in the market for new CB- really interested in the President Lincoln II+

[corneileous]

Hey guys, I did post a thread similar to this a couple years ago asking about radios but now that I'm in the market for a new radio and now that I ave more of an idea to what I want- I would really like basically a Ham radio with CB frequencies since it will transmit on a higher wattage than a regular CB. I've been checking out the LINCOLN II+ and even found a nifty video that shows how to add a resistor to a certain spot on the board that unlocks the CB frequencies. Is this a good radio for that? I realize the radio is quite expensive for what all you get even though I'm not interested in keying up the mic on the 10 meter ham frequencies. As I said, all I'm interested in is just having a radio that puts out a little more power than a regular CB radio you can buy at a truck stop. Also, someone commented asking what the wattage was on the new CB band and someone responded saying it was 35 watts. This correct?

Another question- I watched another YouTube video where somebody said that you actually get an extension on your radio's warranty if you use one of president's antennas so is there an antenna they have that would go good with this radio even though my warranty will probably be shot as soon as I do that modification that unlocks the CB frequencies? Not really interested in that antenna for the warranty, it's more for better compatibility with the radio if their antennas are just that good. I was planning to use a 3 or 4 foot fiberglass Firestick with adjustable tip for tuning. Thanks.

 

[slowmover]

2023 Best Mobile CB

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...

forums.radioreference.com

NRC equipped or it’s a bust.

See your previous thread also (dates, etc).

Since 6/2022 a new performance standard

 

[corneileous]

2023 Best Mobile CB

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...

forums.radioreference.com

NRC equipped or it’s a bust.

See your previous thread also (dates, etc).

Since 6/2022 a new performance standard

I read through that thread but still kinda confused on what I need. Would that Anytone 5555 be the better choice? I don’t do a whole lot of talking on the radio but it would be nice to have a radio that gets out and pulls in a little better than a typical neutered radio like a Cobra or anything else alike.

 

[Larry1275]

I read through that thread but still kinda confused on what I need. Would that Anytone 5555 be the better choice? I don’t do a whole lot of talking on the radio but it would be nice to have a radio that gets out and pulls in a little better than a typical neutered radio like a Cobra or anything else alike.

Yes Anytone is better radio

 

[corneileous]

Yes Anytone is better radio

So, couple questions… Does the CB frequencies on this radio have to be added in like they do with the resistor on the president Lincoln 2+? What’s the transmit power in wattage? If I understand correctly, when you add the resistor to the president Lincoln to make it unlock the CB frequencies,
Ltransmits on 30 or 35 W.

 

[corneileous]

Well, I decided to make a call to Walcott radio and talked to a guy and I think he pretty much has me sold on that Anytone AT555nii so is it worth it to pay them 40 bucks to unlock the CB frequencies or is this something I can do myself? Looking it up on YouTube, I found a video where a guy showed that on these radios, all you have to do is like, pretty much right in the center of the motherboard there’s a small white wire that’s used as a jumper and all you have to do is just snip that wire and then after that, right next to where that little jumper wire is, there’s some kind of circuit board part that has to be unsoldered and moved towards the back of the radio one set of holes, and then soldered back in place. Seems like a little bit more drawn out than what you have to do to the Lincoln ii+ but, I think I can handle that.

Also, he said it will transmit on 60 W for the CB channels which is 10 W more than the president. Not only that, he said one of those tried and true Astatic noise-canceling microphones would work really well with this radio, I would just have to buy that adapter that goes from that ethernet type plug-in to the four pin.

So now onto antennas…

The Peterbilt 389(I believe this) then I’m gonna be putting this radio in already has a spot on top of the side-view mirrors to put an antenna that already uses a co-phase coax cable We’re both cables that come from each antenna go together, side-by-side into the connector that goes on the back of the radio. When it comes to co-phase coax, are those two cables supposed to be a certain length? I know they have to be of equal length but I’m not sure how long both of them are supposed to be and being that this coax is already in this truck, i’m pretty sure it was put in there from the factory so I don’t know if they made these cables as long as a co-phase cable you can buy or if they just only ran enough cable to get from point A to point B.

Being that the truck this is going on is just a day cab with nothing on top of the roof and a trailer that’s the same height as the top of the truck, I don’t think I really need to have a dual antenna set up so unless it’s just better to do, I think Id almost just rather buy an 18 foot piece of coax and run it to the stock antenna mount on the driver side mirror and then run it down the tubing into the cab the way the factory cable was ran over to where the CB is going to go and just use one antenna.

 

[2IR473]

Just for future readers of this thread who are asking the same question, I had a couple of Lincoln II radios ( V3, +) and the Anytone 5555II is so much better than the Lincoln II, there is no contest. The Lincoln is basically unusable due to the RX noise inherent to the radio. Glad you got good advice. My advice is…don’t buy a Lincoln II unless President completely redesigns the radios.

 

[corneileous]

Just for future readers of this thread who are asking the same question, I had a couple of Lincoln II radios ( V3, +) and the Anytone 5555II is so much better than the Lincoln II, there is no contest. The Lincoln is basically unusable due to the RX noise inherent to the radio. Glad you got good advice. My advice is…don’t buy a Lincoln II unless President completely redesigns the radios.

Does this hold true to their other radios? My first kicked-around choice was the McKinley or that new McKinley ii or whatever it is that has the new FM band.

 

[slowmover]

Well, I decided to make a call to Walcott radio and talked to a guy and I think he pretty much has me sold on that Anytone AT555nii so is it worth it to pay them 40 bucks to unlock the CB frequencies or is this something I can do myself? Looking it up on YouTube, I found a video where a guy showed that on these radios, all you have to do is like, pretty much right in the center of the motherboard there’s a small white wire that’s used as a jumper and all you have to do is just snip that wire and then after that, right next to where that little jumper wire is, there’s some kind of circuit board part that has to be unsoldered and moved towards the back of the radio one set of holes, and then soldered back in place. Seems like a little bit more drawn out than what you have to do to the Lincoln ii+ but, I think I can handle that.

Also, he said it will transmit on 60 W for the CB channels which is 10 W more than the president. Not only that, he said one of those tried and true Astatic noise-canceling microphones would work really well with this radio, I would just have to buy that adapter that goes from that ethernet type plug-in to the four pin.

So now onto antennas…

The Peterbilt 389(I believe this) then I’m gonna be putting this radio in already has a spot on top of the side-view mirrors to put an antenna that already uses a co-phase coax cable We’re both cables that come from each antenna go together, side-by-side into the connector that goes on the back of the radio. When it comes to co-phase coax, are those two cables supposed to be a certain length? I know they have to be of equal length but I’m not sure how long both of them are supposed to be and being that this coax is already in this truck, i’m pretty sure it was put in there from the factory so I don’t know if they made these cables as long as a co-phase cable you can buy or if they just only ran enough cable to get from point A to point B.

Being that the truck this is going on is just a day cab with nothing on top of the roof and a trailer that’s the same height as the top of the truck, I don’t think I really need to have a dual antenna set up so unless it’s just better to do, I think Id almost just rather buy an 18 foot piece of coax and run it to the stock antenna mount on the driver side mirror and then run it down the tubing into the cab the way the factory cable was ran over to where the CB is going to go and just use one antenna.

AT5555-N2 is FAR easier to use than Linc (I have both). No NRC on Linc makes it last years choice.

Power output will be fine. A dozen watts difference doesn’t mean much. The real work is with the antenna system for performance (quiet receive): better coax, some RF Bonds, etc.

— The stock mic is better than the aftermarket noise-cancelling type. I tested (6) of my own.

I’m using the Uniden BC-645 mic highly similar to the stock mic, but slightly larger, heavier and without channel change buttons. Needs FJ-45 to 4-prong adapter as do most all other mics ($24 or so).

Run TX-NRC at (2) for open window intelligibility. Keep mic 3-4” from mouth. Mic Gain all the way to 36-mark. (Leave off Echo & Delay).

RX-NRC at (4) unless (3) removes enough hash. (5) is too much.

Single antenna with low trailer sounds good. Get a Skipshooter in the length that will get you close to 14’ total height.

Wilson 18’ FME coax jumper at any truckstop (or Walcott). Driver Extreme 18’ coax a better choice (materials, design & construction).

1.5:1 VSWR preferred. Up to 2.0:1 acceptable. (Get separate SWR meter; about $30).

Conversion you can do if videos made it clear. I wouldn’t want Walcott inside my radio (see SCOTTS RADIOS for a better full service choice; I’d rather get it from him as the Radioddity QT/60 is same radio).

Driver Extreme DRX-901 Speaker strongly recommended. Talkback at about (4).

.

 

[corneileous]

AT5555-N2 is FAR easier to use than Linc (I have both). No NRC on Linc makes it last years choice.

Power output will be fine. A dozen watts difference doesn’t mean much. The real work is with the antenna system for performance (quiet receive): better coax, some RF Bonds, etc.

— The stock mic is better than the aftermarket noise-cancelling type. I tested (6) of my own.

I’m using the Uniden BC-645 mic highly similar to the stock mic, but slightly larger, heavier and without channel change buttons. Needs FJ-45 to 4-prong adapter as do most all other mics ($24 or so).

Run TX-NRC at (2) for open window intelligibility. Keep mic 3-4” from mouth. Mic Gain all the way to 36-mark. (Leave off Echo & Delay).

RX-NRC at (4) unless (3) removes enough hash. (5) is too much.

Single antenna with low trailer sounds good. Get a Skipshooter in the length that will get you close to 14’ total height.

Wilson 18’ FME coax jumper at any truckstop (or Walcott). Driver Extreme 18’ coax a better choice (materials, design & construction).

1.5:1 VSWR preferred. Up to 2.0:1 acceptable. (Get separate SWR meter; about $30).

Conversion you can do if videos made it clear. I wouldn’t want Walcott inside my radio (see SCOTTS RADIOS for a better full service choice; I’d rather get it from him as the Radioddity QT/60 is same radio).

Driver Extreme DRX-901 Speaker strongly recommended. Talkback at about (4).

.

So if the stock mic is better than an aftermarket NC'ing mic like, I'm assuming an Astatic mic would fall under this category, what makes that Uniden BC 645 better other than it's heavier and bigger feel over the stock mic? I guess a better question would be, what is the durability of both the stock mic and that Uniden mic you use? I've always loved the Astatic mics for their clarity but they don't t seem to last for long before they start cutting out really bad and need either a new cord or mic button.

As far as the antenna- I think I may have heard of those skipshooter antennas but how are they better than the Firestick fiberglass antennas with the adjustable tip? I've always had good luck with those but after looking at one of those skip shooter antennas, if they dont require a dust cap like the fire stick does, I could definitely reconsider.

But were you just recommending the single antenna setup out of ease, or is the factory co-phase setup I described not ideal on this truck? It might be a while before I get my radio but in the meantime, I'm using one of my company's radios and when they hooked it up, they just put me on two cheap antennas on both mirrors and used the co-phase coax that was already in the truck.

So what's the story with Anytone and Radioddity making identical radios which I'm assuming when you said they are the same radio that it doesnt matter which one I get?

 

[KMG54]

The Anytone quad 5 is a no brainer, I chose over my latest Striker same boards but the anytone just sound better

 

[KMG54]

Firmware!

 

[slowmover]

So if the stock mic is better than an aftermarket NC'ing mic like, I'm assuming an Astatic mic would fall under this category, what makes that Uniden BC 645 better other than it's heavier and bigger feel over the stock mic? I guess a better question would be, what is the durability of both the stock mic and that Uniden mic you use? I've always loved the Astatic mics for their clarity but they don't t seem to last for long before they start cutting out really bad and need either a new cord or mic button.

As far as the antenna- I think I may have heard of those skipshooter antennas but how are they better than the Firestick fiberglass antennas with the adjustable tip? I've always had good luck with those but after looking at one of those skip shooter antennas, if they dont require a dust cap like the fire stick does, I could definitely reconsider.

But were you just recommending the single antenna setup out of ease, or is the factory co-phase setup I described not ideal on this truck? It might be a while before I get my radio but in the meantime, I'm using one of my company's radios and when they hooked it up, they just put me on two cheap antennas on both mirrors and used the co-phase coax that was already in the truck.

So what's the story with Anytone and Radioddity making identical radios which I'm assuming when you said they are the same radio that it doesnt matter which one I get?

I wanted mic without buttons to use in big truck. Larger/Heavier makes it easier to grasp . I have it hanging from a Wilson mic hanger.


Skipshooter is American-made high quality. Measure from top of mirror mount to 14’ to determine antenna length. (Clear cover color recommended).


Low trailer makes cophase less desirable. Single antenna on drivers side will be quite good (another reason why longest/tallest antenna matters).


Q5/QT60 same radio, different name.


You’re going to need to upsize radio power wiring versus using factory. A fuse tap at circuit panel near foot and 12-AWG will work. Find metal in overhead to drill & mount NEG ground point (test it’s a good location). Xtra short ground the ideal.

A quick disconnect on radio power and power from panel (12-ga)

Amazon.com

15A fuse tap in 12-ga

Amazon.com

Find a circuit always hot (engine or key off) is how I do it.

Examples. Auto parts store is one resource to find this. Use heat shrink over joints. Use split loom conduit to protect power wires.

Voltage measurement on dead key (mic engaged but no speaking) needs no more than 1/2V drop at engine idle, ideally. Radio runs easier and lasts longer.

.

 

[2IR473]

Does this hold true to their other radios? My first kicked-around choice was the McKinley or that new McKinley ii or whatever it is that has the new FM band.

The only other modern-era President radio I have experience with is the McKinley, and the McKinley receive is better than the Lincoln II. For a 40 channel (SSB) CB radio, it is quite decent. I have the older AM/SSB version, so don’t know about the new McKinley with FM.

I will also add that the Lincoln II radio is pretty old technology now, and that it is due for an update or being put out to pasture. I got my first Lincoln II in 2014, so the radio is pretty dated now.

 

[prcguy]

So what's the story with Anytone and Radioddity making identical radios which I'm assuming when you said they are the same radio that it doesnt matter which one I get?

Anytone designed and manufactured the radio, Radioddity just sticks their name on it.

 

[corneileous]

Anytone designed and manufactured the radio, Radioddity just sticks their name on it.

So then they are of the same quality then, correct? I’m only asking because I read a couple places online that said the Radioddity version was a cheaper-made radio to the Anytone. If it’s the same exact radio with just a different name, I’m not concerned about that but you can understand that if there is a difference in functionality or quality, I’d rather have the Anytone version more, even if it’s a little more expensive.

 

[prcguy]

Without having both in front of me I can’t answer that. I suspect they are identical boards with same specs and performance based on my experience in the CB manufacturing world.

 

[corneileous]

Without having both in front of me I can’t answer that. I suspect they are identical boards with same specs and performance based on my experience in the CB manufacturing world.

Well yeah, that Scott’s Radio or whatever it was called that @slowmover referred to, if he’s a respectable shop like he sounds like he is, I highly doubt he’d be selling the other version over the Anytone version if it wasn’t as good.

 

[slowmover]

If I were hesitant about doing conversion DIY and wanted TLC checks &!personal preferences addressed in service menu I’d just automatically order from Scott’s.

As I don’t have a laptop, seems a simple choice.

Extras would be programming cable plus 4-pin to FJ-45 adaptor ($45-50 to base price).

DRX-901 speaker about $50.

“All in” would be $350-450 if aftermarket mic also chosen when seen this way.

 

[Larry1275]

Well, I decided to make a call to Walcott radio and talked to a guy and I think he pretty much has me sold on that Anytone AT555nii so is it worth it to pay them 40 bucks to unlock the CB frequencies or is this something I can do myself? Looking it up on YouTube, I found a video where a guy showed that on these radios, all you have to do is like, pretty much right in the center of the motherboard there’s a small white wire that’s used as a jumper and all you have to do is just snip that wire and then after that, right next to where that little jumper wire is, there’s some kind of circuit board part that has to be unsoldered and moved towards the back of the radio one set of holes, and then soldered back in place. Seems like a little bit more drawn out than what you have to do to the Lincoln ii+ but, I think I can handle that.

Also, he said it will transmit on 60 W for the CB channels which is 10 W more than the president. Not only that, he said one of those tried and true Astatic noise-canceling microphones would work really well with this radio, I would just have to buy that adapter that goes from that ethernet type plug-in to the four pin.

So now onto antennas…

The Peterbilt 389(I believe this) then I’m gonna be putting this radio in already has a spot on top of the side-view mirrors to put an antenna that already uses a co-phase coax cable We’re both cables that come from each antenna go together, side-by-side into the connector that goes on the back of the radio. When it comes to co-phase coax, are those two cables supposed to be a certain length? I know they have to be of equal length but I’m not sure how long both of them are supposed to be and being that this coax is already in this truck, i’m pretty sure it was put in there from the factory so I don’t know if they made these cables as long as a co-phase cable you can buy or if they just only ran enough cable to get from point A to point B.

Being that the truck this is going on is just a day cab with nothing on top of the roof and a trailer that’s the same height as the top of the truck, I don’t think I really need to have a dual antenna set up so unless it’s just better to do, I think Id almost just rather buy an 18 foot piece of coax and run it to the stock antenna mount on the driver side mirror and then run it down the tubing into the cab the way the factory cable was ran over to where the CB is going to go and just use one antenna.

U will like the 5555N