CB Radio home station?

[xxdanielt3]

I'm looking to set up a CB radio home station. I will need some recommendations on a radio to purchase. my budget is 150$ and down for a decent radio and I'm going to be buying an antenna not too long after that.

Give some basic radio ideas for a CB radio. I'm new to the radio world and am looking to gain knowledge. Thanks.

 

[Rt169Radio]

Check out the Cobra 148GTL.It is a 40 channel CB radio with SSB (Single Side Band).You get 12 watts of SSB RF power and 4 watts on AM and lots of other options on the radio.

Cobra 148GTL SSB CB Radio, Cobra 148 GTL

 

[jimbr1]

First of all...is your budget just for the radio or is it for total of radio,antenna etc? If this is your first radio you are going to need a minimum of radio, coax cable, antenna, SWR meter (unless you can borrow one from someone) and a 12 volt power supply. If you are going to buy the antenna later...do not try to use your radio without a proper antenna attached. If your budget is just for the radio alone, even though I personally don't own one, I would look at the Uniden BC 980 SSB radio...Uniden is a brand known as a stable, reliable performer and the 980 is an AM/SSB radio. Once you try SSB (sideband) you will probably never look back...greater range than AM, more laid-back folks...IMHO...good luck!

 

[xxdanielt3]

First of all...is your budget just for the radio or is it for total of radio,antenna etc? If this is your first radio you are going to need a minimum of radio, coax cable, antenna, SWR meter (unless you can borrow one from someone) and a 12 volt power supply. If you are going to buy the antenna later...do not try to use your radio without a proper antenna attached. If your budget is just for the radio alone, even though I personally don't own one, I would look at the Uniden BC 980 SSB radio...Uniden is a brand known as a stable, reliable performer and the 980 is an AM/SSB radio. Once you try SSB (sideband) you will probably never look back...greater range than AM, more laid-back folks...IMHO...good luck!

Thats just for the radio, I understand I'll need to run an antenna and have already been considering options. I haven;t looked into SWR meters, and I have looked into the the 12V power Supply.

 

[pjtnascar]

You can't go wrong with Cobra. It's a great radio. You'll need a 12volt power supply for home use . Sideband is great in a base station setting. I'd get an a99 antenna when the budget permits. Both the a99 and 148gtl are time tested performers.

 

[jimbr1]

Got nothing against the Cobra from what I've read...just a personal preference for the Uniden...I believe the Cobra will allow you a greater amount of modifications if you desire to do so. Right now the Uniden 980 is a new model with a lot of surface mount technology used...again...good luck!

 

[ZigZag747]

Not sure what your experience is with building things but you can probably save a couple hundred $ building you own antenna...if this is going to be your base station radio. Just need a tall tree and a roof and about 20ft of 12 gauge copper wire and some thing to insulate the ends...Just Google 1/2 wave dipole 27mhz and you'll see tons of sights...The total length of your 11m dipole should be approx 17ft...Speaker wire can be used just need 9-10ft and splice the twin wires to make two lengths of 10ft...Making an antenna is much easier than going out and spending $100 all day long and twice on Tuesday...I personally would only spend the money on a vehicle antenna. If you decide to still purchase an antenna I'd check back here before buying just to get a few comments of what you're looking at...eham.com has many review on cb and ham products...Knowledge is power, your antenna is the most important factor when building you base station...most radios do the same thing, but your antenna will determine whether you're heard down the road or across the state!

 

[Boombox]

Ditto on the Cobra 148GTL -- they're somewhere around $150, and a power supply would be a few dollars more (haven't priced one of those in a while). The Cobra 148 is an excellent design, and an excellent performing radio. I built a quad loop to use with mine, out of roughly 33 ft of wire and some coax. I was able to work stations several states away with it.

I've heard good things about some of the Unidens. For a while, Uniden made Cobra radios.

 

[nonperson]

Have you considered used /pre-owned base station CBs? I managed to get an Uniden Washington for $60 off of Craigslist. Also got a Cobra 89 XLR for $40.

 

[gunmasternd]

I'm looking to set up a CB radio home station. I will need some recommendations on a radio to purchase. my budget is 150$ and down for a decent radio and I'm going to be buying an antenna not too long after that.

Give some basic radio ideas for a CB radio. I'm new to the radio world and am looking to gain knowledge. Thanks.

head to a truck stop they have a good selection. a cb is a cb so one isnt better then the other. just get one and get talking.

 

[nonperson]

head to a truck stop they have a good selection. a cb is a cb so one isnt better then the other. just get one and get talking.

Not true! Some are better built (quality) while others perform better in some respects than others. For example the two base station CBs I have both have Uniden boards in them but different brand names on the shell. Yet one gets better audio reports using the same antenna and coax.
Heck check out some You Tube videos of folks comparing the audio, receive etc on one radio to the another radio and you also can see hear a difference. The same can be said for HAM radios. Some folks just prefer one type of radio over another just because.
Would you tell someone to go buy a Yugo because all cars are cars "so one isn't better then the other?" Hell no if you want the performance of a Mustang or BMW! Same thing with any radio no matter the service you're talking about.