| Author |
Message |
    
rover30076
| | Posted on Friday, May 10, 2002 - 10:24 am: | 
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Thinking about adding a CB to the rig, but I know nothing about the subject. What things should I be looking for, and where is the biggest bang for my buck? |
gp (Garrett)
| | Posted on Friday, May 10, 2002 - 10:31 am: |
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if you have taken the stock stereo out then i would make sure to get one with a weather band.
otherwise they all pretty much work they same......more features = more $. no need to spend too much on one in my opinion. |
Greg French
| | Posted on Friday, May 10, 2002 - 03:23 pm: |
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I agree, depending on what you want to do with it. If you are just going to talk to people you are wheeling with, go with a el-cheap-o from Radio Shack or something. I paid less than $50 for my radio and antenna, and installed it myself. It works fine on the trails, but only has about a 2-3 mile radius.
If you plan on checking the weather in Antarctica or talking to people across country, then spend a little more on a Cobra with a Firestick or other high end stuff. |
rover30076
| | Posted on Friday, May 10, 2002 - 03:31 pm: |
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Thanks for the input, more than anything it would be for truck to truck (which I have the little radios for), but also to be able to call for help in an emergency situation. The little radios say that they have a 2-3 mile range, but that must be in a desert with no odstacles and the wind blowing in the right direction.... |
PerroneFord
| | Posted on Friday, May 10, 2002 - 08:19 pm: |
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A good CB can give 5-15 miles on a good day. May not be as clear as GMRS or FRS, but it works.
-P |
mongo
| | Posted on Friday, May 10, 2002 - 08:26 pm: |
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Perrone,
are u running a rig with illegal power? That's a little HIGH. Average best is about 2-3 miles, on open terrain. Depending on tree coverageand terrian, reception could be a limited to a little as a 1/4 mile...all this comes from experience...
Rover30076
Don't be fooled, mobile uhf units can do 5-15, depending on if it's hitting a repeater. Most gmrs and frs are limited in power output as are cb's, so don't expect that you'll cover vast area's...truck to truck, no problem...
Frank  |
Joey Chong (Trekker110)
| | Posted on Friday, May 10, 2002 - 08:47 pm: |
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Some CBs have SSB, single side band, which can extend the coverage. Other than power being a factor in possible coverage the antenna is another important factor.
With SSB, 5-10 miles is possible when you're out in the open without illegal amplification. And more is possible if you're at the top of the mountain trying to talk to someone else further away.
On HF ham bands (10m, 20m, 40m) I use SSB and talk to people in places such as Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, and Japan with just 100 watts.
As for FRS, you're limited to 0.5 watts so that puts a damper on things. I'll stick with my handheld on the 2m/70cm ham bands that puts out 5 watts or my mobile at 50 watts VHF/35 watts UHF. |
mongo
| | Posted on Friday, May 10, 2002 - 08:57 pm: |
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Hey Joey,
Your right, but most cb's don't come with ssb. My point to perrone was that 5-15 miles on a stock cb, with a simple antenna won't give that kind of coverage. And I don't think rover30076 is looking to get a ham ticket or a high power rig...
What kind of rig are you running in your truck. I have a Icom IC-900A, also running a Icom F420 with the power turned alway down for frs coverage...
Frank |
Joey Chong (Trekker110)
| | Posted on Friday, May 10, 2002 - 09:01 pm: |
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I still think the biggest problem is getting everyone to use the same system whether it be CB, GMRS, FRS, or ham. CB and FRS being the easiest to obtain since no license is required, but it has its limitations. And when you're in the city you might get stuck having to listen to all the traffic going on CB and FRS. |
Joey Chong (Trekker110)
| | Posted on Friday, May 10, 2002 - 09:06 pm: |
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I have a Yaesu FT-8100 and Kenwood TH-79a mod'd for extended rx/tx. And when I'm at home I ragchew on my FT-840. I would like to get a mobile HF rig, but that's in the distant future at the moment. |
PerroneFord
| | Posted on Friday, May 10, 2002 - 09:21 pm: |
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Who said stock? I'm not running an illegal amp, but my radio has been internally boosted.
-P |
Anonymous
| | Posted on Friday, May 10, 2002 - 11:52 pm: |
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Well, I have an ABC with a DE F atachment that's hooked to a GHIJ KL Monitor thats NO to P Q on the RST. U would like the VW i have in the XYZ.
alpha |
mongo
| | Posted on Saturday, May 11, 2002 - 12:01 am: |
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perrone,
so your running a illegal radio...my point, radio out of the box is good for 2-3 miles, maybe, line of site, but suffers from terrian issues. bottom line, truck to truck, but don't hold breathe for anything beyond a mile or so...
frank
ps. abc+def=bullshit or "I" squared= smoke |
PerroneFord
| | Posted on Saturday, May 11, 2002 - 12:14 am: |
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So.. I've got pirate radio! 
-P |
mongo
| | Posted on Saturday, May 11, 2002 - 12:42 am: |
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Hey perrone,
we all bend the rules, make sure when you make a statement like "5-15 miles" you tell the world that it's not a off the self unit...just don't tell the guy who tries to fix it that you've modified the radio. most cb's have a pos power section in them anyways...translation: radio will die before it's time...
cheers,
Frank |
JRoc
| | Posted on Saturday, May 11, 2002 - 08:16 pm: |
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So how does the Cobra 75 compare? It's the model with the complete unit in the handset. |
Al Oliveira (Offroaddisco)
| | Posted on Saturday, May 11, 2002 - 10:03 pm: |
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Don't be fooled, mobile uhf units can do 5-15, depending on if it's hitting a repeater. Most gmrs and frs are limited in power output as are cb's, so don't expect that you'll cover vast area's...truck to truck, no problem...
Uh... I can do 5-15 miles on my mobile UHF without a repeater. With a repeater I can do -/+50 miles. FRS is limited to 1/2 watt and GMRS is limited to 50 watts. The good thing about GMRS is that you can talk to FRS users too. And more and more people are going with FRS. So you'll have lots of people to talk to. The UHF frequencies will also escape the inside of your vehicle MUCH better than VHF (MURS) or even CB (HF) if you go with a handheld radio.
With CB, since they're all 4 watts legal then spend the money on a good antenna and get the antenna tuned. You'll get much more out of a cheap CB with a good antenna than a good CB with an okay antenna. SSB on CB is still CB. And not many people I've ran into on the trail run SSB. There are lots more people running FRS than SSB/CB.
In a nutshell CB is AM and not a very good radio service. You don't have PL tones, you can't use repeaters and you need a huge antenna to get the signal out. Services like GMRS or FRS are FM, can use PL and DPL tones and a 1/4 wave antenna is only 6". The only downside to GMRS is that the better radios are generally more expensive since they're commercial radios but they can take abuse very well and you need to pay the FCC for a license (no test) that covers you and your entire family. But you can still talk to FRS users on 7 channels/frequencies. |
PerroneFord
| | Posted on Saturday, May 11, 2002 - 10:13 pm: |
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Jroc
As far as I know, the Cobra 75 can't take any of the mods we do with the full radio units. I looked at them originally, but when I found that out, I bought something else.
Good luck |
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