What have you for a CB setup?

[4x4junkie]

Though it would be nice, I just can't see the likes of Icom or Yaesu getting into the CB market. Such a unit would likely have to come through Uniden, Midland, or Cobra. All three of them have had exceptional radios at some point or another... Someone simply needs to do the market research and design one (taking some cues from existing ham unit designs). Doesn't have to have SSB (though it would be nice), but I think one could be had for a price just short of 3-figures. If it performs anything like the 510XL does and is convenient to use, I think they'd have a real hit.

My DD is a 1996 Saturn SC1. I have run "big" radios like my President Jackson under the steering column/dash. Surely most SUV's and trucks have more room... I do advise not to mount a radio on top of dash, the heat will kill it.

Buddy of mine put his atop the dash in his Ranger pickup (though I never understood why, when in that truck there are numerous other more-traditional places to mount a radio). 15 years of So. California sun doesn't seem to have bothered it, though he often keeps it covered with a towel to hide it, so maybe it's not as bad for it as if the sun was hitting it directly.

 

[AlbanyTom]

Yeah, you're right about the market...I believe cb is also just a north american thing, too, and even here probably even a smaller market than ham, at least in terms of $$.

Ok how about a software CB radio? What I mean is a hardware device that's the cb radio, but the handset is your smartphone. That would probably be cheaper than any current cb to make, because you don't have all the switches/knobs/display and no mike/speaker. And you could mount it anywhere, use it vox with hands free or something. Or maybe that's just the beer talking....

 

[Grinder313]

http://cbradiomagazine.com/index.html
This site has good reviews on radios and equipment. Check out the Magnum 257 for a powerful and small radio package.

 

[4x4junkie]

Yeah, you're right about the market...I believe cb is also just a north american thing, too, and even here probably even a smaller market than ham, at least in terms of $$.

CB exists in numerous countries worldwide. Most use an allocation in the 27MHz band, with a majority having the same set of 40 channels we do. There are various UHF and VHF allocations as well which are in some ways comparable to our FRS and MURS bands.

 

[libarata]

What about handheld CBs. I see there are what, 5 models? Any experience with those?

 

[Vegas_Nick]

Again, I go back to the Midland 75-822 which can be portable or in the vehicle. It is the best of the portables that we have tested. Range of the handheld units is poor due to the short antenna, especially from inside the truck. If you couple it with an external antenna then it makes a viable alternative to a full sized radio.

 

[Grinder313]

Nick, that is a nice radio. I may get one when I sell off the Tram D201 and Uniden Washington

 

[Vegas_Nick]

I haven't heard the Tram name in a long time!

Feel free to give me a shout when you get ready to purchase one.

 

[Grinder313]

Thanks Nick. Trams are still desirable to those who know what they are. The Uni Wash was bought new, channels and noise toy added and the owner past only using for 6 months. It is in the original plastic in original box.

 

[libarata]

Have any of you utilized the full 11meter antenna? I think that would look great on a vehicle

 

[Robert Bills]

Have any of you utilized the full 11meter antenna? I think that would look great on a vehicle

If you mean a 102" stainless steel antenna, I haven't used one since the 1960s. They can be quite inconvenient in areas with overhead foliage and a whipping antenna can cause serious injury to spotters and other bystanders on the trail. Antennas that long are banned on many organized offroad events.

 

[libarata]

If you mean a 102" stainless steel antenna, I haven't used one since the 1960s. They can be quite inconvenient in areas with overhead foliage and a whipping antenna can cause serious injury to spotters and other bystanders on the trail. Antennas that long are banned on many organized offroad events.

On my way into work, I witnessed a hickmobile with the full whip flinging around. Made me giggle a bit. Do they not make coils for the full length anymore?

 

[4x4junkie]

They still make antennas with loading coils (any CB antenna shorter than 102" will have a coil within it, which includes helical-wound antennas such as Firestik).

As was already eluded to earlier in the thread, any antenna shorter than 102" compromises transmitting & receiving performance to some degree (it starts to get drastic with antennas shorter than about feet 5 or so), so there are people that still choose to run full ¼λ whips. Longer antennas are usually easier to attain a good SWR with also.

Foliage is not an issue with antennas that are mounted with a spring at the base (they just flex out of the way and then spring back up), however the concern about it hitting bystanders is valid.
Fiberglass antennas don't fling around as much as the stainless ones do, though ¼λ fiberglass ones seem to have become a lot harder to find lately.

 

[Martinjmpr]

Again, I go back to the Midland 75-822 which can be portable or in the vehicle. It is the best of the portables that we have tested. Range of the handheld units is poor due to the short antenna, especially from inside the truck. If you couple it with an external antenna then it makes a viable alternative to a full sized radio.

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+1 on the Midland. I have been using the Midland 75-822 for about 7 years now.
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As Nick points out the 75-822 is both a handheld and a vehicle mount, and comes with the vehicle kit (which is just a connector that slides into the battery port and has two cables coming off of it: One of the cables is a 12v cigarette lighter power plug and the other is a female PL-259 connector for connecting to an external antenna.
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Are there "better" units out there? Probably, although I'm not sure what "better" means in this context. What I can say with certainty is that the Midland + a simple mag-mount antenna in the center of my roof has been perfectly adequate for trail communications and that's all I need a radio for. If I ever get around to mounting my 2m mobile, that's what I'll use for communicating any distances longer than "trail" distances.
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Best thing about the Midland is it can be installed and removed in seconds. There's no "installation" of any kind. Mine has a loop of 550 cord on the belt clip and I hang that from the rear view mirror. When I'm on the trail with other vehicles and actually talking on it, the radio body sits in my lap.

 

[AlbanyTom]

Fiberglass antennas don't fling around as much as the stainless ones do, though ¼λ fiberglass ones seem to have become a lot harder to find lately.

All true... Many years ago I've used the 1/4 fiberglass, and they had two big faults. First, if you hit something, you could break the center conductor, but not the outside, so you end up w/ a broken antenna without knowing it. Back in the old days, that could hurt a radio w/ the resulting high SWR. Not sure if the newer CB's are more resistant to high swr. The other big problem is that they're fragile in general. But yeah, a stainless 102" whip is potentially dangerous.

The last time I saw a long whip antenna, though, was last week, on a US army truck. It was bent over so that the end was tied back to the top of the body. No idea how they insulate the end, or if they tie them down when they're deployed.

Some ham radio guys will use even longer antennas, such a long whip on a screwdriver antenna, which is one of the best ways to go for mobile HF.

But myself, I'd use a 3' or 4' wound fiberglass whip like most people, unless I lived someplace w/ no trees or drive-throughs.

Tom