handheld cb

i've been looking into getting a cb. it would only be used on road trips and on the trail. so, i thought about a handheld as well as a standard unit obviously. there is a lot of info here about the standard units, but not so much on handhelds. does anyone have any experience with how well they do overall, and how well they do on the trail? durability, range, reception, pros and cons, etc. radio shack, cobra, and midland all have only one or two models each. are there any others that i should look at?

thanks

Three issues, hand helds tend to be lower power and eat batteries and holding that weight to talk is a hassle. A mike on a cord is much easier. They have their good sides too.

How about best of both? (in a way). Get a regular CB, put a cigarette lighter plug on it so that it's removeable and get a mag mount? THat way you don't deal with a hassle of a permanent install, and you get full power for when you need it

FWIW, I've ran trails with guys that were using handhelds. They had nothing but trouble. By the end of the day, they had decided it was time to upgrade.

HTH.

I bought a handheld to use for hunting offroading etc.....they aren't bad for the price and for what they are. I have a cigarette lighter adapter for mine.

I have the cobra model.....as was mentioned before get the little handheld mic it is definitely worth it. I would reccommend it overall....it works for what I need it for in the jeep and hunting. I bought a magnetic cb antenna as well and I can switch it out for vehicle from vehicle easily if I take road trips. Although if you are using it a good deal in your jeep then go with a permanent.

If you are using this strictly for your jeep I would go with a regular unit and not get the handheld. If you plan on taking it out and using it for anything else they aren't bad for what they are. Get re-chargeable batteries for it.....they are worth it.

The few handhelds I have looked at only have about a 3 mile range which is pretty poor compared to 2-way radios which can get close to that...

Are there many people you wheel with who have CB's? If not, you could just use 2-way radios. They are cheap, small, and easy to use.

Another route to go is to just buy a small CB, hide it under your seat or make it easily removable (if you dont want a permanent cb in your rig) and use a good magnetic mount antenna such as the wilson little wil.

HTH

Cobra wsx75 I think, all in the mike, plugs into an adapter that is the interface for the antenna and handset. Cost around $120 or so, you can also buy extra adapters and mount them in other vehicles by just unplugging the mike and moving it over.
As for a handheld, the Cherokee, Bills two way radio had them a few years ago which is the last time I looked, you can put an external antenna on them as well as a microphone. Bit pricey though at around $200 but he's also got some 'tips' on upping the power on them too...

Cobra 76 XTR

Check this one out Cam.

I bought one for around $100 at a CB shop in Indy. The guy said it's the most powerful handheld on the market. After he SWR tuned it, I was talking with people a few miles away. It's loud and clear on the trails.

When you transmit the antenna lights up blue. It's only about 12" long. I don't really care for that, but the antenna is getting replaced soon.

It also has external speaker ports and PA ports if you want to add them.

I'll get pics of my install if you want. The control box is mounted in my center console with the plug mounted right above where the mirror control is. You can unplug the handset when not in use and you would never know it's there.

HTH

I've used both. They both work.
Most hand helds will also accept an outboard antenna so you can get better reception.
Using the cig lighter eliminates the battery hassle.
I only switched to a standard unit because I forgot it twice.

that is good info to know about handhelds. i was sort of interested in the midland model below. any thoughts? looks like the best of both worlds. in the manual it shows it having a battery pack, but also has cig plug in. i would imagine i could put an external antenna on it too. the other model that i've always been interested in is the cobra wxst 75, but the one Adam mentioned doesn't look to shabby either.


http://www.midlandradio.com/comersus/store/comersus_viewItem.asp?idProduct=3108

thanks

i'm putting a cb on my christmas list, and i found two different versions of the cobra 75. one is c75 wxst and the other is 75 wxst. is there a difference between the two? haven't been able to find any real specs on the c75 wxst.

thanks

I bought the radio shack handheld (TRC-241)

It needs an external antenna to properly work.

Run it off the cig lighter and no battery concerns.

In retrospect...

For the amount of use...

and the theft deterrent factor of not having it in the car.

Not bad.