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In case it did not come across, I may have meant that comment slightly tongue-in-cheek.
T!
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Mobile setup these days
- Thread starter eastsidertim
- Start date
In case it did not come across, I may have meant that comment slightly tongue-in-cheek.
T!
Gotcha
slowmover
Active Member
Yes, as the day you have adequate experience on-road or with modern gear hasn’t occurred. Can’t answer the OPs’ main question from a desk chair.
I’ve laid out use in two main threads. Plenty of tools. Where were your clarifying comments & questions?
How to use mobile CB is the difficulty.
Gear spec & installation basics aren’t any longer up for debate. There’s a new minimum, and it moved past 1989.
An HF receiver is a toy. Not serious.
When problems are close — real-time— in 65/MPH Interstate traffic is the decisive factor for choice of mobile radio.
The other men facing the same problem is the crux of, Hear, and Get Heard, for total radio rig spec if you want actual choices about your immediate fate.
Wandering off into these tech irrelevancies, isn’t.
But then: can’t navigate with a road atlas & stopwatch, or understand highway designations & signage . . . maybe a toy and GMaps is as good as it’ll get for most. I’m holding out that isn’t everyone.
The winter storm not yet abated has killed over one hundred on the East Coast. Seriously injured 10X that many? Oh, you stayed home? My job is to get through this type of problem.
Driving into any hazard should merit “best”.
Sunny day toys are a separate subject.
Skill in use of tools is the thing when adrenaline hits and those around you are starting to panic.
The intelligent questions and comments center around HOW to use mobile CB: Immediate re-route being foremost. Information from the men around you and at close distance . . real time.
2026 minimums already in place.
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Man, I don't know how I missed this thread, I must have been busy somewhere else!😆😉
First question for OP (or anyone else) is: Is this going to be your only radio, or are you going to catch/already have the radio bug? It's important that you be very honest with yourself here. Second question is what will the radio's main use be?
If you're going to have only one radio (really? I can't comprehend that), and use it mostly while traveling away from your immediate area, and expect to use it in emergency-type situations, on CB channels only, then I'd have to recommend the QT-60Pro or QT-80, or something very similar. I use a QT-60Pro as a CB base now, but had it in my car for several months. Solid performance, big audio, and fantastic reception with nothing but the 11 meter mod needed. I run the digital processing full blast on Tx and Rx. If you need to hear and be heard, it'll do the job just fine. The Wx/VHF receiver works surprisingly well on a CB antenna, and can be programmed how you like.
If the above restrictions don't apply, then just use what's fun. Ive been running a Xiegu G90 in the car for a while now, and I couldn't be happier with it. Everybody talks about AM audio on ham rigs being weak compared to a supermod CB, and I can't say that I've heard the G90 on AM. The comment I get first and most frequently, whether AM or SSB is, "That's a good-sounding radio", so I'm happy with that. The remote head is mounted next to the console, the body and a fan are under the passenger seat, running to a Palomar 400 under the driver's seat. It doesn't have Wx receive like the CBs, but I've got that covered with other rigs.
The G90 is great for me because I spend more time listening to broadcasters and utilities than CB/Ham stuff, and everything is easily controllable while driving. I rarely use the Palomar, just to cut through noise locally in bad conditions. The G90's 20 watts is great for DX work and local chatter, but an amp is very useful for road conditions. I like it enough that I have a second one as a base. That gets most of my use, with the QT-60Pro used for local late-night QSOs.
I'll address my concerns with the limitations of FCC-compliant CBs in another post.
First question for OP (or anyone else) is: Is this going to be your only radio, or are you going to catch/already have the radio bug? It's important that you be very honest with yourself here. Second question is what will the radio's main use be?
If you're going to have only one radio (really? I can't comprehend that), and use it mostly while traveling away from your immediate area, and expect to use it in emergency-type situations, on CB channels only, then I'd have to recommend the QT-60Pro or QT-80, or something very similar. I use a QT-60Pro as a CB base now, but had it in my car for several months. Solid performance, big audio, and fantastic reception with nothing but the 11 meter mod needed. I run the digital processing full blast on Tx and Rx. If you need to hear and be heard, it'll do the job just fine. The Wx/VHF receiver works surprisingly well on a CB antenna, and can be programmed how you like.
If the above restrictions don't apply, then just use what's fun. Ive been running a Xiegu G90 in the car for a while now, and I couldn't be happier with it. Everybody talks about AM audio on ham rigs being weak compared to a supermod CB, and I can't say that I've heard the G90 on AM. The comment I get first and most frequently, whether AM or SSB is, "That's a good-sounding radio", so I'm happy with that. The remote head is mounted next to the console, the body and a fan are under the passenger seat, running to a Palomar 400 under the driver's seat. It doesn't have Wx receive like the CBs, but I've got that covered with other rigs.
The G90 is great for me because I spend more time listening to broadcasters and utilities than CB/Ham stuff, and everything is easily controllable while driving. I rarely use the Palomar, just to cut through noise locally in bad conditions. The G90's 20 watts is great for DX work and local chatter, but an amp is very useful for road conditions. I like it enough that I have a second one as a base. That gets most of my use, with the QT-60Pro used for local late-night QSOs.
I'll address my concerns with the limitations of FCC-compliant CBs in another post.
Regarding FCC-compliant CBs, I've seen them recommended many times in this forum, by several members.
Do compliant CBs work? Sure, they do the job they're designed to do within the limitations of that design and the operating conditions. The limitations on an FCC rig are much greater and occur more often than most people think, and that needs to be considered when selecting a radio.
Let's take what the average American would imagine a CB QSO would be: highway speeds, and different directions of travel. You don't need to do the old algebra problems to know that the range of a 4 watt CB makes for a very short exchange. Even 25 watts on VHF doesn't give you a very long discussion over simplex. If you're traveling in a single vehicle, I just couldn't recommend a compliant CB for that use case. You need more power, just to extend the useful range on the road.
How much power do you need? Not nearly as much as you think. 100 watts is a honking mobile signal on groundwave, and more than enough for the vast majority of users. 40 to 60 watts gives you enough range on the road to have a conversation, perhaps even find some locals off the highway a bit. Whether you do that with a 10 meter rig or a compliant box with an amp, you're getting similar range.
As a big fan of SSB and DXing, I've always been drawn to bigger, full featured rigs, and don't have much use for a regular CB, especially the small AM/FM ones. But, I do see a very good use case for FCC compliant AM/FM rigs. Anyone traveling in groups. From permanent installs for off-road/RV groups to lighter plugs and Lil Wils for temporary comms on convoy trips, these can give you quiet comms that won't bother the folks that don't want to hear truckers, while still having ch 19 AM available. Tone squelch the DX and idiots out, and enjoy the silence. People that have never used radios, or just remember the olden days of CB, are usually pleased with having radio comms in a convoy situation.
With the CCR manufacturers making fuller featured radios in smaller packages, I think CB could have a bit of a comeback, if marketed in the right way to the right people (and that ain't truckers or radio geeks). The smaller the better for installation in modern cars, and with some of these new CCRs doing 25-50 watts, their size makes them more attractive for mobiles than the QT and comparable radios. AM/FM with tone squelch gives you the exclusivity of GMRS, and the openness of normal CB. It's both private comms and social media. That'll help sell it to the new generations.
Any kind of mobile rig is generally going to be compromised in any of several ways; size, power, modes, etc. Figuring out the where, why, and how you want to use your radio will help you get one that you're happy with. (At least until the bug bites you)
Do compliant CBs work? Sure, they do the job they're designed to do within the limitations of that design and the operating conditions. The limitations on an FCC rig are much greater and occur more often than most people think, and that needs to be considered when selecting a radio.
Let's take what the average American would imagine a CB QSO would be: highway speeds, and different directions of travel. You don't need to do the old algebra problems to know that the range of a 4 watt CB makes for a very short exchange. Even 25 watts on VHF doesn't give you a very long discussion over simplex. If you're traveling in a single vehicle, I just couldn't recommend a compliant CB for that use case. You need more power, just to extend the useful range on the road.
How much power do you need? Not nearly as much as you think. 100 watts is a honking mobile signal on groundwave, and more than enough for the vast majority of users. 40 to 60 watts gives you enough range on the road to have a conversation, perhaps even find some locals off the highway a bit. Whether you do that with a 10 meter rig or a compliant box with an amp, you're getting similar range.
As a big fan of SSB and DXing, I've always been drawn to bigger, full featured rigs, and don't have much use for a regular CB, especially the small AM/FM ones. But, I do see a very good use case for FCC compliant AM/FM rigs. Anyone traveling in groups. From permanent installs for off-road/RV groups to lighter plugs and Lil Wils for temporary comms on convoy trips, these can give you quiet comms that won't bother the folks that don't want to hear truckers, while still having ch 19 AM available. Tone squelch the DX and idiots out, and enjoy the silence. People that have never used radios, or just remember the olden days of CB, are usually pleased with having radio comms in a convoy situation.
With the CCR manufacturers making fuller featured radios in smaller packages, I think CB could have a bit of a comeback, if marketed in the right way to the right people (and that ain't truckers or radio geeks). The smaller the better for installation in modern cars, and with some of these new CCRs doing 25-50 watts, their size makes them more attractive for mobiles than the QT and comparable radios. AM/FM with tone squelch gives you the exclusivity of GMRS, and the openness of normal CB. It's both private comms and social media. That'll help sell it to the new generations.
Any kind of mobile rig is generally going to be compromised in any of several ways; size, power, modes, etc. Figuring out the where, why, and how you want to use your radio will help you get one that you're happy with. (At least until the bug bites you)
You're going to make me end up trying one of these before it's over with. I missed on by a couple minutes a while back, or I'd have one here. Frankly the seller was only selling it to get something with a little more power for other ham endeavors, other than that he really liked it. He also used it on CB and got great compliments on his transmit audio.
AM has a pretty decent power swing on it. If I run a dead key at 10 watts, it swings to 17-19. The Palomar was set up to perform best on SSB, but that input gives me about 80 on carrier swinging to 250 on AM. Even with the G90 at only 20 watts, it's way more amp than I need 99.99% of the time. That last sentence may be one of the strangest things I've ever said...
Yea, I ran a TS-440 in mobile, and had a HOT antenna center roof. I could hear wonderfully, and If I could hear someone, they could hear me even with the power cut back to 65 watt PEP.
niceguy71
Active Member
I don't see a lot of guys with the QT-60 or QT-80 ( 5555 N II or 6666 PRO ) running the NR at max
I used to keep mine at 2 on RX.... then got used to the sound and moved it to 3 on RX ...about 6 months ago I put the NR at 5 on RX ... my ears learned to hear it perfectly now... it used to sound a little funny to me... but now I wouldn't use it any other way.... I tell other YouTubers that I see using the 5555 N II to turn on the NR... they never seem to turn it on... after I keep pushing them to try it, they turn it on to #1
but it really is a game changer at NR on RX #5 I've been testing my walkie talkies 4 miles from my base station a lot lately.. and my 5555 N II is clearly picking up my little hand held CBs 4 miles away even with the rubber duck antenna with at least S7 signal strength!!!!!!
of course I had to find a good quiet time to do it.. I have found the only time I can get these fantastic conditions is at 7AM to 8 AM ..after that the noise floor comes up ....
I wish more people would try the NR on RX #5 for a couple months ... I think they would see a whole new experience.
I run the DSP pn my G90 exactly the same. I hear and reach more weak signal stations that way. Yeah, it does sound weird at first, but it's so much nicer for listening for long periods. SSB gets so quiet after dark even very distant stations are readable. I got spoiled quick.
