CB recommendations?

[imhighlander]

My search via the app didn't give me any hits so forgive me if this has been discussed at length before. I'd be grateful for links to other threads in this topic.

For the cognoscenti, what do you recommend for CB radios? I'm looking but am a neophyte; my last exposure to CBs was about 35 years ago on an early road trip with my dad. I'm looking for something that's either portable or one I'd hard wire in to the FZJ80 for trail runs, road trips, Moab trips, etc.

What features do you recommend as must haves, nice to haves, and do withouts, and what particular brands and models do you like or dislike?

Thanks, Matt

 

[Devilmans Hand]

I think you will find your answers in the "electronic toys" section.

Cb is fairly useless except for line of sight short distance communications.

I would suggest that you test for the amateur radio technician license and then buy a baofeng handheld dual band radio. These normally sell new for under $50 each with a charger.
For a vehicle mounted radio look into a 40watt or greater VHF radio that will operate on the HAM bands. EBay is your friend for used gear.

If you're dead set on CB, then pretty much anything will "work." I occasionally use a uniden 520 with a no ground plane antenna and ground directly to my battery. You can run this setup new for less than $100, but it is still no where as nice as the cheaper baofeng handheld.
Another benefit to the vhf/UHF radios is that those antenna can be significantly shorter than cb antenna. If you go the cb route be sure to tune the system or you will instantly hate the poor performance and overwhelming static.

This is just my unqualified opinion though.

In the grand scheme of readily inexpensive things CB is a very poor performer.

 

[imhighlander]

Thanks for the reply. What's prompting this is the notation I've seen for a few organized trail trips (thru TLCA.org and others) that require a CB. It seems to me that a superior option is worth the investment, but I'll want to make sure it complies with those trail run requirements.

I can certainly check with those groups, but I've often found that forums like this offer better tech info.

 

[Tools R Us]

Uniden 520XL, small, durable, good to go.

 

[lovetoski]

Uniden 520XL, small, durable, good to go.

x2 - great choice.

True that Ham has more capability, wider coverage, etc. But, it's more complicated, and more expensive. My suggestion is to start with CB, and add ham when you feel you need it.

 

[Haggis]

x3 on the Uniden. Very good, small unit for the money.

 

[Kofoed]

Wilson 1000 antenna with magmount on top of roof