CB Radios! what info can you give me on them, i need it all, the radio, Cobra any good? oh and the antenna too, i've looked but cant narrow it doen, if you got one please let me know from where... thanks jeepers

Spend your money on the antenna setup, NOT the radio. Almost any radio will suck with an improperly setup antenna. I have heard good things about Cobra. I have some cheapy radio that works really well because I have a decent antenna setup.

Poke around on here for some good reading on CBs:
http://jeephorizons.com/tech/cb_ant_basic.html

I bought two handhelds from Fry's to use on my last Baja run and they suck!!! Total waste of money. I used to have a really good hand held that I got at radio shack but it was stolen. I was trying to go cheap with the new radios.......got what I paid for.

$30 Radio Shack CB ... it rocks!

Firestik antennas are the way to go! and I have a Uniden and it works great. Got it at a TA truck stop. whole setup cost me like 80 bucks or so...
http://www.firestik.com/

Very little difference in the radios - basically they all come off of one of three assembly lines in Taiwan.

Good antenna, Firestick is one of them. Depends on how you want to mount it as far as what works best - make sure the antenna is adjustable for SWR (and no, there isn't a "magic number of feet of coax" that makes bad SWR go away). Good coax is as must - if it doesn't come with the antenna, I use RG8X for this level of power/frequency. Buy the best PL-259 connectors you can find, and solder them correctly.

Skip the powermikes, amplifiers, dual antennas and all that other stuff.

Wire the radio directly to the battery, both positive AND negative cables.

Find a good home for, and install a remote speaker if you ever think you'll want to actually hear the thing on the road :)

Find a good home for, and install a remote speaker if you ever think you'll want to actually hear the thing on the road :)

SERIOUSLY The speakers that come in the CBs SUCK. Its so hard to hear sometimes. Im always like ,"what did he say?" haha

I have (2) remote speakers in my YJ, one for CB, one for the TM-D700A. Considering adding a third to split the 2M and 70CM output.

I have (2) remote speakers in my YJ, one for CB, one for the TM-D700A. Considering adding a third to split the 2M and 70CM output.
What language is that? haha im guessing theyre radios. :)

What language is that? haha im guessing theyre radios. :)

I agree... That's greek to me....

TM-D700A is a "dual band" Ham radio (two separate radios in one). 2M is 144 mHz, 70CM is 446 mHz. For reference, CB is 11M(eters), 27 mHz.

sweet, sounds like youll never be without a radio that can conntact anyone on this planet.

LOL, I've had was worse than that. In 82, my '70 FJ-40 had full shortwave plus (4) VHF/UHF radios (6M to 2M). Occasionally still found no one to talk to :)

HAHA so instead of a recovery box/tool box in your Jeep theres a radio station with pop out 8 foot antenna on the roof? haha

Acutally, in this jeep I've limited my radios to dual band ham, Forest Service and CB - too damn noisy to listen/talk on the highway, and that's all I use on the trail.

Recovery box has only the things I need. I figure worst case, I'll put a cutting rod on the onboard welder and carve the parts I don't have off someone elses rig :)

$30 Radio Shack CB ... it rocks!

Same radio from a garage sale, $15, double rocks!

I'll put a cutting rod on the onboard welder and carve the parts I don't have off someone elses rig :)
HAHA ill make sure next time i wheel ith you, il run when you breakdown ;)

im a avionics tech but when it comes to car electronics i get a lil lost...is there a way to wire your CB into your stereo so it comes out your speakers?

you know what haha i tried that but, when i hooked up my AUX input mini jack to the output jack for the external radio on the back of the CB i got MMMMAAAAADDDDD feedback through the speakers when i held down the talk button on the radio. but im sure theres a way to do it so you wont...

I had a long time CBer tell me to put a fuse on the ground wire too. Anybody ever heard of that? He said that especially on older vehicles that may have bad body grounds. He said something about other things trying to ground through your CB. Guess its all that path of least resistance thing.

i have seen a lot of older CBs and other stuff with fuses in the ground wire already

I got a Realistic CB, 12' of cable and a Fire Stick antenna off of Craigslist for $20! Works fine for me!!

I got a Realistic CB, 12' of cable and a Fire Stick antenna off of Craigslist for $20! Works fine for me!!
Craigslist FTW!
I just scored a yakima load warrior with tire carrier for $80 bucks, it retails for $375 with tire carrier.

ive got a cobra, the one where everything is in the mic, i love it, green sheet 60.00 in the box.///SCORE

I had a long time CBer tell me to put a fuse on the ground wire too. Anybody ever heard of that? He said that especially on older vehicles that may have bad body grounds. He said something about other things trying to ground through your CB. Guess its all that path of least resistance thing.

Pretty much standard now on all the VHF/UHF stuff (Ham and commercial)

XJ Kevin, where did you get that cobra with the radio in the mic, i think that i know which one you are talking about but i saw it at a much higher price...

XJ Kevin, where did you get that cobra with the radio in the mic, i think that i know which one you are talking about but i saw it at a much higher price...

I usually see them for around $100 too, so $60 is pretty cheap... It's called a Cobra 75 WX:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Cobra-75-WX-ST-40-Channels-Handheld-CB-Radio-NIB_W0QQitemZ120058909836QQihZ002QQcategoryZ40055Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

What is a good site to buy an antenna and coax cable? Also any brand of coax to look for (any difference other than length?), looking at getting a Firestik II for the antenna...

Yeah, get the Firestick. and I just used 18' Coax from a TA truck stop. I think the brand was Diesel. I made sure to get a better looking thicker strand type. Seems to work fine. I would just head down to the truckstop or radio shack and get it there, that way ou can actually look at it and decide and theres no shipping charge.

Don't know what Firestick is actually using for coax these days (I doubt they actually manufacture their "Fire Flex" coax), but it's only RG-59A/U. Never saw a factory crimped PL-259 that impressed me either.

IF you can solder (electronics - copper pipe doesn't count) then hunt down some Belden coax in RG-8X, buy the best grade of PL-259 (silver) that Radio Shack sells, and wire it yourself. Coax length is _immaterial_, 18' is a "rough resonant" length at 27mHz - run what you _need_ to get from the antenna to the radio, no more, no less. If you can't solder, find a local Ham operator, most of us can (and some of us used to teach it) :)

Find someone with a stand alone SWR meter to match the system, the SWR meters built into the radios are effectivly worthless. Match the antenna out away from buildings, etc.