Whats the best mobile SSB CB radio?

[Baskt_Case]

Google search for "EPT3600" and "EPT6900"

Yea, I've long known many radios are simply clones of other designs, although I never knew which ones were actually related. Lots of good reading, thats for sure.

Still leaning towards the 148GTL, unless I can find a clone radio that happens to be a copy of some far superior radio that can no longer be found. And even then, I'd only buy the clone if it performed as good or better than the original.

 

[reedeb]

Yea, I've long known many radios are simply clones of other designs, although I never knew which ones were actually related. Lots of good reading, thats for sure.

Still leaning towards the 148GTL, unless I can find a clone radio that happens to be a copy of some far superior radio that can no longer be found. And even then, I'd only buy the clone if it performed as good or better than the original.

I would go with a 148. It's a tried and true radio and been around it seems forever. I had one and loved it BUT when I sold my truck and bought me a smaller csr back in the 90's I gopt rid of it as t wouldn't fit [I happened to have also had a Radio Shack AM-SSb rig that fit.

Have you decided on an antenna for it ? I've used the K40,Wilson 5000 as well as the plain old 102" steel whip.[my personl favorite]

 

[grogan]

Not sure when but uniden is comming out with 3 new radios and 1 will have SSB The AM model is out and a nice radio but I don't think you can adjust modulation. The SSB model looks nice and modern display changes to 6 diff. colors should be out soon
Coming Soon From Uniden - Truckers Report Trucking Forum | Largest CDL Truck Driver Message Board

 

[Baskt_Case]

IHave you decided on an antenna for it ? I've used the K40,Wilson 5000 as well as the plain old 102" steel whip.[my personl favorite]

Well, as much as I'd like a 102" whip, that probably would not work out very well for me. In the past, 62" whips were already smacking into alot of stuff.

I've had excellent results with a Wilson 1000 in the past and am heavily inclined to purchase another.

 

[Astro25]

pjtnascar, I believe they are sold as 10/12 meter radios, yeah. But of course with any of them, opening up 11 is as simple as moving a jumper or removing a series of diodes...

 

[zzdiesel]

I remember I put a 102" steel whip on the top of my toolbox on a Chevy pickup. It was like a rolling base station. It broke some lights out of a bank drive-in once. It was embarrassing.

 

[jhooten]

Isn't the Ranger a 10 meter radio?

Some are, some are not.

Texas Ranger TR-900 Series Mobile CB Radios from Ranger Communications

 

[Baskt_Case]

Well, in the interest of staying legal and not frying the neighbors TV stations, I'm still liking the 148GTL. All the extra features in seemingly better radios come at the cost of having an illegal radio. There are a scant few exceptions, mostly with discontinued radios. And even then, they are not really better radios, but have the ability to be modified to be better radios (power supply improvements, Rx improvements, whatever).

At least the cobra is mobile, but appears it will do nicely as a base unit as well. Straight up legal AM/SSB radios being so few as they are (what, 3-4 out there?), I'm going with the Cobra, its a brand I think I can trust in this area. I wont be so tempted to modify it or spend goofy amounts of cash on it, being as it would only put me closer to ending up with an illegal box.

I really like the Galaxy 2547, its a straight up AM/SSB rig and would probably be a great radio, but its a base unit. And even though the Cobra 148F GTL DX models are gone, their soul lives on in "export" radios. Same with many other fine rigs of years past, their original designs are still lurking inside other radios. I will admit, I love the Galaxy 2517 and RCI-99's, but those arent really CB radios and they are full of modification options that keep you on the "dark-side", and ultimately, if I eventually want that many bells and whistles and that much power, I'll just get a HAM ticket and be free.

And yes, I'm a roger-beeping, echo-talking, talkback loving fool. Will be promptly modifying my 148GTL to have these features, or at least buying a decent power mic with echo and beep. Wonder if I can find a roger-beep that sounds like a drop of water, I love that sound, not sure why.

 

[zzdiesel]

I don't think messing up TV's is near the problem that it was back in the day. I can only think of one person who is still on an outdoor TV antenna. Everyone has cable or a satellite of some kind. I would still have to worry about trying to run an illegal CB. Our local cable tower is about 500 ft behind my house.

 

[jhooten]

The serious sideband DX guys will ignore you and get really pissed if you turn on all the toys and try to talk on "their" channels. Stay on 6, 11,19 am with them.

 

[pjtnascar]

jhooten is right about noise toys on SSB. The ham ticket is also a very good idea. I finally get fed up with nonsense on CB, and the lack of people to talk to and got a ham license. People on amateur radio frequencies actually talk instead of just making noises, cursing, whistling, etc. Local repeaters usually have a nice group of people on them, and you can leave the radio on when the kids are around since nobody if spewing profanity. BTW-the Wilson 1000 is an excellent antenna to use with a Cobra 148.

 

[Baskt_Case]

The serious sideband DX guys will ignore you and get really pissed if you turn on all the toys and try to talk on "their" channels.

I guess it depends on the particular group of users. I've listened to alot of ham repeaters with my scanners and via RR feeds, and heard plenty of roger-beeps. Varying from custom sounds to three-tone succession beeps, on both the back and front side of transmissions. The really long ones are annoying. Anything more than a half second tone makes me start thinking about the sound too much.

A few of the CB regulars in this area use roger beeps when calling for DX contacts but will turn them off once contact is made. And I kind of like that, I'll be listening and may hear something very weak followed by a beep and I may try to contact that person, or I at least stop and pay attention to see if conditions change and decide if contact would be possible. These are transmissions I otherwise would not have heard or noticed, especially if quickly scanning through the channels.

I'm not into alien voices or using echo to annoying degrees. I like enough reverb to sound like I'm standing in a large room with no carpeting, but I'm pretty picky about echo boards, some sound awful, even when turned all the way down. You'd do better screaming into a soup can.

To each their own on this one.

 

[KF4ZTO]

There are many ham operators who call CQ DX on 27.385 LSB (channel 38LSB). Some using ham gear, some using CB gear, and some using "10-meter" gear that's been converted for 11-meter use.

Nearly all export radios (10-meter radios that are easily converted to 11-meter use) and many SSB CB radios (all the Galaxy, Ranger, Superstar, Connex, General, some Cobras, etc) are made by Ranger and then re-branded by various brands.

Look at pictures of the following radios:

Superstar 120FM
Superstar 360FM
Superstar 3900
Superstar 3900EFT
Cobra 148
Superstar 158EDX
Voyage VR-9000
Galaxy DX-88, DX-99, etc
Super Jopix 2000
Ranger SS-3900GHP

They all look the same and all have the same board. They're all made by Ranger and are clones of each other.

And I agree about the roger beeps, the AM crap on 6, 11, 26 and 28 is pretty annoying, but channel 38/39 LSB is usually just as civil as your average 2-meter repeater or 75-meter phone net.

Listen to 14.313 USB and 14.275 USB and then listen to 27.555 USB and then 27.385 LSB. See if you can tell me there's any difference.

Back on topic, if you are dead-set on having a FCC type accepted 40 channel 100% legal radio, I still say go with a bone stock Cobra 148 or a Uniden PC-122. Many export radios are as good or better than plain jane 40 channel AM/SSB radios. These include the Ranger 2950/2970 series, Magnum 257HP and its various clones, Superstar 3900 and its clones. The 3900 is, as I mentioned earlier, very similar to the Cobra 148. I've owned three export radios now and I can say they are on the same level of quality as 40-channel legal rigs. I think many hams and CBers would agree with me, the Uniden/President HR2510/Lincoln radio is one of the best radios (10-meter or 11-meter or CB) ever made for SSB use.

 

[phillmobile]

i would say the best is the kenwood ts-480hx thats what i use

 

[jhooten]

Not that I would know from first hand experience but the AN/GRC-106A does well also. You are limited to USB or AM though.

 

[KF4ZTO]

^Those are a bit out of the price range of the OP Wouldn't surprise me if somebody's put one of those on 27.555 USB.

Wasn't 27 MHz originally a military band? Tank-to-tank communications in FM mode? (World War II era). - Yes, I know that technically the "freeband" (it isn't actually free) is allocated to military government users with a few business frequencies here and there. I've only ever heard a legit business user on 27.430 MHz narrow FM and they were using a PL tone and everything. The U.S. Government frequencies of 27.575 and 27.585 have been quiet for decades now. Same with the 26.615, 26.617 and 26.620 (Civil Air Patrol) frequencies. Apparently 26.945 was used by the U.S. Air Force but I've only heard truckers and Mexican taxi cabs on that frequency for as long as I've been in radio...

I remember reading about a Russian tank radio that did 25 to 45 MHz in FM or something similar.

Plus there's plenty of LSB mode SSB CB operations. There actually seems to be a gentleman's agreement for the "uppers" (27.415 to 27.855)...most English speaking stations tend to use LSB, and most Spanish speaking stations tend to use USB.

 

[gewecke]

i would say the best is the kenwood ts-480hx thats what i use

Nice, but the op said cb's not ham gear.


73,
n9zas

 

[Baskt_Case]

Hopefully get to pull the trigger on Ebay soon. Research has me looking at older models, ever since I found out the now available Cobra 148's with the front mic are made solely in China.

Found a pretty sweet 148F GTL, supposedly new in the box still. Waiting on more pics from the seller. Theres quite a few clean 148 side-mic models floating around, one just sold for $91 this morning. With the exception of a perfect, near-mint, in the box example, I would probably buy a capacitor kit and install that myself and then find a decent tech to align the radio.

Been looking at Uniden Grant and Grant XL models. Cant decide if Grant LT's are worth my time. The LT's were made in the Philippines like other good radios but everyone swears they are not nearly as good as an XL. I've found two super clean regular Grants, but I really want built in SWR measurment. So that puts me back on the XL and LT's. People swear by the Rx quality on all of the Grants, regardless of version.

And I've considered the Uniden PC122, I like its small size for a SSB rig (fits in a DIN slot), but again, no SWR readings. Everybody says this radio talks like a beast and has the Rx of the bigger Unidens of yesteryear.

Still cant let go of possibly owning a Galaxy 9xx either. Alot of complaints about them being drifty though. Once warmed up, they seem to have the performance of all the above radios with the benefit of being new components thus cheaper to fix, upgrade, mod, whatever. Probably would buy one of these to play with after settling on a primary rig.

 

[pjtnascar]

The Uniden Grant XL is an excellect radio. The Grant XL has a built-in SWR meter, unless it has been bastardized to switch for a channel mod. If you find a Grant XL that is clean and hasn't been overly modified, go for it. The ones made in the Philippines or Malaysia are good. I just recently sold mine on EBay since I wanted to finance an Icom 718 for HF work. (I am a licensed General class amateur)

The "roger beeps" you hear on 2 meter and 70 cm repeaters are most likely the "courtesy tone" on the repeater, not roger beeps built into the radio.

 

[gewecke]

i would say the best is the kenwood ts-480hx thats what i use

*deleted*


n9zas