Best CB setup for a new driver

[HR][/HR]Thanks to everyone that posted all my questions were answered before I asked them. I havent found the need for one in 14yrs. but becoming a o/o I'm thinking about getting something inexpensive

 

If you have a good antenna set up, and a properly tuned Cobra 25 or 29, (or even a good stock one) you don't need a kicker unless you want to talk skip, be annoying and harass folks or you hang out in West Memphis all the time......and if you hang out in W. Memphis, you better get a 500 watt kicker at least!

 

I've had a lot of questions about radios. Good post. I have a 29 and one of their new fancy LCD display radios. (can't remember what its called.) But I'd be interested to test both out to see which had better range.

 

Those digital cobras are different than the old standby 25 or 29. One of my other drivers bought one, didn't stand up well to the bumps and bruises of riding in a daycab.

 

I've been running one of the new Cobra 29 LX models for 3 years and it worked fine until I let the bozo at Atlantic Coast Communications crack the case on it.

 

My experience is that the new "digital Cobras" mean, of course, that only the display is a change in the "digitalness" of the radio. The scanning, fancy color changing, and other such gingerbread constitute the only real changes to the appearance and operation of the radio. The main board, the "guts" of the radio, are essentially the same, save for the substitution of SMDs ("Surface mount devices" -- chip caps and resistors that look like flys' matchboxes) in some portions of the board. RF-wise, the synthesizer still works the same, and of course all the signal paths through the transmitter and receiver are the same.
One downfall for them is the same as for most CBs: if the owner falls prey to the fallacies about "EVERY radio will work better after being [peaked and tuned] or [heavily modified to increase output]", then that owner can reasonably expect that the final amplifier device(s) that are designed to output around 4 watts of carrier will have been strangled to make them generate 5 or 6 watts. The difference will never be heard on the airwaves, but the final(s) can be expected to fail prematurely because of the extra heat they now have to dissipate, and if some "swing charlatan" has coaxed the modulator (the circuit that impresses the voice onto the carrier) to send the 4 watts of carrier into producing 20 or 30 watts on the loudest possible whistle signals, all that extra power (that exceeds 100% modulation) will *not* be on the channel you've dialed up; it will be several channels up and down from what the channel indicator says you're on, producing no end of interference on nearby channels that should, by all rights, be usable by others fairly closeby.
Lots of SMT-constructed radios, including the ones from RF Harris and Motrola, that cost $5,000 or more *apiece* are built by computerized assembly lines using mostly SMTs and ribbon connectors. Do they fail? Sure. But are they reliable enough for many public safety responders (I'm a retired one) to stake their lives on during shootouts or whilst running into burning buildings? Yes -- although they certainly sometimes fail.

But make no mistake: a "digital CB" is really a plain ol' analog CB with some digital control features, much like "digital copiers" are still using electrically charged, chemical-covered drums to transfer images onto sheets of paper that are then pressed between follers (the "fuser") to bond the ....well, essentially just soot ..... into the fibers of the paper. The motors may be under digital control, and the exposure and enlargement effects, but the basic technology that makes the copies inside is still the same.

Same as a Cobra 29LX: mostly the same old RF technology, with some microcontroller that takes care of the enhanced features that make the radio look revolutionary. But pop the hood on a new Cobra that has an RF failure, and a competent tech will find the problem in under 15 minutes. Granted, some problems will require changing out a display or control board because it's cheaper and faster to do than than to troubleshoot down to the component level, especially when the manufacturer *won't* sell individual components that go onto an SMT assembly.
In my experience, even inexpensive CBs that have *not* been fooled with inside have little to gain from an arbitrary "tweek and peak". Five minutes on a service monitor will show whether or not a CB *of any vintage* is performing as specified.

Unless you've got a new CB that was dropped in its box before being delivered to you, OR a 30-yr-old ECI tube rig that had parts whose performance could degrade over time because of vacuum tubes wearing out, I personally think that taking a brand new CB to *anyplace* for random or arbitrary adjustments, parts removal, or whatever a shop chooses to call it, is a waste of money. Save your hard-earned $$$ and put it into improving the counterpoise on your vehicle (especially if you're driving a "plastic cab truck") and let your radio work like it was made to. There's almost never anything that can be done to a radio that will actually improve its performance without shortening its useful life except improving the antenna system into which it works.
That's just my two cents....but it's based upon 50 years as a ham, 45 years as a CBer, and 40 years as a commercial land mobile radio tech.
HTH,
73

 

I just liked the blue lights haha. I'm easy to please.

 

LOL! Me too. Although I got tired of writing citations to people who'd failed to yield for "my blue lights" on the *outside* of the vehicle. Frankly, anytime I was "running code", where I was headed was more important than some moron who wouldn't get out of my way until his boom car had finished its current tune.

The exception was when I'd casually saunter along after an ambulance or fire apparatus and then pull over the morons who hadn't gotten out of *their* way.

And no, we didn't have ticket quotas; we could write as many as we wanted )
73

 

Both are Pilot cheapies and about the same quality... Not bad, mind you, just entry level. The Cobra 29 is NOT junk and IS the workhorse of the CB world. I have the Uniden 980 myself. Start out with one of these three, then as you get into it and figure out WHAT YOUR NEEDS ARE, buy something else. 90% of all drivers don't need anything other than listed above.

Don't buy into the 'I need a $1000 rig' crap.

 

I agree on the cobra 29. My galaxy stopped working and haven't had a chance to send it out for repairs. When I was hooking up my Cobra 29 I thought it would really suck and I am pretty impressed with it. I will still get my galaxy fixed and switch back to that (i miss talking skip on sideband) but for the $ cobra 29 is a pretty decent radio