best cb radio?

The reason I asked was because Bob has stated in the past that the new RK56s are junk and he won't sell them in his shop. And that's why I asked if it was used. Yes you deal with his employees because he's almost always busy. I've been in there a couple times so I know this, it's where I bought my 7' Firestik for one thing. (And also my CR-577 mic, and my bird pirch mount, yadda yadda). I have nothing against him or any of his employees personally, they're all good people. He just doesn't do work that meets my standards, but I'll certainly patronize his store.

 

My understanding is coils make up for lack of length. Shorter ain't better, so I don't understand your statement "has an extra coil or two" as a positive thing. This would be a negative to me and I would only do it if it was necessary to stay under 13'6".

 

There you go. Its on a prostar mirror. It actually came to about the same length as my Wilson 2000 after it was all said and done. Just put a little tilt on it.

 

An extra coil or two means that it has a cpl extra wraps (coils) over the original single coil predator..
mike 5511..Your right shorter is not better but the extra coilds add the ability to tune its a lil shorter than the same ant with less coil wrapping..Look at the duel coiled predators,its design was based on the 102" theory without the length..
The ant shaft and ant length is some what dependent on mounting position..

 

Just saying ... When you have too much loading on the antenna, the effectiveness drops.

 

Im sorry but all these guys are suggesting side band and radios with 10 knobs. Let's get real. This radio is for dad right? Most older folks are not going to care about all the bells and whistles. The Cobra 25 has a channel selector and 3 knobs. There is a Midland version. Personally I would go to ebay and get a Realistic. Most of them were made by Uniden. Radio Shack gets a bad rap. But they are good quality units. Back in the day half the radios out there were RS. A stock mic works great in a car or pickup. You do not need a noise canceling mic unless hes driving a big rig. Hold off until you hear what his background noise sounds like. You can always add one later. Also get you a Hustler Mag Mount antenna. Its the only mag mount with a spring so it doesnt break the solder joints inside. Keep it simple!

 

I like the KISS approach myself. My little Cobra 19 and Midland 1001Z each got three knobs, for channel, gain/squelch and on-off/volume. I rarely fiddle with them on the road. My antennas are magnet-mounted K30 and Wilson 1000, depending on whether I'm in the car or the truck. I put the radio gear on the vehicle when I'm on the road and store it when at home. Easy living. Makes me happy.

 

Radios with sideband tend to have better receivers.

My Cascadia is quieter inside than my buddy's '08 Mercury Mariner, and I still often use a noise canceling mic. Cobra stock mics are garbage, and have a muffled sound to them, hence the recommendation for a good noise canceling mic.

 

That's definitely not true. Although they are more stable on am with voltage fluctuation.
You can look at the specs on any radio and see what the receiver sensitivity is.
.3uv-.4 uv seems to be average. A good technician can take any radio and make it receive better regardless of what kind of radio it is. About the only advantage of a sideband rig would be a regulated power supply.
As long as the voltage of your truck is the same voltage as the power supply that was used to power the radio while it was being tuned you should be fine with a $69 Cobra 29 as far as transmit goes. Galaxy radios supposedly used in higher game lower noise device for the front end then Cobra radios so supposedly a Galaxy 33 which is AM and FM only should hypothetically have a better receiver than a Cobra 148 GTL although regardless of how bad the receiver is a good technician can make it hear better than a stock Icom 7000..