CB shop white list.

[Carolina Thunder]

Originally Posted by Brickhauler

The guy you are talking about in Denver is still around. The building he was in was sold to a drug rehab place and he moved. If you go across hwy 270 from Sapp bros. to the East side T/A truck stop on Quebec street and go out their back gate you will be staring at the front door of Summit Radio. The guys name is Chuck and he does a great job. He is the only tech who will ever work on anything of mine. He repaired radios when he was in the Army many years ago and is a real licensed radio technician. As far as I know, he is the only guy doing radio repair in the Denver CO. area that can say that. You will never go wrong taking something to him. Just my .02 I have been a customer of his for the last 10 years or so.

Thats him!!! I could not remember his name or the shops name. It's good to know his is still around and will look him up the next time i'm out that way.

Thanks!

[josh.c]

I'll put in a vote for Mountain View Electronics (AKA the Cigar Man) at I40 exit 412 in Dandridge, TN, on the south side of the interstate across the street from the Chevron Truckstop. He's a licensed radio tech, tunes with a scope, and doesn't sell any garbage "swing and mod" kits. He tries to act a little grumpy, but he's a good guy, and I've always had a hard time getting him to take my money for tuning a radio. As a side note, that Chevron has a decent restaurant, and is a nice break from the rat race at the Love's.

[94nole]

Don't mean to hijack a thread...but I have searched for discussions about CB radios and the best values for the $$$.

What is the best CB radio for the $$$??

I know that I will get as many opinions as there are readers/replies.

Help a brotha out.

[josh.c]

Originally Posted by 94nole

Don't mean to hijack a thread...but I have searched for discussions about CB radios and the best values for the $$$.

What is the best CB radio for the $$$??

I know that I will get as many opinions as there are readers/replies.

Help a brotha out.

From the first page of the CB forum alone.

[LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link.
[LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link.
[LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link.
[LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link.

That aside, if you have light-sensitive eyes and will be driving at night, I'd stay away from all these new radios with blue lights, they all seem to have them now, and even turned way down they mess with my night vision. I personally prefer my Galaxy for the large meter, makes it easy to see without taking your eyes off the road, but other than that, I wouldn't call the big meter Galaxys the best value. If it was me looking to get into it, I'd look for a Philippines made Uniden Grant or Cobra 148. Couple of decent looking ones on ebay right now.

[Brickhauler]

Originally Posted by 94nole

Don't mean to hijack a thread...but I have searched for discussions about CB radios and the best values for the $$$.

What is the best CB radio for the $$$??

I know that I will get as many opinions as there are readers/replies.

Help a brotha out.

My opinion is a good entry level CB would be the Cobra 29. I saw them on sale someplace in the last couple of weeks for about 80 bucks brand new.
Spend some time getting a decent antenna and matching the SWR--A good well tuned antenna system will make that $80 radio sound like great just like a crappy antenna will make a big export type radio sound like ####.

Maybe later if you want to invest a little more $$$ get a noise cancelling mic like the Road King 56 and find a good (hard to do sometimes) radio tech to peak and tune it.

[lonewolf4ad]

Anybody know about the place on Ranger hill in Texas I-20 about 2 hours west of the metroplex)? I have been told they used to do good work for a fair price, and I am not looking to have some mega setup, just something I can reach more than 1-2 miles.

[FriedTater]

Danny and Vic Still do great work,they moved the shop to I/20 Exit 470
Inside the Truck Wash behind Whataburger.
nine,seven,two 224-9015

Originally Posted by lonewolf4ad

Anybody know about the place on Ranger hill in Texas I-20 about 2 hours west of the metroplex)? I have been told they used to do good work for a fair price, and I am not looking to have some mega setup, just something I can reach more than 1-2 miles.

[FriedTater]

What do you know about swing-kits?
The reason most dont sell them is because they dont know how to set them up correctly,therefore THEY ARE NOT the GOLDEN SCREWDRIVERS they proclaim to be.

Anytime a shop bad-mouths a mod or another shop it should be a WARNING to the OBVIOUS.

Originally Posted by josh.c

I'll put in a vote for Mountain View Electronics (AKA the Cigar Man) at I40 exit 412 in Dandridge, TN, on the south side of the interstate across the street from the Chevron Truckstop. He's a licensed radio tech, tunes with a scope, and doesn't sell any garbage "swing and mod" kits. He tries to act a little grumpy, but he's a good guy, and I've always had a hard time getting him to take my money for tuning a radio. As a side note, that Chevron has a decent restaurant, and is a nice break from the rat race at the Love's.

[josh.c]

Originally Posted by FriedTater

What do you know about swing-kits?
The reason most dont sell them is because they dont know how to set them up correctly,therefore THEY ARE NOT the GOLDEN SCREWDRIVERS they proclaim to be.

Anytime a shop bad-mouths a mod or another shop it should be a WARNING to the OBVIOUS.

I know that the idea behind swing kits is to lower the dead key to a level that is safe for an amp that requires a low dead key and still maintain the peak output of the stock radio. In agreement so far? I've personally messed with the "diode trick" while listening to my output on a meter with headphones while transmitting into a dummy load, and confirmed to myself that having a low dead key and swinging high does make the radio sound louder, but at the expense of the clarity of the audio, and I highly doubt that it would transmit measurably farther. So my opinion about swing kits is my own. I would imagine that there are radios that would benefit from having this kind of work done, and I'm sure swing kits can be set up so they don't make the radio splatter over the whole band, but in my opinion, they aren't necessary to make MY radio sound clear and perform correctly. I'm just a trucker that wanted a good sounding radio, I did my own research on this because I never knew who to believe, because there is so much bad information out there.

You're probably right about out-and-out badmouthing, but this shop doesn't do that, and I didn't say that they did. He does set up a radio the way I like it, and that's why he gets my vote and my business.

I would really like to hear your opinion on swing kits, what purpose they serve, and how they make the radio sound. You'll have to admit, there are plenty of cb shops out there that install swing kits that don't know what they're doing.

[Carolina Thunder]

Originally Posted by FriedTater

What do you know about swing-kits?
The reason most dont sell them is because they dont know how to set them up correctly,therefore THEY ARE NOT the GOLDEN SCREWDRIVERS they proclaim to be.

Anytime a shop bad-mouths a mod or another shop it should be a WARNING to the OBVIOUS.

A swing kit ( same as a mod kit ) is nothing more than a way for a cb shop to get your money! All this does is cause your radio to over modulate and a Dosy meter sees this as power which is why so many shops push this mod. When most people see a cobra 29 ( or what ever) doing 25 or 30 watts + on the meter they are quick to hand over the cash but it's not true power. This mod only makes your radio sound louder because of over modulation and it is the excessive over modulation that causes more harmonics to be produced by the radio and that is what a dosy ( or any peak meter ) sees as power but actually hurts it's long range transmitting ability.

How many times have you been in a truck stop and heard some clown on ch 19 that was loud and distorted as hell but you get down the road a few miles you cant hear him? But yet you hear someone else talking on a radio in that same T stop that is loud but clear and you hear him when you can hear the other guy. You want a big carrier on AM because it is that carrier that helps you talk a long way.

The best example of low or high AM key argument is this. When the DX/skip is rolling just go down to channel 6 and listen while watching your meter. You don't see guys on ch swinging from say 2 S units to 20+ S units and those that you do see or hear with a radio that set up that way get blasted off of the channel when someone else with a big AM key talks! If a low key and big swing is the way to go then this guys who spend thousands and thousands of dollars on their equipment just to talk on ch 6 would be doing it.

If you still dont buy this then find someone on a base and go down the road about 10 miles. Try you radio on a low and high dead key and see if they dont tell you a higher key sounds stronger and better.