New CB radio options. Can’t choose.

[corneileous]

I guess I missed something… What was the purpose of the added resistor?

 

[ladn]

FM is coming to CB. Look for a radio that supports that mode. I've got my eye on a Anytone AT-6666.

The AT-6666 isn't a "CB".
I've had one for several years and it's been an excellent radio. It's one of the few "CB" radios I've had that didn't need a power mic.

 

[Hit_Factor]

I'm pretty sure that @ladn knows what a at-6666 is. It only takes a minute to search up the capability of this 2 way radio.

 

[KC3ECJ]

The 980 is a really good radio.
There's an key beep with it that's the downside.

The President McKinley is also a really good radio. Doesn't have the key beep issue, has a couple features that are different than the 980, but they are largely the same. The main advantage with the McKinley that the 980 doesn't have is the automatic squelch feature. Helps reject a lot of interference found in a downtown.

Both radios use the same microphone pin configuration.

 

[corneileous]

The 980 is a really good radio.
There's an key beep with it that's the downside.

Can’t turn it off, huh? That’s kind of a bummer but at least I was able to turn that off on my cobra but that pretty much was just only because they made it to where you can turn it off.

The President McKinley is also a really good radio. Doesn't have the key beep issue, has a couple features that are different than the 980, but they are largely the same. The main advantage with the McKinley that the 980 doesn't have is the automatic squelch feature. Helps reject a lot of interference found in a downtown.

That’s a pretty neat feature that would sure be nice to have bein’ that a lot of times I run my radio with the squelch turned up kind of high because depending on where I’m at, sometimes I have to keep turning the squelch up higher just to stop with all the static sometimes and then when somebody hollers at me over the radio, I won’t be able to hear it for very long as I’ve turned my squelch up too high…lol.

Both radios use the same microphone pin configuration.

Do you know by any chance if it’s a regular four pin? I’m not sure how good the microphones are with either the Uniden or that McKinley but I kinda do like my road king 56 mic even it is one of the newer, less-quality ones. I got rid of the lousy straight cord that it had that was wrapped up in that chrome wire loom after it started cutting out on me when I keyed up but the new coiled cord works much better after I found out I had to completely change where the wires were attached on the plug of that new cord… Lol.

 

[belvdr]

Google's your friend. I show a 6 pin mic for the McKinley and the Uniden 980.

 

[corneileous]

Google's your friend. I show a 6 pin mic for the McKinley and the Uniden 980.

I have googled sir, but apparently you’ve found what it haven’t.

 

[belvdr]

I have googled sir, but apparently you’ve found what it haven’t.

The key is to use the images tab in Google, or DuckDuckGo in my case. Simply search for the model like so:

uniden 980 at DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo. Privacy, Simplified.

duckduckgo.com

president mckinley cb at DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo. Privacy, Simplified.

duckduckgo.com

You can see images with the mic disconnected.

 

[cralt]

The in the newer version of the 980 you can turn off the beep.

Adding the resistor to to the President II+ is how you open up the CB band.

The president 6 pin and 980 6 pin mic share the same pinout so you can use the Bearcat wireless speaker mic on the President radios. I have tested mine on the 980, McKinley, and Linc II+.

I wouldn't spend lots of money on a radio now unless it had FM. The McKinley really is the best legit "CB" I have ever owned when it comes to fit and finish and out the the box calibration. I would wait for the FM version of that to come to the USA and what ever you do do not let some CB shop hack "Peak and tune" it. Its all surface mount components in there and cranking the power up screws up the built in SWR meter and causes the audio to distort. The only down side to the McKinley is it isn't compatible with all types of mics. It comes with an electret type of microphone and there is no menu option to set it to dynamic like on all the other president radios. Maybe they will fix that with the new FM model? Who knows.

I own the Linc II+ also and it kinda is "jack of all trades master of none". If your not a ham I would pass on it. The auto squelch and scan works way better on the McKinley.

 

[mmckenna]

The FM permissions on CB haven't gone into effect yet, so you won't find a legal CB with FM in the US for a while.

When it does become part of the FCC rules (Later on in October), it'll probably take a few months for the manufacturers to get their FM capable CB's approved for sale in the US.

And most people already running CB's are not going to suddenly dump all their radios and switch to FM. The average CB user is still going to be running AM.

If all you want is a basic CB, then the President McKinley is probably a good choice.
Don't overlook your antenna system, either, it's the most important part of your setup.

 

[corneileous]

The in the newer version of the 980 you can turn off the beep.

Thats cool.

Adding the resistor to to the President II+ is how you open up the CB band.

Ah, ok. The guy in that video was really hard to understand and quite frankly, I’m not even sure he said that. Maybe to the more experienced person, knew what he meant…lol.

The president 6 pin and 980 6 pin mic share the same pinout so you can use the Bearcat wireless speaker mic on the President radios. I have tested mine on the 980, McKinley, and Linc II+.

I wouldn't spend lots of money on a radio now unless it had FM. The McKinley really is the best legit "CB" I have ever owned when it comes to fit and finish and out the the box calibration. I would wait for the FM version of that to come to the USA and what ever you do do not let some CB shop hack "Peak and tune" it. Its all surface mount components in there and cranking the power up screws up the built in SWR meter and causes the audio to distort. The only down side to the McKinley is it isn't compatible with all types of mics. It comes with an electret type of microphone and there is no menu option to set it to dynamic like on all the other president radios. Maybe they will fix that with the new FM model? Who knows.

If its like what the other guy said then I really have no need to have it peaked and tuned if the factory actually does that as they manufacture them.

But speaking of the internal SWR meter, is this a radio that actually has a trustworthy built in SWR meter? I cant tell you how many times I’ve been told to never trust a built in SWR meter and that its always better to use a separate meter if you want accurate readings. Now, maybe the majority of people who’ve told me that were primarily talking about the cheaper radios like on the Cobra’s but I have no idea if they were talking about all radios, or just the cheaper ones.

As far as the mic compatibility, I dont really care if its not compatible with most mics, as long as the one it comes with is a good one that works as good as a RK56 or even an Astatic mic.

But who knows, I’m not really desperately in the market for a new radio so I guess I could stand to wait for these new FM radios but still, I just have a hard time wondering if I really need it, you know what I mean? Im not necessarily an enthusiast as the radio I get would only be used in my semi when I’m at work. I just want a good radio that works good, talks good and hears good.

At one point I really liked the weather frequencies and the tone board in my little Cobra because its nice when you might be coming up to a severe weather area and even if someone is talking, if the weather service sends out the emergency tone, the radio automatically switches to that channel but here anymore with the advancement of weather apps on our smartphones, that weather radio stuff is more of a nuisance anymore than anything.

I own the Linc II+ also and it kinda is "jack of all trades master of none". If your not a ham I would pass on it. The auto squelch and scan works way better on the McKinley.

Are you just saying that because it would be illegal for me to use it without a license or is it more of a combination of that, and that maybe id have to install that resistor that was talked about just to be able to use it on the CB channels?

 

[corneileous]

The FM permissions on CB haven't gone into effect yet, so you won't find a legal CB with FM in the US for a while.

When it does become part of the FCC rules (Later on in October), it'll probably take a few months for the manufacturers to get their FM capable CB's approved for sale in the US.

And most people already running CB's are not going to suddenly dump all their radios and switch to FM. The average CB user is still going to be running AM.

If all you want is a basic CB, then the President McKinley is probably a good choice.
Don't overlook your antenna system, either, it's the most important part of your setup.

Yeah see, thats another reason why I’m kinda not really concerned about the FM or even the single side bands. As I was saying earlier, as long as I can put it on 19 and talk to [most] other drivers and be able to tell the rock pits/sand plants how much to load me, thats all I need…lol. But if I ever did change my mind, could the FM stuff be added later? Still not a big deal if it cant, I’m just curious.

But if I was to get this radio, what would be a good antenna and what would be a good length of coax? Ive heard it quite a bit of times- CB shops included that its always a good idea to use an 18’ coax that has all the unused cable properly looped out of the way. The antenna I currently have is just a cheap 3-foot fiberglass FireStick that has an Allen wrench-less adjustable tip to where you loosen the locknut with your fingers and to make the antenna longer, you just turn the threaded tip counter clockwise and to shorten it, you turn it the other way. I pull a 30-foot end dump but my truck has no sleeper as its a day cab so with my antenna mounted to the top bar for the driver side mirror, even this 3-foot antenna is more than 75% higher than the whole truck so there’s nothing for the signal to get blocked in all directions; well, I do have dual stacks but they’re not the fancy ones that are 13 feet high from the ground. They’re just the short factory stacks that are no more 20 inches higher than the cab.

 

[mmckenna]

But if I ever did change my mind, could the FM stuff be added later? Still not a big deal if it cant, I’m just curious.

No.

But if I was to get this radio, what would be a good antenna and what would be a good length of coax? Ive heard it quite a bit of times- CB shops included that its always a good idea to use an 18’ coax that has all the unused cable properly looped out of the way. The antenna I currently have is just a cheap 3-foot fiberglass FireStick that has an Allen wrench-less adjustable tip to where you loosen the locknut with your fingers and to make the antenna longer, you just turn the threaded tip counter clockwise and to shorten it, you turn it the other way. I pull a 30-foot end dump but my truck has no sleeper as its a day cab so with my antenna mounted to the top bar for the driver side mirror, even this 3-foot antenna is more than 75% higher than the whole truck so there’s nothing for the signal to get blocked in all directions; well, I do have dual stacks but they’re not the fancy ones that are 13 feet high from the ground. They’re just the short factory stacks that are no more 20 inches higher than the cab.

I'd stick with that antenna if it works. Setting up mirror mount antennas can be difficult. It would be a good idea to get/borrow an external SWR meter and check the antenna to make sure it's tuned correctly.

The coax cable length thing is part legit, part BS. Depends on the type of antenna used. If it's a "no ground plane" antenna, the coax is part of the antenna and needs to be tuned length. That's where the 18 feet comes from.

If it's not a "no ground plane" antenna, the length of cable doesn't matter. You use the amount needed to get from the radio to the antenna, no more, no less.

 

[corneileous]

I'd stick with that antenna if it works. Setting up mirror mount antennas can be difficult. It would be a good idea to get/borrow an external SWR meter and check the antenna to make sure it's tuned correctly.

The coax cable length thing is part legit, part BS. Depends on the type of antenna used. If it's a "no ground plane" antenna, the coax is part of the antenna and needs to be tuned length. That's where the 18 feet comes from.

If it's not a "no ground plane" antenna, the length of cable doesn't matter. You use the amount needed to get from the radio to the antenna, no more, no less.

I guess I really don’t know what type of antenna this one is I have…. Matter of fact, I don’t think any of the truck stop antennas I’ve ever bought has said whether they were or whether they’re not a ground plane or no ground plane. Guess I’ll have to see if I can get with FireStick and ask. They should know. But one thing about it, I do know that once I bought this antenna well over 5, 6 years ago that it was a lot easier to achieve a lower SWR on channel 1, channel 40 and ultimately on channel 19 when I went from a 10 or 12-foot coax to an 18-foot one.

But, when you say if it’s a no ground plane antenna, what do you mean when you say the cable needs to be a tuned length? How do you test SWR on a coax?

Oh, and I have a cheap external meter that seems to work pretty good. I was just curious how the built in one was on these president radios, or pretty much any of the higher-end radios because of what I said I’ve heard from a lot of people that pretty much suggests that cobra really needs to just not waste their time and money putting in a built-in SWR meter in their radios.

 

[mmckenna]

….it was a lot easier to achieve a lower SWR on channel 1, channel 40 and ultimately on channel 19 when I went from a 10 or 12-foot coax to an 18-foot one.

A bit complex and hard to explain on a forum like this, but essentially the "18 feet" of cable can hide increased SWR. It doesn't fix anything, just hides it from the meter/radio.

But, when you say if it’s a no ground plane antenna, what do you mean when you say the cable needs to be a tuned length? How do you test SWR on a coax?

Firestik has a section on their website that explains it fairly well in CB terms. A half wave antenna doesn't require a ground plane, but it does need a 1/2 wavelength of coaxial cable to act as the counterpoise for the antenna. It's not so much that it needs to be tuned, but it does need to be long enough to act as a counterpoise. 1/2 wavelength at CB frequencies is ~about~ 18 feet long, so that would act as the counterpoise.

Oh, and I have a cheap external meter that seems to work pretty good. I was just curious how the built in one was on these president radios, or pretty much any of the higher-end radios because of what I said I’ve heard from a lot of people that pretty much suggests that cobra really needs to just not waste their time and money putting in a built-in SWR meter in their radios.

The quality/accuracy of the built in SWR meters seems to vary. I've found using an external meter gives me better results, but my SWR meter is a $300+ professional directional watt meter. You don't need one of those, but a half way decent external meter is a good option for double checking your setup.

 

[corneileous]

A bit complex and hard to explain on a forum like this, but essentially the "18 feet" of cable can hide increased SWR. It doesn't fix anything, just hides it from the meter/radio.

Oh OK, I’ve never heard anybody say that. They’ve always just said if you use a longer coax that you will get a lower SWR but they never said anything about that lower SWR reading being less from what it actually is with the other cable that wasn’t near as long.

Firestik has a section on their website that explains it fairly well in CB terms. A half wave antenna doesn't require a ground plane, but it does need a 1/2 wavelength of coaxial cable to act as the counterpoise for the antenna. It's not so much that it needs to be tuned, but it does need to be long enough to act as a counterpoise. 1/2 wavelength at CB frequencies is ~about~ 18 feet long, so that would act as the counterpoise.

Ok. I guess I’ll just have to go to their website and do some looking around, maybe even give them a call or give them an email or if anything, I could probably go on either loves, flying J or any of the other major truckstops and check out probably that same antenna that I have it just to see if it says anything on the package about what it is.

But I’m a little bit confused; if my antenna was in fact one of those that required a ground plane and if an 18 foot coax is too long then how do you know how much cable you need to use?

The quality/accuracy of the built in SWR meters seems to vary. I've found using an external meter gives me better results, but my SWR meter is a $300+ professional directional watt meter. You don't need one of those, but a half way decent external meter is a good option for double checking your setup.
[/QUOTE]

i’ve just got a cheap little $25 Astatic SWR meter that I guess works pretty good but that’s one of the things that’s always made me wonder is, even if your external SWR meter is pretty accurate and even the meter that’s built into the radio was pretty accurate, how would you really get the same SWR readings between the two because when you use the external one, you’ve now got a separate component for the signal to travel through and depending on how long your short piece of coax is that goes between the radio and the meter, you’ve added an extra length temporarily to your coax. I don’t know, I guess that doesn’t matter and I could be just speaking from lack of experience and lack of knowledge but I’ve just always wondered about that.

 

[corneileous]

Here’s my antenna by the way… Says it’s a 5/8 wave? What does that mean in comparison to the halfwave you were talking about earlier? Doesn’t say anything about if it requires a ground plane or not but it does say on the webpage that it’s recommended you use an 18 foot tall X, though.

https://www.walcottradio.com/firestik-fs3b-hand-tune-fiberglass-cb-antenna-black-p-901.html

 

[DeoVindice]

A 5/8 wave antenna absolutely requires an adequate RF ground plane. Only a half-wave avoids the requirement for a ground plane. A 5/8 wave will have more gain - the radiation pattern is "squashed" to increase the power density at low angles at the expense of high-angle performance. In flat country like Oklahoma, a 5/8 wave makes a lot of sense to me.

If you're hauling out of rock and sand mines, all you really need is an AM CB. I ran loaders and process equipment at mines like that for a while - the equipment is old and the CBs are not replaced unless they break.

FM will be a more pleasant operating experience but it will take quite a while for it to see much adoption.

 

[K5MPH]

FM on CB radio might give CB radio a new life......

 

[cralt]

Are you just saying that because it would be illegal for me to use it without a license or is it more of a combination of that, and that maybe id have to install that resistor that was talked about just to be able to use it on the CB channels?

No I don't care what you do. I am not the FCC. If all you care about is 19AM then the Linc is way over complicated for what you need it for. All the "ham" stuff on it your paying extra for will never get used. And it doesn't have WX.
Like I said I own one. Its nothing special on CB. But I use it on 10 meters a lot so I deal with its CB shortcomings and more complicated interface.

Since the current McKinley wont work with you RK56 mic then maybe the Walker II is a better fit. It works with Dynamic(*) mics,has WX, and a built in SWR meter. I have always found the built in SWR meters on the president stuff to work good enough.




(*) you have to set this in the menu, it comes stock set for electret