CB hints and tips......

[preparedsurrey]

On a normal day with a legal 4 watt rig 10 to 20 miles ish - on a good day way way more, stick a burner on there (if you a fully licensed radio operator of course) and the range goes up a lot - of course that would be illegal without being licensed and cheapy ones used to interfer with TV - don't know if thats still the case now everybody has gone digital

[munchh]

It shouldnt interfere with digital, you would be doing something very wrong if it did.

what ever you do with the antenna you need a swr meter as every location and car is different, plus it will let you know if something has been moved or bent, its easy done, try not to squash the coax in a door jam if you can help it, magmounts are ok, gutter mounts are better, but a hole in the roof will be best if you can do it.
as for burners, even licenced hams cannot use them, as well as they shouldnt use amature gear on the cb freqs.

siro megawatt on a magmount is about as good as you will get on a car setup, terrain is always a factor, as can be how fast you are going, but the fact you can drive to the top of a hill with it open up your world. Most radios will let you hear much further than your 4watts will take you, but on a hill on the right day you will be surprised.

driving up the m23 on a day the "skip" was high, i spoke to a guy id southern spain, he was as amaized as me as we were both running straight 4watts!

CB is fun and everyones

[dangerman]

Sounds ace! How easy is it to move this kit over to another car should you wish to or if you change car?

[Yorkshire Andy]

Sounds ace! How easy is it to move this kit over to another car should you wish to or if you change car?

Really easy ive used 2 screws to secure it under dash

Wire for antenna runs under trim in car (5 mins to put it in )


2 core wire to battery and fuse 15 mins to put in through the "fire wall"

Antenna sticks to roof via magnet

And that's about it bar tuning the antenna with a swr gauge

[munchh]

I do not hard fit any radios, i have a laptop cradle that has a bendy arm and a windscreen sucker, you can bend it in such a way that the sucker is on the window and the cradle sits on the dash, so the radio is right where you want it, i use velcro strapping to hold whichever radio im using, a mag mount and cigar lighter power lead, i can put it in any car i like.
ok its not very covert, but nore is any good cb antenna.

just food for thought, vhf antennas are about a foot long and uhf are even shorter, if thats your bag.

ps. There are some cb/radios that you can get"din" fixtures for, so they can go in the second radio slot in your dashboard, im pretty sure ive seen them for cobra and midland? (No affiliation to these products)

[harrybrown]

I'm thinking of getting a walkie talkie, would something like this be anygood?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261211366033? ... EBIDX%3AIT

Cant afford much more.
I havent been on CBR since early early 90's. Any advice hint tips or links would be much appreciated

[The-Mendologist]

I'm thinking of getting a walkie talkie, would something like this be anygood?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261211366033? ... EBIDX%3AIT

Cant afford much more.
I havent been on CBR since early early 90's. Any advice hint tips or links would be much appreciated

To be honest you could get yourself a 2m/70cm Baofeng and take your foundation licence and still have a quite a bit of that £99.99 left in your pocket.

[munchh]

I'm thinking of getting a walkie talkie, would something like this be anygood?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261211366033? ... EBIDX%3AIT

Cant afford much more.
I havent been on CBR since early early 90's. Any advice hint tips or links would be much appreciated

Haey Harry, what do you want to do with it, i have 2 of these they are great and come with a car kit, but as a handheld until you get up a hill they are not great, i also have i longer antenna that makes thing a little better, but fitted in the car with a mag mount they are as good as any other cb i have, although i have got an extension mic for in the car as the can get warm if used alot.

[Wingfoot]

I'm thinking of getting a walkie talkie, would something like this be anygood?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261211366033? ... EBIDX%3AIT

Cant afford much more.
I havent been on CBR since early early 90's. Any advice hint tips or links would be much appreciated

To be honest you could get yourself a 2m/70cm Baofeng and take your foundation licence and still have a quite a bit of that £99.99 left in your pocket.

I agree with The-Mendologist, as a tool for prepping the Baofeng works very well & you can get a pair of them for less than £45 from the well know auction site, leaving just enough money out of your £100 to buy a white stick 2M & 70cm Antenna like an X30 or X50 for comms between your home location & the other mobile unit.

Since purchasing my first pair, I have gone on to buy further units for all of my family as they are so cheap, you really can't go wrong, I have programmed them all with the same frequencies using the Chirp software program & data cable, we are now all able to remain in contact with each other from our home locations even if the phone networks fail.

You do have to be mindful that these radios will transmit across a very wide frequency range & that you need to learn where & when you can transmit & you will almost certainly need a licence to use them legally, that said I hear a lot of people using them on the licence free PMR frequencies used by other short range walkie talkies, which is not really legal as they are higher powered than the law allows, but if your a mobile station your unlikely to be challenged unless your causing a nuisance, the Baofeng has a very easily recognised roger bleep which gives them away, but it can be switched off easily.

Wf

[harrybrown]

I'm thinking of getting a walkie talkie, would something like this be anygood?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261211366033? ... EBIDX%3AIT

Cant afford much more.
I havent been on CBR since early early 90's. Any advice hint tips or links would be much appreciated

To be honest you could get yourself a 2m/70cm Baofeng and take your foundation licence and still have a quite a bit of that £99.99 left in your pocket.

I agree with The-Mendologist, as a tool for prepping the Baofeng works very well & you can get a pair of them for less than £45 from the well know auction site, leaving just enough money out of your £100 to buy a white stick 2M & 70cm Antenna like an X30 or X50 for comms between your home location & the other mobile unit.

Since purchasing my first pair, I have gone on to buy further units for all of my family as they are so cheap, you really can't go wrong, I have programmed them all with the same frequencies using the Chirp software program & data cable, we are now all able to remain in contact with each other from our home locations even if the phone networks fail.

You do have to be mindful that these radios will transmit across a very wide frequency range & that you need to learn where & when you can transmit & you will almost certainly need a licence to use them legally, that said I hear a lot of people using them on the licence free PMR frequencies used by other short range walkie talkies, which is not really legal as they are higher powered than the law allows, but if your a mobile station your unlikely to be challenged unless your causing a nuisance, the Baofeng has a very easily recognised roger bleep which gives them away, but it can be switched off easily.

Wf

Wow thanks folks, I'm now reading through all the posts & great info... it seems I have a lot to learn
I'm going to look into the Baofeng & also maybe consider a car / base station CB also. Any further hint tips etc are greatfully recieved,

Update, just been looking on certain auction site etc... set of 4 Baofeng for £42, that looks nice... just need to consult with the wife lol.

Thanks everyone.