spectrum space. Another alternative is GMRS which is a no test license that just dropped in cost from $99 to $69 for a 5 year period. It is actually a very nice piece of the UHF spectrum and GMRS repeaters are becoming more common. You are also allowed up to 50 watts of power. The FRS is a great no-license or cost UHF CB band but it is limited to low power mobile equipment with a 1-2 mile range. A no-code no-cost Amateur Radio Technician class license is the best it will get for VHF.

I've noted some pirate use of GMRS frequencies due to bubble pack handhelds that have some GMRS channels in addition to FRS. Unlicensed use of GMRS is not a very good idea even with low power. Monitoring the spectrum from 50 Mhz and up with a SDR (software defined radio) quickly shows you how crowded and valuable available space has become. When anything becomes rare or in high demand you can bet there will be a cost involved to use it. We opened up some space with the digital TV conversion. That space is (will) be sold for megabucks.

I know the topic is what brand of CB is best and the advanced commentary goes beyond the question. Hopefully it gives some additional info for what is available for mobile communication and emergency coverage. IMHO, the current 27 Mhz CB band is an out of control dinosaur destined for extinction. One might want to consider investing in more reliable and useful radio equipment other than conventional CB. Midland, Cobra and Motorola are three brands that currently dominate the FRS CB radio market.