Need a good Handheld CB

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Author Message   Zak Ruck (Zak) Posted on Wednesday, December 04, 2002 - 07:45 am:    I'll be putting a good Cobra 75xxx in my Disco soon, but need a handheld unit for this weekend, and then I'll be putting it in my other car for emergencies. So, anyone have any good experiences with handheld units??? Thanks, Zak   John Cinquegrana (Johnc) Posted on Wednesday, December 04, 2002 - 07:50 am:    The only good handheld unit I've seen and used is the one Axel has. I have a Radio Shack handheld and it sucks. Glenn's handheld went south a few weekends ago (you might want to ask him what he uses). Another option are the FRS radios. I always carry two of them with me along with my CB. Don't worry about this weekend, I'll lend you one of the FRS if you don't have one already. Plus, I got a big mouth so you'll be able to hear me ten trucks behind... Later, John   perroneford Posted on Wednesday, December 04, 2002 - 08:10 am:    My Cobra handheld has done very well as a spare/loaner for the 2 years I've had it. It stays in the loadspace until some poor bastard without a CB needs it. Has a lighter plug adapter to negate the battery issue, and has enough range to be useful on the trails. If I remember correctly it was about $35 at the local Flying J. -P   Glenn Guinto (Glenn) Posted on Wednesday, December 04, 2002 - 09:36 am:    I had a Cobra HH. It was a good unit however the power started to flactuate and eventually just died. I've always used it with the cig lighter adapter and now I'm not sure whether it's the power cable or the actual handheld that went south. I guess I should stop being lazy and test it with new AA batteries and see if the unit is still good. When it worked it had a pretty good reception (albeit with an external firestick antenna mounted on the roofrack). -glenn   Eric N (Grnrvr) Posted on Wednesday, December 04, 2002 - 10:02 am:    I have a Cobra HH 38 WX ST.. It's OK but, the range isn't very good compared to a normal CB.   perroneford Posted on Wednesday, December 04, 2002 - 10:54 am:    No handheld is going to be able to touch a well mounted CB. That isn't their purpose. But for communication while spotting, or walking ahead on foot and communicating to the group, I find them invaluable. Mine gives me about half a mile or more around the neighborhood, and that's plenty enough for me.   Al Oliveira (Offroaddisco) Posted on Wednesday, December 04, 2002 - 12:22 pm:    CB HT's with the stock duckie antenna are good for about as far as you can shout. Inside a car the signal gets blocked a great deal at that frequency. But as a backup or for close convoys they're okay. FRS radios actually work much better from inside the vehicle than a HT CB bacuse of the shorter wavelength but you're still limited to about 1/2 mile. External antennas help CB HT's a great deal. Real GMRS radios are also very good to have around to talk to FRS radios if you need reliable longer range than 1/2 mile.   Pugsly (Pugsly) Posted on Wednesday, December 04, 2002 - 01:25 pm:    Have you thought about buying an external mag-mount antenna with that HH? The antenna makes all the difference - all CBs are limited to the same power output. I have a 2m/70cm radio, which also can monitor FRS. For pure distance and signal quality, nothing compares with ham - our club is converting over to it, as everyone gets their licenses.   Al Oliveira (Offroaddisco) Posted on Wednesday, December 04, 2002 - 08:06 pm:    Pugsly - Have you looked into MURS for the club? It's very close to 2m but no license but limited to 2w. Even GMRS (close to 70cm) would be nice for a club since there is no test needed for the license and it covers your entire family. GMRS would be repeater capable and HT's run up to 5w and mobiles can run up to 50w. I guess anything is better than AM CB.   Pugsly (Pugsly) Posted on Wednesday, December 04, 2002 - 08:23 pm:    The nice thing about 2m is that a LOT of other folks are on it, and as long as you know where the repeaters are you stand a good chance of being able to raise someone if you get into trouble. To me, that's the real advantage - good in-group communications with the ability to go outside for help if needed. We've never had a medical emergency within our group, but we have come across others that have seriously injured themselves on the trails. GMRS is nice, and my mobile will receive (it received FRS as well), but it is not legal to transmit (FRS anyway, I should check the GMRS rules).   Al Oliveira (Offroaddisco) Posted on Wednesday, December 04, 2002 - 08:28 pm:    GMRS radios needs Part 95 certifcation so if it's a HAM rig my guess is that it's not legal on GMRS. Most commercial radios will work very well. I have a few Vertex units that I will one day use plus some Vertex HT's and a Vertex repeater plus an ICOM IC-F2020 installed in my Disco2. I just need to find the time for my HAM ticket and program my radios for 2m and 70cm.