CB radio mounting opinions

[Derek G]

People still use CB's? :becky:

Most 4WD drive clubs REQUIRE you to have a CB in your vehicle for any club outings.

 

[Derek G]

I just read a ton of excellent reviews on this model - and Amazon is running them for right around $100, so I think I'm going to order one very soon.

I do have a "Noob to CB's" question, though... I saw some guys talking about properly "tuning" your antenna to get optimal reception on the unit. How do you tune a CB antenna? Thx!

I would also recommend having it tuned where you have access to other antennas as well, or buy a few and return the one(s) that don't work. The first Firestik I bought and mounted was just not able to be tuned so I had to replace it with a K40 while I was there. The K40 tuned up very well on the front of my ARB Bull Bar, but then again your tuning and compatability of your antenna will depend on your mounting location.

 

[ebg18t]

Most 4WD drive clubs REQUIRE you to have a CB in your vehicle for any club outings.

The last few groups (multi-day outings in NM-AZ) I have run with were mostly 2M. Few folks still with CB's.

 

[gshadow325]

I didn't realize how much other "stuff" I needed to make them work and/or work properly. Do you (or anyone else reading this post) have a list of items I need to make a complete unit? I plan on getting the Cobra 75WXST, but I don't have a clue as to what else I need to buy.

I would like to get everying purchased and installed before I head down your way in a few weekends. Maybe you could help me tune it before we take off for the Pines, if it's not that time consuming of a process??

After talking to a cb distributor, I have decided to go hand held portable unit and a external magnetic Antenna. Simple install, wires everywhere when I need to use it but none until I use it the one time a year.

Pros, use it when I need it.
Cons, wires every where when I need to use it. Lol

 

[zopperman]

After talking to a cb distributor, I have decided to go hand held portable unit and a external magnetic Antenna. Simple install, wires everywhere when I need to use it but none until I use it the one time a year.

Pros, use it when I need it.
Cons, wires every where when I need to use it. Lol

I thought about going this route, but I really like having it in my truck for road trips and stuff. Hearing the truckers talk is entertaining and can be useful when you're stuck in traffic

 

[Martinjmpr]

After talking to a cb distributor, I have decided to go hand held portable unit and a external magnetic Antenna. Simple install, wires everywhere when I need to use it but none until I use it the one time a year.

Pros, use it when I need it.
Cons, wires every where when I need to use it. Lol

There's a nice "hybrid" unit available, the Midland 75-822. I've been running this radio for the last 6 years or so and it works great. It has most of the features of a decent CB including WX band.

I call it a "hybrid" because it is designed to be used as either a hand held or a vehicle mount. The battery compartment slides off of the unit and in its place you can slide in a "pigtail" that has both a BNC (I think) antenna connector for an external antenna and a 12v cigarette lighter plug. When it's in that configuration, you don't need the "rubber duck" antenna and it gets power from your 12v socket. It also comes with a rubber duck antenna and two battery boxes (one for alkaline batteries, one for NiCad rechargeables) and a charger stand. I've never used mine in hand-held form, but it makes an excellent mobile radio and best of all, when I don't need it I remove it completely leaving no trace of it.