Connex 33 HP

I would have spent the money on the antenna first, then the radio last.

 

So what is a good BIG radio out of the box? Do the 10 meter radios work for CB radio as well? I know, I am radio illiterate. Please forgive me.

 

No such thing as a big radio. Focus on the antenna and look around for a good radio.

 

So the wattage is garbage? 10 watts will reach just as far as 75 watts? One shop explained it to me that if I had a radio pushing "high power" I would only even be able to communicate to others with the same amount of power. I have a bearcat 880 right now, and it blows. I won't ever buy another one of those.

 

As Ridgeline stated focus on the Antenna first. A well tuned resonant antenna will out perform simply adding more power. Once the Antenna is locked in then yes a radio with more output power (including bigger than stock power lines to the battery) will see noticeable gains. Many different converted (Amateur) Radios do great and tend to be users preference. Some times the preference is simply will it fit in the radio console built into the truck lol. I had a RCI 39 VHP die on me a month ago while on tour and out of necessity replaced it temporarily with a Cobra 29 and it performed similarly with in a mile or 2 with no other stations interfering. Greater distances and skip (or on a noisy channel) is where the increased power starts to shine on the same antenna. The RCI has been fixed and now i will toggle using it and the new Stryker 655 I purchased 2 weeks ago to see which i prefer more.