What kind of CB radio do you use? Do you have one at home? Do you go for basic 'no frills' utility, or all the toys?
I'm a self professed CB nut, who still puts them in all my personal vehicles, and have a base at home. I still like to talk sideband, and participate in nets when I can find them.
My personal choice at home is an older Cobra 139 XLR Base (Like the 142) running thru a tried and true Antron 99. Nothing fancy, just a good peak and tuned radio that plays great sideband. On good nights, I have talked as far as Arizona (I'm in Ohio). Mobiles .. at the moment I use a Cobra 29 , (the original, not the classic)that I've had for at least 15 years, running thru a 4 ft Francis. My daughter uses a Cobra 25 Nightwatch in her pick up, also 4 ft Francis, and my wife's radio of choice is a Cobra 21 with a Formula 1 magnet mount. All tuned by the same tech I've always used.
I'm looking for another good sideband unit for mobile use now. I've used the Cobra 148, and also ran an old JCPenney 6241 SSB unit for a while. I like the looks of the new Uniden Grant XL, but have never played one.
Ah the Cobra 2000. Sweet radio. Never had one of those, but I recently sold a 1000 on Ebay. Almost the same, except no SSB. There are still a few people around who want the older radios.
TCT,
You don't need to go anywhere close to that figure to get a good used base. A good used Cobra 142, Uniden Washington, Madison, etc can be had on Ebay in excellent condition for around $100-125, a Cobra 2000 goes for around 300, and I just sold a nice Cobra 1000 for about 170 on Ebay also.
As for new radios, I don't know of anyone except Galaxy who makes them right now. Galaxy has a nice mid size base 40 ch +SSB(yes it's type accepted) that goes for around $300 or so. I've never personally played one, but they're supposed to play well, at least comparable to the Cobra 142.
Nice looking radios, full featured, nice large meter, freq counter, etc. I'd like to get one myself if I found a used one. Right now tho, they're so new, I'm not seeing many used ones.
I'm posting a pic below.
Just found one on ebay. Disclaimer: Tho I do sell on ebay, this is not my auction.
What do you need equipement wise to get started on the home base radio circuit?
Is this an expensive adventure costing an arm and a leg involving a philidelphia lawyer to fiqure out the techical aspects of setting up such an operation and how far can I talk on an average?
What type of antenna will I need to install to be able to talk to you in Ohio say from Quebec Canada?
I can tell you right now that we are restricted in the use of big antennas
bolted to the side of our house here in this part of the world, so I will require something discreet.
Let me know what the scoop is on this interesting hobby and I'm sure that alot of folks are anxious to read about your information involving radio communications, installations, makes, models and costs!
CB radio is still mostly for local conversation. I've talked as far as Arizona, and even Newfoundland on Sideband, but it's hit or miss at best. For consistant long range radio communication, you would need to go to Ham Radio, which requires a Ham Operators license. It's not super hard to get, but that's more LDB's area of expertise. I'm sure he can pop in with more info.
If you want to reliably and consistently talk from Canada into the U.S. you will need a radio operating in the HF bands. I'm not familiar with the Canadian licensing structure. Here we have 3 levels of license, technician, general and extra. The tech license has very little HF privileges and most of that little bit is code only. There is one small sliver of 10 meters that will be ok for a tech using voice, now if he also passed Morse code and after 2/23 if he didn't. The general class has privileges on all bands. The extra has all bands and larger segments on many of them. The tech has full privileges on all vhf/uhf frequencies but those won't get you to the U.S. on a consistent and reliable basis.
For base station work the Icom 718 is tough to beat for the price. There are many choices more capable and with more bells and whistles but factor in price and it's high on the list. For mobile the Icom 706 has all the HF as well as vhf/uhf and does everything fairly well. A complete system of 718, power supply and workable antenna would be around $700 new and maybe $500 used. The sky is the limit from that point.
Thanks a million LDB and everyone for the information in regards to CB's
Base Stations and Ham Radios!
I don't know anything at all about the subject but I can see that you guys are
right on top of this stuff.
I think I'm going to get out of the trucking business and start a new communications business with you guys as my front line consultants,
We will take over the world with all of that information!!
How much is going to cost me to pay you guys to become my partners?
I suppose you will all want expense accounts, cars, and free seasons tickets to see the best hockey team in North America, " The Montreal Canadians "
and the six digit annual salary!
Heh, I dont' know how good of a consultant I'd be, but I do like the idea of the open expense account, company car, etc! We'll start from there... work up to 50 weeks vacation, full benefits etc.. LOL....
What kind of CB, home and on the road?
How do you get started
Linear Mode
