RedRubycon

Long story short, I just can't find a place to mount the CB from my TJ in my new JK that I'm happy with, and since it was never that great to begin with, I'm thinking about snagging a new one. The design that really appeals to me is something similar to this Cobra Remote Mount CB Radio. I'm trying to see if anyone has any experience with these types of radios, if there are any significant drawbacks to them (or if they work just fine), or if they have any recommendations on a particular model. Preferably something in the $100-ish or less range.

Appreciate your feedback!

jedg

I've used this one. I liked it overall. My one main complaint is the speaker wasn't loud enough for me to hear most of the time. (my hearing isn't the greatest though).

I've switched to a hand-held that I can plug into the jeep power system when I need it.

RedRubycon

jedg, man, thanks so much for just following me around and answering all my dumb questions all over the place.

One of the biggest problems I had with my old one was lack of volume, and I never could get it to route sound through the speakers properly (it would give some insane feedback). It looks like some of the handheld options are pretty affordable, but I also have an irrational desire to use the classic push-button cabled vehicle mounted version with an antenna sticking out the bumper... Does anyone OTHER than Cobra make these? I'm having a hard time finding others with this particular design. Seems like a pretty logical way to set things up, if you ask me...

Edit: Upon looking closer at that one I linked, it DOES have an auxiliary audio jack, so I suppose there would be options for volume solutions if it proves to be insufficient...

jedg

Midland also makes one. This also happens to be the one I use but without the base station thing in the vehicle.

https://www.amazon.com/Midland-75-822-Portable-Construction-Channels/dp/B00LAHFKSE/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1531323110&sr=1-3&keywords=midland+cb+radio

RedRubycon

I'm not even remotely qualified to assess the viability of one CB system over another, but I imagine that the limitations of a handheld set like that vs. the ones I'm looking at would be mostly related to range?

Uniden also has a version, same thing as the Cobra, but it's a bit more expensive. I would think for my purposes, there wouldn't be much point in getting something more expensive, unless there's some major benefit of one over the other. The local electronics store has the Cobra one in stock, and it's a little bit cheaper there too... hm. How thoroughly would my wife murder me if I just went out and got it, considering I just bought a winch and seat covers the other day?

jedg

I used to use my CB while on the highway... haven't in a few years... now it's just for trails.. and that means a range of like a mile, maybe... so the handheld has done just fine for that. I'm sure what I'm using would NOT work well at all on the highway.

RedRubycon

Well, since I'm topless and doorless 85-90% of the time, NOTHING will work well on the highway

I do like the idea of getting some additional range though, as I'm always a believer in a more-is-better mindset for this sort of thing, and while a mile would be more than sufficient for an organized trail run, it would be nice to have more range for highway usage, emergency contact, etc.

bbolander

I've used a handheld Ham radio with an external mag mount antenna, it's been a long time and I might have done that with a handheld CB many years ago. That will get you more range. I currently have an inexpensive Uniden Pro 510XL mounted above the rear view mirror on the footman loop and a permanent rear antenna. The speaker is on the bottom side and I hear it very well. I don't normally run with the top off though.

RedRubycon

After some more research, I've discovered that I have even less idea when I'm doing with radios than previously thought (and I was pretty sure I was already as close to clueless as possible), so I think I'm going to go for a temporary solution for now, and get a better setup at some point in the future after doing some more research and potentially getting the help of someone that knows what they're doing to get everything set up and tuned properly.

So looks like I'll likely be going for a temporary install of my currently owned radio, and... hell if I know what I'm going to do with my 10-ft whip. Probably have to get an antenna with a more usable length, cause that thing doesn't fit in any garage I've ever seen.

jadmt

x2 on the uniden 510/520's. I just velcro mine to the passenger side of the center console. Works great been using it that way for 5 years. I pull it out when not wheeling as nobody uses cb's anymore with cell phones etc.