cbs

whats a decent small cb that i could get? and i've been confused about a few ppl talking about tuning in the antana, whats that about?

I got a Cobra Ultra III from Walmart for about $35. It's a compact unit that works well and doesn't take up alot of room. I have mine mounted just under the glove box area next to the console on the passenger side, but doesn't interfere with the passenger's leg room. Tuning the antenna requires a SWR meter to adjust the incoming and outgoing transmission for optimal performance. Some antennas are adjustable, some are not.

Cobra, Midland and Uniden make decent small size CB radios. Go to www.firestik.com and read the TECH and FAQ sections for all your antenna questions. www.walcottcb.com is a very good online CB and antenna seller.

Mine is a Cobra that I got at Wal Mart for $20 (you do get what you pay for), then took it down to my CB shop and had them turn up the wattage. Works great. I choose this one, because Im cheap, I also wanted the smallest unit so I could velcrow (sp) it to my dash.

Transmitting antennas must be tuned. If the antenna tuning is far enough off, it can damage the radio's output transisters. Someone almost always chimes in that they simply installed it and it works fine. Ok, perhaps they did. "Do you feel lucky...punk"?

As mentioned earlier, a meter is required. You can buy one for about $20-$30 or just get everything installed and have a local radio tech tune it for you. Having a meter is better because you can occasionally check it to be sure there has been no changes. As things age and weather, the tuning can change without your knowing it. Good to check it now and again.

Be careful about having the power turned up. You are stressing low power transisters to their limit. After a long winded transmission, feel the back of the radio. It'll be pretty warm. It should survive but be sure your antenna match is good.

A change of a couple watts just doesn't change your signal much. Generally speaking, a one S-unit increase on the receiver's meter requires a doubling of power from your transmitter. Going from 4 to 6 watts is not much of a change and could reduce the life of some pretty cheap power transisters. Better to properly mount a quality antenna. Have the CB checked for its power output and to be sure its on frequency. Cbs are mass produced by what is essentially slave labor. Best to have it checked out by a tech. Factory settings usually leave a bit to be desired.

Been doing the radio thing for better than 30 years now. Ham call: N4ZYV

Cobra = cold solder joints = bring on the suck = will have to be repaired

Uniden 510 or 520 = the only way to fly.

Firestick antenna.

good info here:

http://www.firestik.com/Tech_Docs.htm

Uniden 510XL is the smallest I've seen.

Beside's those CB's that have everything built into the handset.

The old Cobras were made by Uniden. Good quality, good design. They are now made in China.

Back in the day, the vast majority of CBs were made by 3 companies. No matter whose name was on the front. Sure there were plenty of Indonesian off brand manufacturers, but most of the names you would recognize were the products of just 3 companies.

Uniden, Maxon and Cybernet.

These days, all bets are off.

Eliminator89 said:

Transmitting antennas must be tuned. If the antenna tuning is far enough off, it can damage the radio's output transisters. Someone almost always chimes in that they simply installed it and it works fine. Ok, perhaps they did. "Do you feel lucky...punk"?

As mentioned earlier, a meter is required. You can buy one for about $20-$30 or just get everything installed and have a local radio tech tune it for you. Having a meter is better because you can occasionally check it to be sure there has been no changes. As things age and weather, the tuning can change without your knowing it. Good to check it now and again.

Be careful about having the power turned up. You are stressing low power transisters to their limit. After a long winded transmission, feel the back of the radio. It'll be pretty warm. It should survive but be sure your antenna match is good.

A change of a couple watts just doesn't change your signal much. Generally speaking, a one S-unit increase on the receiver's meter requires a doubling of power from your transmitter. Going from 4 to 6 watts is not much of a change and could reduce the life of some pretty cheap power transisters. Better to properly mount a quality antenna. Have the CB checked for its power output and to be sure its on frequency. Cbs are mass produced by what is essentially slave labor. Best to have it checked out by a tech. Factory settings usually leave a bit to be desired.

Been doing the radio thing for better than 30 years now. Ham call: N4ZYV

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SWR meter!! Some have it built in! :smoker: Oh yeah, WALMART = cheaper componets installed ie piece of CRAP!!