What is considered to be the BEST AM/SSB 40 Channel CB Radio?

[bill4long]

I had one of these in the late 70s. It was pretty good.

 

[prcguy]

Spend much time tuning people in after it drifted, did ya now?

I had one of these in the late 70s. It was pretty good.

View attachment 99077

 

[bill4long]

Spend much time tuning people in after it drifted, did ya now?

Wasn't too bad after it warmed up. Maybe drift 100hz per hour. I usually left mine on 24/7 to minimize the drift. I got into ham radio shortly thereafter, sold the 1011D, and got a Kenwood 530s. Rock solid.

 

[K4EET]

Here is the next version of the tally sheet.

MAKE	MODEL	STYLE	PART 95 SUBPART D CB RADIO SERVICE LEGAL	MENTIONS
Anytone	AT-6666	Mobile		1
Browning	Golden Eagle Mark III	Base		1
Clear Channel	Ranger AR-3500	Mobile		1
Cobra	135XLR	Base		2
Cobra	138XLR	Mobile		2
Cobra	139XLR	Base		2
Cobra	142GTL	Base		2
Cobra	148GTL	Mobile		2
Cobra	2000GTL	Base		6
CPI*	CP2000	Base		5
CPI*	CP400	Mobile		4
Galaxy	DX-2547	Base		1
GE	SuperBase	Base		4
Handic	2305	Mobile		1
JCPenney	Model 6247	Mobile		1
President	HR2510	Mobile		1
President	Lincoln II+	Mobile		3
President	McKinley	Mobile		6
President	Washington	Base		4
Ranger	RCI-2950	Mobile		2
Ranger	RCI-2970N2	Mobile		1
Ranger	RCI-2970N3	Mobile		1
Ranger	RCI-2970N4	Mobile		1
Ranger	RCI-2995DX	Base		1
Ranger	TR696F-SSB	Base		1
Realistic	TRC-451	Mobile		1
Royce	1-639	Mobile		1
SBE	Land Command	Base		2
Sears	Roadtalker 40	Mobile		1
Siltronix	Model 1011D	Base		1
Stoner*	Pro-40	Base		3
Stryker	SR-955HPC	Mobile		3
Tram	Titan III	Base		1
Uniden	Bearcat 980SSB rev. 1	Mobile		0
Uniden	Bearcat 980SSB rev. 2	Mobile		5
Uniden	GrantXL	Mobile		3
Uniden	PC122XL	Mobile		2
Uniden	PC76XL	Mobile		1
Yaesu	FT-101EE	Base		1

*In a league all by their own...

NOTE: The "Part 95 Subpart D CB Radio Service Legal" column will be filled in on the next revision.

Thanks everyone for your inputs thus far. Spread the word if you know of others that have been or still are in the CB Radio hobby. While this is an unscientific review, it has generated a nice list of "Candidates" for the "BEST AM/SSB 40 Channel CB Radio" of all times. As long as inputs continue to arrive, I will update the tally sheet.

 

[Retroradio]

K4EET well done on the list. Very interesting results especially with the “vintage/superior IMHO“ gear in the top running.
Hopefully the following post on”legal“ will not cause a debate... I did a quick count and the percentages are interesting.

 

[K4EET]

K4EET well done on the list. <snip>

Thanks!

Hopefully the following post on”legal“ will not cause a debate... <snip>

I hope not nor should it. I think it is important to differentiate from Stateside legal versus illegal so new users to the CB hobby can make intelligent decisions. That is also why I added in which models were Mobile units versus Base units. It will help the uninitiated to become more familiar with the various models of CB radios.

 

[prcguy]

Even though all these have been mentioned in this thread, very few even belong on the list. Would you expect to find any Dodges or Hyundai's or Nissan's on the best sports car list with Ferrari's and Lamborghini's ?

Here is the next version of the tally sheet.

MAKE	MODEL	STYLE	PART 95 SUBPART D CB RADIO SERVICE LEGAL	MENTIONS
Anytone	AT-6666	Mobile		1
Browning	Golden Eagle Mark III	Base		1
Clear Channel	Ranger AR-3500	Mobile		1
Cobra	135XLR	Base		2
Cobra	138XLR	Mobile		2
Cobra	139XLR	Base		2
Cobra	142GTL	Base		2
Cobra	148GTL	Mobile		2
Cobra	2000GTL	Base		6
CPI*	CP2000	Base		5
CPI*	CP400	Mobile		4
Galaxy	DX-2547	Base		1
GE	SuperBase	Base		4
Handic	2305	Mobile		1
JCPenney	Model 6247	Mobile		1
President	HR2510	Mobile		1
President	Lincoln II+	Mobile		3
President	McKinley	Mobile		6
President	Washington	Base		4
Ranger	RCI-2950	Mobile		2
Ranger	RCI-2970N2	Mobile		1
Ranger	RCI-2970N3	Mobile		1
Ranger	RCI-2970N4	Mobile		1
Ranger	RCI-2995DX	Base		1
Ranger	TR696F-SSB	Base		1
Realistic	TRC-451	Mobile		1
Royce	1-639	Mobile		1
SBE	Land Command	Base		2
Sears	Roadtalker 40	Mobile		1
Siltronix	Model 1011D	Base		1
Stoner*	Pro-40	Base		3
Stryker	SR-955HPC	Mobile		3
Tram	Titan III	Base		1
Uniden	Bearcat 980SSB rev. 1	Mobile		0
Uniden	Bearcat 980SSB rev. 2	Mobile		5
Uniden	GrantXL	Mobile		3
Uniden	PC122XL	Mobile		2
Uniden	PC76XL	Mobile		1
Yaesu	FT-101EE	Base		1

*In a league all by their own...

NOTE: The "Part 95 Subpart D CB Radio Service Legal" column will be filled in on the next revision.

Thanks everyone for your inputs thus far. Spread the word if you know of others that have been or still are in the CB Radio hobby. While this is an unscientific review, it has generated a nice list of "Candidates" for the "BEST AM/SSB 40 Channel CB Radio" of all times. As long as inputs continue to arrive, I will update the tally sheet.

 

[Retroradio]

Well said PRCguy.
Its just I think that they are readily available and out in the open unlike days gone by. But thats a different topic....lol
I am a stock vintage radio fan so I found the list interesting.

 

[K4EET]

Even though all these have been mentioned in this thread, very few even belong on the list. Would you expect to find any Dodges or Hyundai's or Nissan's on the best sports car list with Ferrari's and Lamborghini's ?

The thread title is: What is considered to be the BEST AM/SSB 40 Channel CB Radio? I think the key word here is the word "considered" in the title. Since not everyone is highly technical, I feel that this enabled the respondents to let me know what they felt like was the "best" in their book of criteria. Not everyone works with decibels, signal to noise ratios, receiver sensitivity, etc. nor do they understand third order intermodulation distortion products, spurious signal and harmonic suppression, and so on. By asking for what they "considered to be the BEST" I was able to open the responses up to everyone; both technical and non-technical, with each person using their own criteria for how they determined which was the best. This is supposed to be a FUN thread. Not everyone will have fun nor will they be satisfied with everything I say. But that won't bother me and I hope that it does not bother the others that are enjoying this thread.

That being said, if somebody wants to set up a lab test bench with calibrated test equipment that includes signal generators, spectrum analyzers, RF power meters, etc. and have a real shootout of which radio is TECHNICALLY the BEST then I would love to see that too. I would want exhaustive testing of many parameters; not just the one that a manufacturer specifies. For example, the Total Harmonic Distortion of the speaker output. That would be an exciting thread and I know that some folks here have the ability to make such tests if we first agree what to test and can get the specimens shipped to the lab(s). Any takers?

So @prcguy, I hope you understand my rationale for my thread. Thanks for your comment. 73, Dave

 

[prcguy]

My comment had nothing to do with who compiled the list, it was about the recommendations within the thread. For example, the Uniden 980 is an ok radio and its current, but not even in the same solar system of the top dog radios.

Some may think the Browning Golden Eagle series is one of the best and its better than some but if you look inside you can tell it was assembled by people who's family tree doesn't branch very much. Its performance is ok but not enough to put in it the top 5 or maybe even the top 10.

To me the best of the best is probably going to have a combination of American design and manufacturing with the best quality components and circuit boards, great circuit board and RF layouts, extremely good adjacent channel rejection, channel BW optimized in AM and SSB modes, bullet proof transmitter with high level AM modulation and so on. Take the lid off a CPI and use that as a goal. Few if any will be equal in all the above and I can't think of any that surpass it.

I was fortunate to have worked in the CB business in the 70s through the 80s and got to see and test everything during the CB heyday plus some current stuff here and there. I still say CPI would be the one to top.

The thread title is: What is considered to be the BEST AM/SSB 40 Channel CB Radio? I think the key word here is the word "considered" in the title. Since not everyone is highly technical, I feel that this enabled the respondents to let me know what they felt like was the "best" in their book of criteria. Not everyone works with decibels, signal to noise ratios, receiver sensitivity, etc. nor do they understand third order intermodulation distortion products, spurious signal and harmonic suppression, and so on. By asking for what they "considered to be the BEST" I was able to open the responses up to everyone; both technical and non-technical, with each person using their own criteria for how they determined which was the best. This is supposed to be a FUN thread. Not everyone will have fun nor will they be satisfied with everything I say. But that won't bother me and I hope that it does not bother the others that are enjoying this thread.

That being said, if somebody wants to set up a lab test bench with calibrated test equipment that includes signal generators, spectrum analyzers, RF power meters, etc. and have a real shootout of which radio is TECHNICALLY the BEST then I would love to see that too. I would want exhaustive testing of many parameters; not just the one that a manufacturer specifies. For example, the Total Harmonic Distortion of the speaker output. That would be an exciting thread and I know that some folks here have the ability to make such tests if we first agree what to test and can get the specimens shipped to the lab(s). Any takers?

So @prcguy, I hope you understand my rationale for my thread. Thanks for your comment. 73, Dave

 

[jhooten]

Would you expect to find any Dodges or Hyundai's or Nissan's on the best sports car list with Ferrari's and Lamborghini's ?

Viper.

Hyundai and Nissan both build very good sports cars that are class champions. 4 and 6 cylinder sports cars are never going to be competitive V8/10/12 sports cars.

 

[bill4long]

Whatever you end up buying (if that's your intent), make sure it has a roger beep and a reverb. Essential for the modern sechsee CBer.

 

[David628]

@K4EET I run a President McKinley: MC-KINLEY-ASC (12/24V) - AM-SSB-transceivers - CB-Radios - Group President Electronics USA in my car here in Colorado hard wired to the battery in the trunk of my car. Very clear and loud receive audio, auto squelch feature works perfect, scans the 40 channels just fine while traveling and I always get a 1.0-1.2 SWR on ch19 with the simple new virginia (formerly the New York up) antenna: NEW VIRGINIA - Magnetic Antennas - CB Antennas - Group President Electronics USA . Running this antenna due to ascetics and looks only, but have a K40 longer whip mag mount antenna for the longer trips. Several trucks along the 1-25 front range corridor give me great signal and audio reports on it. Average transmission range with this radio and antenna combo is around 2.5 (lowest I get) to my best range of 4+ miles in open terrain.

 

[MindenJoe]

My SSB radio is a Realistic TRC-465 I picked up on eBay. Looks like it just came out of the box. Good range on AM but haven’t had a chance to test the range on sideband as I only have one SSB radio and almost non existent chatter on sideband except when skip picks up. No drifting from what I have observed. So far I have been very happy with it. Keeping my eyes open for another vintage SSB radio to pop up.

 

[K4EET]

Whatever you end up buying (if that's your intent), make sure it has a roger beep and a reverb. Essential for the modern sechsee CBer.

I've already thought about those attributes. For the Roger Beep, I want it to be user programmable to the Dukes of Hazzard's car horn. For reverb, I want an infinite echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ... echo ...

 

[K4EET]

@K4EET I run a President McKinley: MC-KINLEY-ASC (12/24V) - AM-SSB-transceivers - CB-Radios - Group President Electronics USA <snip>

The President McKinley seems to be a popular choice in this thread based on the tally in Post #64. Thanks for your detailed information on your setup and your observations. User confidence in their choice is a great asset. Many times, probably more often than not, a product's best sales person is the satisfied customer/user of the product itself. Thanks again for your comments!

 

[KEWB-N1EXA]

If you watch this video you will find 1 of everything in this guys house I was Laughing He even had A Connex Big Betty ! Saw your Stoner sitting on the shelf too PRC guy !

Peter N1EXA

 

[prcguy]

Interesting video and it brought back a lot of memories, thanks. The guy says its $80k in radios and at new prices I don't doubt that. But in today's market nowhere near that much with all the useless 23 channel radios and many models that nobody will pay much for if at all. What happens when that guy kicks it and his family is left with all that stuff to dispose of? It might be nice if a radio store or company could get it someday and put just one of everything on display in a museum setting where lots of people could have access to it.

I've got some hoarding problems, or so says my wifee but watching that video made me feel just a little bit more normal and thank you for that!

If you watch this video you will find 1 of everything in this guys house I was Laughing He even had A Connex Big Betty ! Saw your Stoner sitting on the shelf too PRC guy !

Peter N1EXA

 

[GadgetGeek]

Stryker 955HPC.

I was skeptical with this radio particularly in SSB performance as 90 percent of my talking is SSB.

I was concerned about stability and being on frequency like my other hf radios.

To my pleasant surprise it was delivered on frequency and very stable.

Even getting in a cold car and talking SSB to my friends it's on frequency with no need to warm up.

I've had it in the car now three years.

It's the best cheap CB, I mean export radio I've ever owned.

I use a Sirio Performer 5000 PL antenna with it for great results.

Highly recommended.

Good luck.

 

[K4EET]

<snip> I use a Sirio Performer 5000 PL antenna with it for great results. <snip>

While I know of the Wilson line of CB antennas such as the Wilson 1000 and Wilson 5000, I was not familiar with the Sirio Performer 5000 PL Antenna. Googling that name I found this review:

Sirio Performer 5000 PL CB Antenna Review | CB Radio Magazine

Sirio Performer 5000 PL Antenna (Tested with Sirio Mag 145 PL Magnet Mount Base) If your Christmas bonus is burning a hole in your pocket and you've been looking at buying a magnetic mount antenna, you might just want to read this article before pulling the trigger. As a long-time fan of the...

cbradiomagazine.com

While not the objective of this thread, I appreciate you mentioning that model antenna. The review was interesting and informative. Perhaps I'll start a thread looking for the best CB antenna. The Wilson 1000 antenna with a 3,000 watt rating always amused me. The Wilson 1000 comes with 17 feet of RG-8/X with a soldered PL-259 connector. What is amusing, while all of the materials seem to be of decent quality, the coax itself is rated somewhere around 700 watts maximum at 27 MHz using the Belden RG-8/X specification sheet found at:

https://static.dxengineering.com/pdf/Belden%20RG8X%20Date%209258.pdf

So if anybody tries to push a kilowatt or more down the pipe to the Wilson 1000 antenna that can handle 3 kilowatts, there will be a catastrophic failure somewhere in the setup. So yes, a thread looking for the best CB antenna may be next with some sanity checks of the specifications versus the components. Stay tuned...