Im going to be picking up a CB radio for the truck soon. I am also pretty set on the Cobra 75 WXST all in one hand unit because i dont want to mount a large radio in the truck. What would be the best set up as in type of antennas? what are the benifits of dual antennas? I have also been trying to do some research on amplifiers. Are these really illegal?

-Allen

 

I wasn't thrilled with the Cobra 75. Yes, they're illegal when turned up. Not sure if it's posible to modify the 75. My Cobra 29 is turned up a little. Probably about 15watts vs. stock of 4watts. Real issue will start when you're running a sweet 16 (1600) watts and disturbing the neighbors TV.

 

you can only efficiently run dual antenna's if they are no closer together than 101".... if closer the signal will not transmitt correctly and you'll have sucky reception and transmission.... at least that's what GhostRider CB's in Bainbridge GA told me....... yes turned up is illegal..... yes amplifiers are illegal...... unless you have an amatuer radio liscence..... it's handy to have and you learn how it all works as a whole, ie watts output, SWR calibrations, Frequensies, how to build and properly tune antenna's..... there's so much potential..... but if you don't want to do that go to a cb shop and have them peak and tune the radio.... 99% of the time it'll be "legal" without an amp...... i run Uniden pc68xl.... i have 2 of them and they are real nice..... real easy to modify, ie talkback, roger beep and connex(echo) board....... can with the Ham liscense be turned up to 35W..... i also have a Texas Ranger rci-2950 and it is a nice Ham radio..... has all the sideband options.... oodles of power but requires an FCC amateur radio liscense to run it as it puts out 55W...... i have a Texas Ranger TR-396FC and it is real nice.... it has a built in swr calibrator, frequency counter, roger beep, and can also be safely turned up with proper licenses to aprox 40 W..... if you get a liscense and get a 10 meter amp to use then the power perty much depends on how deep your pockets are......just keep in mind if you are going to run a "box" you don't need the most powerful radio..... my uniden i have on a box puts out 35W w/o the box..... flip a switch and it puts out 4W and the amp makes that turn into 238W....... just be careful on what you do..... FCC dosen't play when it comes to this stuff...... if you want to anything like the above do it right and do it with a liscense.... and don't forget you can get the best radio on the market and buy the cheapest antenna on the market and you won't have anything worth the metal it's made of..... anf if you get a cheap radio and a real nice antenna then you'll have a lowpower setup but atleast it'll transmit and recieve clearly...... so what i'm saying is don't spend 200-400 on a cb and then spend 15 bux at walmart on a crappy antenna...... wilson antenna's are good ...... i run a hand built antenna that was tested side by side to the wilson 5000...... it out talked the wilson on the same radio and amp by over 3 miles...... and at 7500 watts it (the one i got) was a cool 135* and the wilson was 204*........ i love mine it's a GR5000 hand built here in the good ole US of A......

 

Im not lookin to getting a liscense. Just want a mild set up for communicating with people around town. What type of antenna should i get for a pretty basic radio? I was looking at those wilson ones you were talking about. The fiber glass one specifically. Also, what with the grounded antennas and non grounded?

 

the best thing for you to do is go to the closest interstate and find the closest CB shop. talk with the guy and explain to him what you want to do and he'll fix ya up.... i'd go with a grounded as it'll have the least chance of having any ground (engine) noise..... funny story.... the guy i work with is always trying to one up me and he bought a brand new cb and had it peaked and tuned.... bought an antenna like mine.... but he bought a cheap magnet mount..... honest to god we could drive by someone weedeating and we could hear the "buzz" from the weedeater's ignition system over his radio..... after he grounded his antenna it cleared it up..... i always laughed at him.....