Best CB setup for a new driver

For under $300.....I'd say a general lee,a static mic and a pair of hotrod antennias

 

Did mr. bad ### then fire up his kicker, crank the echo to 10 and proceed to tie up the channel for the next hour, in retaliation?

 

Would that even be under $300 anymore? Because I bought a Connex in 2002, and it was $278 back then... and that was with a free Astatic 636 included with the radio.

 

not that I heard..

 

think they run cascadias. look at your own cable and mount.

IF that is the trucks they run , on our cascadias there is an unused grommet on the passenger side firewall that is about 4 inches above the floor pan. two screws to come out below our glove box for easyish access to that hole. I ran mine up the side between dash and A pillar. Antenna is on a mirror mount perch on pass side.

 

The setup you start with will probably not be the seup that you end up with. With this in mind, I would start with a single antenna setup, my own coax and antenna.
.Coax: 50 ohm either RG 58 or RG 8. Either is fine for a stock or nearly stock radio.
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.Antenna: this is what makes or breaks your setup. For low cost try a 5 foot Firestick or Wilson [silverload FGT-5] or a Francis 4 1/2 foot long CB25 antenna. Nothing shorter than 4 foot long. For a more expensive antenna, you want an antenna with a loading coil such as Wilson 2000, Predator 10K, K40 etc. You will never know just how well your radio can perform until you hook it up to a good antenna.
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.Radio- For an inexpensive setup you could get a compact radio like a Cobra 19 or a compact Uniden. For a more expensive setup, Cobra 29/Uniden 78 or Cobra 25/Uniden 68.
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.If you do an inexpensive setup, you can always upgrade your radio and still use your existing antenna and coax. Your inexpensive radio can remain as your backup.

 

HaHaHaha....I hear ya. The guy with the biggest radio in our fleet is the one who talks constantly. of course. I'm still trying to figure out why my fellow drivers spend their own money on chrome hub & lug covers for company trucks.

 

My vote to the OP is a Cobra 29, some good solid coax, an Astatic 636L noise cancelling Mic and a Wilson Trucker 2000 (choose your length for the stick). Spend the money once and be done with it.
More importantly, every Spring take all your outside connections apart and clean them thoroughly, wire brush everything and put them back together snugly with just a touch a Dielectric grease on each connection. Every Spring I do this it's sounds like a bought a new antenna.

 

FLman, who tuned your 880 and did he tell you what he did to improve the receive?

 

I got a Stryker 655hp tuned and the big antenna it was tuned with and brackets and all I'll sell you for 300 bucks it's all less than 2 weeks old I got twice that in all of it.. I just went bigger is only reason I'm selling it.