Kellnry

I need a cb bad, want to stay around or under $150. I have the coaxial cable and a 3' firestick antenna. I am wanting something that is fairly user friendly, has good range and don't want a huge cb. I am thinking I will mount in the center console. Please help with suggestions or what to look for. Thanks

IndyChavez

Buy mine....lol

Kellnry

What kind, how much

robsjeep9

Uniden pro 520 comes with PA option... Or 510 no PA option.
I mounted it beside my auto gear shift console...passenger side , doesn't get in the way.

Kellnry

Does it seem like it has good range?

robsjeep9

I'd say google it and get response's from postings/comments on this or other forums. I don't have alot of experience yet... I've heard for the price and small unit it's fine for offroading and keeping in touch with the other jeeps. As far as using it everyday..... Don't know sorry.

OH9JK

All FCC regulated CB are max 4 watt output. So it really comes down to features and looks.

How the radio will perform has everything to do with your antenna.

w squared

All legal CB's are putting out 4 watts - this means that you will see very little difference in performance between one brand of CB and the next. 90% of the performance that you're going to see from your CB setup is based on your antenna, your antenna mounting, how you route your coax, and how you tune your antenna. Only the last 10% of CB performance is going to be determined by which CB unit your purchase...if it's even that much. I'm sure that any Cobra or Uniden unit your purchase will work just fine if it and it's antenna are installed properly.

Kellnry

K, then what antenna should I run and where do I route the coaxial cable? The antenna is going to be mounted on the spare tire with a terraflex mount!

Krynn

A FireStik II is one of the best antennas out there. It's rather stiff and will tend to break rather than bend though. A Wilson Flex, while supposedly not quite as good, will bend rather than snap.

Be sure your terraflex mount has a very good ground. Either make sure it's got a solid contact with the gate and that the gate is grounded, or even better, run a grounding strap from the body through the gate directly to the mount.

Speaking of the cable, you can run it through the gate. There are some rubber plugs on the back of the tailgate that you can poke a hole in and feed the cable (and ground strap if necessary) through. Then just follow the wiring in the tailgate back to the body.

Another 'be sure to do this' item is to check your SWR readings and tune your antenna to minimize it. If you skip this step, you might end up with a very weak signal when you transmit.