cb radio

The Magnum S-680 is not a CB radio out of the box. It's a 10 meter Ham (Amateur Radio) Unit . which does NOT cover the CB Band ion its stock condition. With minor modifications, however, it will cover the CB band. By opening the covers and changing some jumpers (and possibly needing to retune/re-align the radio) it will cover the CB band.

It has many features you probably won' t use such as FM operation, 10 kc (one channel down) switch (covers the "A channel skips), 11 bands (40 X 11) channels. It has other bells and whistles alot of operators like such as Turbo echo and a built in modulator. It is really not a unit you would find a serious ham using. It is most certainly aimed at the CB hobbyist that wants an easily modifiable radio and might user some of thos 440 chjannels for out of band operations.

The major drawback of this unit is the pricetag. Itells new for $350 - $400. For a quality CB (like a Cobra 29 LTD Classic at $89.95, new) you could add an echo and a modulator kit, installed by a reputable tech (around $85 total in my neck of the woods) and still have plently left over for a beefy amp (which can include a pre-amp to pull in weaker stations) that will let you get out alot louder and farther than the magnum which is rated at 80 watts.
Also the s-680 is now out of production so it may not be easy to come by. Magnum has announced they will be bringing this back buit with surface mount technology components. These will be harder to get repaired and modified, as many CB shops are not equipped to handle SMT devices (nor do they have the experience).

I my opinion, if you are not a CB hobbyist that will be taking the radio out of the truck and into the house to use the extra channels and features to talk out of band and skip, save your money. Even if that, for around 60 bucks you could have that 29 expanded to cover around 135 channels. The amp you would be able to afford wit the money saved would give you a much higher output than the stock 680.

Oh yeah... if you hadn't guessed, I am a radio hobbyist.