2023 Best Mobile CB

[slowmover]

Via mobile experience as an OTR truck driver. Several thousand hours annual use.

Earlier references to the Qixiang factory’s new circuit board elsewhere. Several brands. The above possibly the best known example at present.

Paired with the equally new Driver Extreme DRX-9010 External Speaker is the point of this thread.


This ain’t your Daddy’s Oldsmobile.

The pairing makes digital radios (versus older thru-hole designs) enjoyable listening and NRC means clearing away the hash and the hiss such that vocal clarity becomes prominent.

For the approximate $300 purchase (and given attention to ensure quietest antenna system), this is Citizen Band at a whole ‘nother level.

My $1,400 big truck system assembled over the years (replacement cost) is now a $700 system with these components installed. I expected 90% as good, but received 105%.

SSB is phenomenally good. AM better as this speaker brings up details my West Mountain Radio CLEARSPEECH Speaker did not.

— One might choose another post-2021 release radio NRC-equipped, . . it’s the speaker which completes the transformation.

Every improvement to the Power & Antenna systems can be distinguished.

(I changed back to a 7’ antenna to hit 14’ from a 6’ and could now hear the other guy the also previously unheard man — without DSP — was speaking with. Got that? Radio is great . . but it’s the speaker we’re hearing).

Citizen Band is again the pleasant companion I remember from the 1970s despite the base station trolls who shouldn’t be on AM-19 (hundreds of thousands of truck drivers using it in need of road info 24/7/365).

The faint signal (warning) comes thru.

The pleasurable exchanges are that much more fun.

 

[slowmover]

Was a few days ago approaching Amarillo from the south on IH-27 and at approx 15 air-miles heard a warning about IH-40 being backed up miles & miles due to two of three lanes closed.

I changed my route to use the 335-Loop to avoid the mess. This experience was nothing new after having integrated an Amateur DSP filter years back.

Once I was 4-5/miles from IH-40 and hearing the chatter as a normally very good mobile CB system would (pre-NRC), it was much easier and faster to confirm the exact location and direction-of-travel as

vocal clarity was pre-eminent.

— You are on-the-go and may have but one chance to hear what you need to know as everyone else is also in motion.

— Other modes of traffic info lack the immediacy. And as you don’t own them you can do nothing about it should they fail to operate.


You won’t want your money back, as a friend of mine likes to say.


FWIW, videos of these radios don’t come close to actuality in the difference that NRC makes. (I run the above on Level Three of Five).

Should you find a video of the speaker, it also wouldn’t convey the depth of change.

Little to no experience with CB is partial hindrance to understanding. Until you’re parked next to a friend with a good system featuring the obsolete. Then it’s night & day obvious.

NOTHING changes the fact that it’s the same formula needed that clean, quiet DC power and best antenna system are mandatory for mobile performance. Radio & speaker are just components we plug in.

But, boy, here’s what you want.
(Research & enjoy).

Do It Right:

Mobile Install Bible

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[CDX951]

The best mobile export radio (and I've had many) for the money on the market today! And no need for "Golden Screwdriver" conversion, peak/tune nonsense!

Told Ya!
JD

 

[CDX951]

Hey Slow! Are those speakers available at Pilot/Flying J? I have a boatload of points I'm looking to burn! LOL!

JD

 

[KD8DVR]

View attachment 144338

Via mobile experience as an OTR truck driver. Several thousand hours annual use.

Earlier references to the Qixiang factory’s new circuit board elsewhere. Several brands. The above possibly the best known example at present.

Paired with the equally new Driver Extreme DRX-9010 External Speaker is the point of this thread.
View attachment 144339

This ain’t your Daddy’s Oldsmobile.

The pairing makes digital radios (versus older thru-hole designs) enjoyable listening and NRC means clearing away the hash and the hiss such that vocal clarity becomes prominent.

For the approximate $300 purchase (and given attention to ensure quietest antenna system), this is Citizen Band at a whole ‘nother level.

My $1,400 big truck system assembled over the years (replacement cost) is now a $700 system with these components installed. I expected 90% as good, but received 105%.

SSB is phenomenally good. AM better as this speaker brings up details my West Mountain Radio CLEARSPEECH Speaker did not.

— One might choose another post-2021 release radio NRC-equipped, . . it’s the speaker which completes the transformation.

Every improvement to the Power & Antenna systems can be distinguished.

(I changed back to a 7’ antenna to hit 14’ from a 6’ and could now hear the other guy the also previously unheard man — without DSP — was speaking with. Got that? Radio is great . . but it’s the speaker we’re hearing).

Citizen Band is again the pleasant companion I remember from the 1970s despite the base station trolls who shouldn’t be on AM-19 (hundreds of thousands of truck drivers using it in need of road info 24/7/365).

The faint signal (warning) comes thru.

The pleasurable exchanges are that much more fun.

That isn't a CB! It's an illegal 10 meter rig.

 

[CDX951]

That isn't a CB! It's an illegal 10 meter rig.

Ok Karen.

 

[prcguy]

I agree the Anytone AT5555N II is the best thing going in a CB type radio right now. It has very good receiver performance, DSP filtering if you need it, lots of power at about 60w peak on SSB and about 12w carrier 60w peak modulation on AM and good transmit audio with the stock mic and fantastic transmit audio with an aftermarket mic. Nothing that I have seen or used will equal its performance and frequency range for the price and I've been playing with these things since the late 60s.

 

[slowmover]

Hey Slow! Are those speakers available at Pilot/Flying J? I have a boatload of points I'm looking to burn! LOL!

JD

Dealer Locator available. I got it at the Phoenix, AZ Peterbilt dealer.

Bobs CB (online & retail). I’ve made plenty of purchases there.

Iowa 80 affiliates.

 

[slowmover]

I agree the Anytone AT5555N II is the best thing going in a CB type radio right now. It has very good receiver performance, DSP filtering if you need it, lots of power at about 60w peak on SSB and about 12w carrier 60w peak modulation on AM and good transmit audio with the stock mic and fantastic transmit audio with an aftermarket mic. Nothing that I have seen or used will equal its performance and frequency range for the price and I've been playing with these things since the late 60s.

Are you using a noise-canceling mic?

I’ve a bagful back at home, but am looking to use the Driver Extreme DX-656 I recently purchased as the PTT is “perfect” (no slop), and the audio can be physically adjusted by altering materials inside. (Stock works for my voice).

The switch, the shape and the heft are impressively “right”. I need to get the Stryker 4-pin to FJ-45 adapter.

 

[CDX951]

I've been running a 636 on mine with good reports. Stock mic sounds good, but too much background noise in the diesel wagon.

JD

 

[slowmover]

I've been running a 636 on mine with good reports. Stock mic sounds good, but too much background noise in the diesel wagon.

JD

I had noted your use and approval. The 636 has the edge for my voice versus the RK-56.

This still-new (recent intro) 656 sounds similar to either of those. “Close”.

It fits the hand somewhat better than each (haven’t ever loved the 636 in this), plus that heft and very positive PTT on/off make it my general winner.

Side-Mic Radio: On my Galaxy 959b — removed from the truck a month ago — it was an ideal match. (That thread on other forum was a helluva lot of fun).



Below pic was what was riding in the passenger seat with dedicated 636. New 656 bought in Phoenix. (Accessories to radio coax & power on backside not shown; reason for packaging was low-complication install & removal of system). The 945e adds that last bit of finagle once up to speed.

Will go back to that setup once I’m finished with antenna mounts, except with the Q5 in place of the 959b. Smaller version TRC-1 radio carrier might work instead.

Antennas will be another thread.

— Sirio 5k now on 44” shaft on driver mirror mainly done. Whip takes it to 7’ (a hair under 14’ TTL, or, “perfect”).

— Dipole on passenger side not complete (nor RG-6 jumpers done). MFJ-347 on Top Gun mirror mount with a pair of 5.5’ Francis.



The carrier makes an easy place to store the latest ideas tools & supply in lower section not shown for when I feel energetic enough to try them.

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In reporting on the Q5, it’s with “help” in the coax system; already present from last radio used.

As of today after having trailer tires replaced on an otherwise nice June morning. The 6’ Skipshooter replaced didn’t capture that bit of what was possible versus this at 7’. And a 7’ Skip gets too much wind whip.

Palomar Engineer Mini-Choker at feedpoint. Their same-size Transceiver Filter at radio.





This is the “same” radio re-packaged for those wanting a more conventional look. Think Cobra 148 if it was released today.

Controls may be easier for those who prefer to avoid menus (of which it has nonetheless). Standard 4-pin mic, not FJ-45.

Line-by-Line Comparison urged for those wanting this circuit board.

The Q5 is a sorta Stryker 955 with a few feature changes (and $150 less) + same circuit board. Features differ again. Stryker audio is legendary. Not a waste of money. And they allow bandwidth adjustment to really dial it in.

I’d work with their 65 mic and get radio & mic dialed in together. I have one and it’s very nice. Just not the audio I want.



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If a 4-watt Uniden PC-76 as I started with almost 30-years ago had the DSP quiet of the Q5, I wouldn’t spend extra money to hear & get heard. Nor would other drivers.

Big truck antenna mount outside a composite body is hell to get right.

Overpowered base stations on AM-19 a whole other question as they F’up the channel via Skip for the hundreds of thousands of working men, and men with families out on the road. No excuse for this, as (39) other channels exist for their fun.

Clarity is the way through. The Q5 has it in spades. Even the aggravating aren’t as aggravating once silence is what surrounds their ejaculations.

NRC is the game-changer.

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[KMG54]

I took my Styker 955 out and use the Anytone 5555 now, great radio!

 

[KMG54]

And by the way Karen I am free banding as we speak!

 

[slowmover]

I took my Styker 955 out and use the Anytone 5555 now, great radio!

Old version 955, right? Not newest HP released last year.

Have already mentioned DRX-9010 Speaker as a necessary addition, IMO.

Location also critical. Here’s mine above drivers left shoulder in a ‘20 FTL.

Bracket is double-isolated at speaker, and I added industrial Velcro to toughen the mount against moving plus add yet more isolation.

Sorbothane sheet cut to fit would be ideal.

Supplied audio cable is also unique. I add Mix 31 ferrites at each end as insurance.




So, coax filters and this speaker are central to my evaluation. Won’t perform as nicely without them in a mobile, but still be miles ahead of the old stuff.

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[KMG54]

Mine is a base station and yes the latest version. I have a Sirio 5/8's ground plane 40 feet in the air.

 

[KMG54]

Actually running the Anytone 5555 for now if you look at my previous post.

 

[KMG54]

I use a Samsung 40 inch Bluetooth speaker to help me, completely deaf in my left ear and 60% in the right ear, cleans it up nicely with the audio cable attached.

 

[krokus]

@slowmover What is so special about the new Driver Extreme DRX-9010? Why is it better than a Kenwood, Motorola, or any other decently sized speaker?

 

[slowmover]

Audio quality is much higher. Voice comes across more naturally and in situations where it didn’t before, the faint stuff is more legible (given DSP already in use).

A comms speaker is not a music speaker, first. DRX-9010 optimized to specific range.

DSP gives life to RX previously buried. One hears “farther”, as it’s really “better”. The radios could receive it, but not filter it adequately. Now it can.

The DRX-9010 (and alike to some of the expensive Amateur speakers) can work with the frequency range of voice such that voice is no longer flat. There’s depth (call it 3D). This helps lift the fainter voice out of the dirt (hash). One could detect it but not really understand what was being said previously.

Best example I have is that a recent antenna increase to 14’ TTL gave me those voices where the first man had already been legible, now his conversational partner can be heard almost as easily, though much fainter.

The other mobile speakers I’ve used brought up the second voice such that I could hear it, but not really understand it enough to follow both sides equally well.



High dollar stereo system speakers (thousands of dollars) reveal recording details the generic box store stuff flattens to the point of inaudibility. Same effect.

Remember that my use is as truck driver where all day long monitoring AM-19 for problems out ahead is a practice of many years. Conversational reference to a problem back behind two guys talking about it is often indirect. One has to be alert to some subtleties.

1). DSP removes hash around voice.

2). DRX-9010 driven by an NRC-equipped radio gets voice up off the floor and dancing as those speaking intend to be heard.

Bonus: The base station asswipes on AM-19 aren’t as aggravating as one hasn’t had to struggle in listening to anyone received that day. (Many men turn off the radio as the effort seems wasted given these trolls. Monitoring is work, it’s genuine effort).

These are why I’ve stated that the way though is via Clarity.

AT5555-N2 + DRX-9010 has made Citizen Band a pleasant all-day companion compared to previous system components while mobile and under job stress.

I expected this combination to be 90% of my high dollar rig. Fewer components and far easier wiring & cabling. Easier truck install, thereby, as advantage. Instead, it’s been 105%.

— I run the Q5 at SQ-4 and NRC-3. NB, in. HI-Cut, off. Volume from 36-52. I find it easy to use. More open, rural, more closed, metro (same for day to night).

— I also employ an antenna feedpoint choke plus a coax filter at the transceiver. These cut noise further. The effect is that under good conditions I have almost no hash. Two-way business radio quality.


“The DRX-9010 was designed specifically as a communication-grade product to provide a natural sound, pleasant tone and extreme clarity. Features a 15 watt, 6 Ohms wedge design that acoustically projects sound and allows for versatility of placement.”

— Speaker placement is highly important so as to keep intuition well-served in the same way that radio placement is such that controls can be manipulated without distraction.

Get this right and CB is in its true element while traveling.

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[slowmover]

2023 ain’t over yet. 4W AM with what looks like nearly all the Q5/Ares features in a smaller package and the promise of PRESIDENT-brand quality.

*NEW CB* Oh Baby! President George II

georgeii4languesfrenesplv1.02advanceduserguide-385.pdfDownload Oh yeah Baby! It’s got REPEAT too 🤩 40 channels AM / FM / LSB / USB- Channel selector rotary – VFO mode- RF Power- Manual squelc…

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