Drivers CB on a budget combo??

Discussion in 'CB Radio Forum' started by Intothesunset, Jun 11, 2019.

  1. Ridgeline

    Ridgeline Road Train Member

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    This isn't directed to anyone ... but I JUST don't get you guys, you will dump money into a superduper expert/10m right and have it all super tuned with a billion dollar super tech and then are so cheap you won't buy the one thing that you need to hear the noise.

    You all have to think of it as a system, not individual components, the speaker (which I have a WM and a few others) is as key to the system as the antenna.

    I had this discussion with someone at a T/S a while back, he was going to dump a trillion dollars into a radio, thousands of dollars into experimenting with the antenna but leave the stock mic and speaker alone.

    I told him I bet he would like what I recommend to him or I would pay for the equipment if he isn't happy.

    I told him to get the cheaper radio than he was looking for, get a good mic and a new antenna system that is installed and tuned by someone who knows what they are doing, which I recommended someone. AND I told him to get a good external speaker. A month goes by and he calls me and tells me he loves his system, he got a used radio, had the guy I recommended do the install, bought an RM amp then ended up getting the WM speaker.
     
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  3. Intothesunset

    Intothesunset Road Train Member

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    Would a President Andy be a good start for this set-up? Sapp Bros has them on sale for $49.99.

    Anybody with a set up and pieces to use with labor for tuning, and piece pricing would be great to compare notes.
     
  4. Timin770

    Timin770 Road Train Member

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    If I spend more than a couple hundred for a radio that's huge for me, although I did spend a bit more than that for my AT6666 and my 655 Stryker. My Northpoint was about $150 IIRC but that was 12-13 years ago
     
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  5. Slowmover1

    Slowmover1 Road Train Member

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    President is likely the best brand available. Their design and engineers. Not China.
     
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  6. Slowmover1

    Slowmover1 Road Train Member

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    See Ridgelines post.
     
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  7. Slowmover1

    Slowmover1 Road Train Member

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    Friend,
    If you “knew” what a difference DSP makes to the received audio signal you wouldn’t go without it. Literally.

    .
     
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  8. Night Stalker10

    Night Stalker10 Road Train Member

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    Actually I do. I own Hf radios with DSP built in. I wouldn’t want another HF radio without it. I had to agree with Timin770 about the high dollar price tag on the speaker.

    The thing to keep in mind is, that I can’t see myself spending that much money on a DSP speaker to run in this old Pete. The reason is because I’m a local driver and the shop I work at is a couple of miles outside of town. In years past people have broken into the trucks, so I don’t want to take the chance of losing something that expensive. The 1997 cobra 25 that I use (the one in the my avatar), wouldn’t be a big loss.

    Now if I was OTR like most of you guys are, and basically live in a truck, it would be a different story.
    I too would want a great setup. Although I wouldn’t spend any money on an export radio. I would probably consider the new Uniden Walker II cb radio. It looks like it would be a very nice radio, even with some features I wouldn’t want, such as talkback.
     
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  9. Numb

    Numb Crusty Curmudgeon

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    Cobra 19, good coax , a Wilson antenna. ran this for many yrs on several diff trucks.

    hung the Wilson behind the cab on the grab bar. ran the coax in thru the side box and up under the bunk. bungeed the radio on the dash and that's it.

    while not pretty ,it did the job for me. ran 2 Cobras in 35 yrs. the first one for over 20 yrs of over the road driving and on all day long. no high dollar maintenance, for tuning every few months . just a basic rugged radio.
     
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  10. Intothesunset

    Intothesunset Road Train Member

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    What range did you get out to??

    Not sure what HF, and DSP are?

    Maybe I should have named the post...
    "Quality Truck CB set up" for working class folks.
     
  11. Slowmover1

    Slowmover1 Road Train Member

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    How effective the tool, is a better question.

    Assuming an assigned company tractor with a pair of phased antennas, I’ve before listed what I think is minimal. And it’s up near $900 for the system , really.

    What throws men off is in comparing radios.

    For brand-new I don’t think a box-stock Uniden 980 can be beat price or performance. AM/SSB. Approximately $150. It’s the minimum as it can do everything CB is capable of doing. Spend less and get less. Spend more and get nothing more.

    Everything else is still required for a quality radio system no matter what transceiver is chosen.

    All those little things — and a couple of bigger things — add up.

    But it all lasts for years. Spread it out over at least five years for some perspective.

    A $50/month cellphone is $3,000.00 over five years. Just service. Now let’s add in all the other stuff. Chargers, cords, holders, cases, spare battery, etc, etc, etc. Then the $600 for the phone.

    The phone wasn’t the expensive part. We’re close to $1,000.00 PER YEAR.

    On a day-by-day basis the $100/year radio is a better business tool than the $1k/year phone. Cell phones have been around awhile now but so has Qualcomm. Believe me that trucking wasn’t by any means impossible without a cellphone. Or QC. Things got shipped for 80-years without either.

    But driver to driver communication changed radically with radio. And it’s still the only option in that.

    Your company, the shippers & receivers can communicate with you without your having a cell phone. You’re underwriting their costs by not being reimbursed for it’s use, thus mistaking its importance relative to a radio system.

    .
     
    Last edited: Jun 13, 2019
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