best options for begginer

10-4 on that! Hey,as long as you are happy with it that is great. 8 miles is not bad at all on a stock radio.

 

A pill is a slang for a transistor used in an amp, so called a pill because it's round and white, sort of like what tylenol looks like. At best it might make the radio get out a little further, which might explain how you can talk 8 miles on an otherwise little antenna. Get you a 5 ft antenna and you could probably do 12 miles easy.

 

Agree with that!

 

So after reading this post again and more, I replaced my 9ft cable with 18ft, moved wilson 2000 to driver side and recalibrated swr. Now I'm gettin equal swr across all channels but the wierd thing is, it's practically zero...just one tick on the meter. I read that lower swr is better, but is that too low?

 

There is no such thing as too low of an SWR....at least IMO. However be advised, really all you did was "fool" your meter into thinking the SWR was lower by going with the 18 ft. coax. The SWR is probably the same as it was before, maybe worse but the meter is lying to you when you change coax lengths and see it drop.

 

Thanks Turbo. That makes sense. The manual recommended 18 (I read it AFTER buying 9). I got a chance to check it out with a co worker on the way back to the yard on Friday and it's working fine. Thanks for all the tips.

 

Hey all, thanks for all this info for wannabe, soon to be student! I apologize, but what does SWR mean and why is it important?
So far from my research, I think I am going to buy the Cobra 29 LX BT LCD because of the Bluetooth connection to my iPhone. Any thoughts? Good? Bad? Should I look into something else?
What antenna should I get to go best with it? As you can get, I am not a techie!
Who would install it if I am a company driver for a mega carrier? Do the starter trucks already come with coax, brackets, mounts etc? Or is this stuff I need to get?
Money is no object here. I just want to be able to talk and recieve with clarity, some power (I would not be a super trucker or mega user).
Oh, and here is a really studid question: WHAT CHANNEL do you talk on mostly? Is it still 19 and 9 for emergencies? Does the channel change as you move across the country?
Whew, too many questions, so thanks in advance to who all replies!
G MAN

 

Hey G. No need for apology. Everyone has to start somewhere. I'm just learning all this myself. I bought the Cobra 29 LX BT LCD and am really happy with it. The weather and scan features are a nice bonus. The bluetooth works really well. If your truck is noisy, you'll have to hold the microphone closer to your mouth, or hang it somewhere so it's closer, but that hasn't been a big issue for me. My wife and everyone else I talk to says it sounds good and they can't hear the radio or defroster in the background. You'll definitely want to get a good talkback/external speaker though. I recommend the Cobra brand...the RoadPro stuff sounds like a bad AM radio. Don't be attracted by the lower price.

I can't answer what the setup would be with a mega carrier. Either way, you'll probably end up with an older truck that has been screwed around with, so you might have to buy new cabling, mirror mounts, etc...

The Wilson 2000 has been fine for me, but any of the antennas are fine as long as SWR is tuned....SWR is "Standing Wave Radio", which is basically a measure of how much signal is "standing" by your antenna and is not being transmitted out, or even worse, it's stifling the remainder of your transmission. Most manuals say you don't want anything over two. From what I've experienced, you really want to be down to 1.5 or less (you'll see what this means when you hook up and starting tuning your radio, the Cobra 29 has built in SWR meter, as I assume most radios do.).

Channel 19 is the main trucker channel. I've rolled around on 9 a little and haven't heard much emergency traffic, so I don't know what those guys are doing these days. I've heard a lot of Spanish on 9 which I have been told is interference that propagates up from Mexico because they have no FCC type regulations there.

Good luck with your training and new career.

Kirk

 

SWR means "standing wave ratio". It's a measurement of how much of your signal goes out to as opposed to what goes back into the radio. You want this low as you can because 1. more signal getting out = greater chances of being heard, and 2. what goes back into the radio, ends up as heat, which in turn damages the internals of radio. For best results, ensure your SWR is 1.5:1 or lower. 2.0:1 is "ok" but 3.0:1 or higher is bad.

I can't comment on the Bluetooth radio as I have never owned one. I have owned, several Cobra 25 LTD and Uniden PC68 radios. IMO they are the best beginner radios, as they offer everything you'll want or need in one package, w/o being overpriced. Plus you can get them right now for $59 at Pilot if you use your Pilot rewards plus the factory rebate.

For antenna I recommend the Wilson 2000 trucker. I feel these offer superior performance over other trucker style antennas. Keep in mind your antenna is what makes or breaks your radio. A whip style antenna like the Wilson 2000 will pretty much always outperform a fiberglass antenna with the wire wound around it.

You also want good quality coax. Good coax is as essential as a good antenna. I like LMR-240UF myself but RG8X a.k.a. "mini 8" coax is good too. So I read, the factory truck's coax is garbage. Your coax is about as important as the antenna.

As for "who's going to do the install", I suggest you learn how to do it yourself. Installing a CB is very straight forward process. It'll save you $$ of having to pay someone to do it for you.

Channel 19 is still the trucking channel along the U.S. except some parts of California use 17 as theirs. Channel 9 is supposed to be used for emergencies, however not many people monitor channel 9 these days. Often when skip from Mexico rolls in, you'll hear Spanish speaking people on channel 9 as the FCC rules of reserving channel 9 for emergencies, does not apply to those living south of the border.