Q5 Communications in Madison, WI is one of the very few CB Shops recommended to OTR truckers.
Online retailers of repute include
Bells CB
Bobs CB
Clays CB
Wearecb
General Purpose: CBRadioMagazine
Uniden or President radios (AM/SSB only). I prefer Galaxy-brand day in/out as a truck driver.
Skipshooter top load antennas for mobile (price goes up from there but not much in performance).
A
West Mountain Radio ClearSpeech DSP Speaker is an eye-opening change from the old days (or an in-line DSP module).
Cures for CMC & RFI have advanced, too (antenna feedpoint isolation). Ferrites in their various shapes as coax chokes, etc. See:
Palomar Engineers
The Mobile Installation Bible for Amateur Radio applies to CB
www.K0BG.com
(Links, alone, make it worth the study).
Sideband performance, IMO, is the goal. Where that is attended, all else is improved.
Mobile antenna location is the usual major failure. Seconded by the mount itself. “Best” in those alleviates MOST other problems.
(Consider a permanent NMO-Mount Larsen 27 as the baseline. One can improve from there,
but to go with a lesser choice is the equivalent of falling down a hillside.)
As an OTR truck driver I can assure you that THIS approach is so very effective that this radio rig is practically the best one out on the road that day.
My idea of basic is:
Uniden 980 AM/SSB
WM DSP SPKR
RM ITALY KL203 Amp
NMO Larsen
One can go “up” from there (price to performance falls), but to go less
almost isn’t worth it.
(Example: Mag Mount antennas cause vehicle finish damage and when coupled to capacitance performance losses, it renders them a joke.
Yes, they can work well. No, they aren’t convenient, get damaged INSIDE the vehicle, etc. Permanent Mount has no down-side).
Let me expand that last part: The gear above can capture & translate pretty much all that can be heard locally. DSP shows you what the radio received
but you couldn’t hear. You
will hear most SSB TX as a mobile when conditions are favorable (even if they can’t hear you), and for practical purposes otherwise
you will hear and be heard.
The mobile unit which has the most distant handshake from your base station (is how to think about both).
In short, for both, it’s
not about big power, but best gear choice & installation.
Think of yourself as moving from the Hollywood bad caricature CB RAMBO to an
Eleven Meter Radio Operator where the Amateur concerns with
performance apply.
Good luck!
.
As to
courteous or discourteous that will often come down to
you.
A morning commuter on-air, well-mannered (unruffled by a few bad apples), is an example others will follow.
Discourteous extends throughout society today. By that standard,
why should I ever extend courtesy to someone tattooed and in-public walking around in his underwear (tee shirt & shorts).
Best get used to the idea that 4-letter words are part & parcel of everyone who has a television in their home.
From a distance across a public square the others vocabulary is irrelevant. His appearance, however, is STILL offensive to good conduct.
Hang in there. Take no outward offense. Persevere.
The difference experienced on CB in different cities is this personal choice.
One man can do it.
.
