Bad Mic?

[02RangerXLT]

CB's are not 100% you get what you pay for... I have a Midland 1001Z, got it for like 25 bucks on buy.com... works perfectly, never had trouble with it. I did replace the Mic with a Cobra power mic though.

 

[4x4junkie]

The Uniden PRO-510XL is a very hard to beat radio if all you need it for is trail communication, or for traveling on the highway with others. Though a full length steel whip seems a bit excessive to me for such use... I'd probably look at the Francis Hot-Rod 5' fiberglass antenna myself.

 

[feellnfroggy]

Its not your mic, YOu dont have a gain on that radio, and the cobra 19 is about 4 watts shy of being a good radio, I had two of them and only get about 1/4 mile range out ofthem. No matter what whip you have or how its wired if your closer than 50 ft it will suck. A power mic might help a little bit, but for the price of a 30 cobra 19 ultra you can find cobra classics or unidens on the craig, way more worth it. There is a couple fellows here selling unidens as well. Otherwise your radio is working normally.

 

[feellnfroggy]

All I needed it to do was work. The people I'm talking to are 50ft in front of me haha.

Sooo, I guess I'm going to do it right this time. This Cobra is an old one my dad had in one of his tractors. I wasn't expecting much out of it.

What's a decent radio? The smaller the profile/fewer knobs the better. Like I said, I'm not an over the road trucker, I just want something halfway reliable for the trails.

Once that is sorted out, we'll talk antennas. I love my whip, but if its gotta go, so be it.

Thanks for the help guys. I feel like a noob again haha.

SO I just read this and it answered everything I just wrote pretty much, 50 ft or less is gonna suck for you because you dont have a gain on your model. Me and Hatman use cobra 19 ultras when we wheel and life sux, its easier to yell out the window. I added a firestick with fresh 25ft coax and Its not much better. I havent added the powermic myself yet, not on this radio.


Someone mentioned the 29LTD he had the name I couldnt think of awesome radio. But whatever you get, You have to have a gain knob or it will be worthless on the trail.

 

[feellnfroggy]

Thats the biggest mistake you can make.. .CB's are NOT just plug and play.

Mine and the one I gave Hatman ( exactly the same) were actually plug and play, I had a cig lighter plug on it and a magnetic mount antenna on both. They worked great on the trip from florida to tennessee, but only when we were like 800 ft apart, lol.

 

[Bray D]

Good stuff guys.

I looked around a bit, and it looks like the 29LTD is where its at for a "mid level pretty kickass radio". There's a couple on Ebay for right around 100 bucks, which is probably the most I'd want to spend on a radio.

I've got a full length steel whip for cosmetic purposes really. Got it mounted in my front driver's side stake pocket, and it's ties off at my rear passenger side corner of my bed.

Would having it bent like that affect my SWR? I guess I could check if I had a meter.

Is there a SWR meter integrated into the radios that have "SWR calibration"?

 

[86 slo-vo]

yes the 29ltd's have the built in swr meter

here's mine

the 29ltd also has the option of running a PA speaker, i just bought one of the $15 ebay cheepy's and it works good

 

[02RangerXLT]

The built in SWR meters aren't reliable... you should really get a separate meter... having the antenna bent like that might effect where your signal goes, but it shouldn't effect SWR.

 

[Bray D]

The built in SWR meters aren't reliable

That's what I figured. Piss.

 

[02RangerXLT]

That's what I figured. Piss.

haha, you can usually pick up a stand alone SWR meter for about 15 bucks, depending on where you go... While the built in meters do work, a stand alone is recommended and will typically yield better results. Also, if you get a stand alone, you can use it for other CB applications...

 

[Bray D]

The Uniden PRO-510XL is a very hard to beat radio if all you need it for is trail communication

Been doing a little reading. This sounds like a good little radio. Its in my price range too

I saw the Uniden PRO-520XL. It has a RF gain control. I'm really liking this one.

Sounds like Cobra doesn't have the best reputation for compact CB's. Kinda interesting.

And the research continues...

 

[Bray D]

haha, you can usually pick up a stand alone SWR meter for about 15 bucks, depending on where you go... While the built in meters do work, a stand alone is recommended and will typically yield better results. Also, if you get a stand alone, you can use it for other CB applications...

Yeah I'll be getting a stand alone meter. Dunno how much CB work I'll be doing, but it'll be nice to have.

 

[86 slo-vo]

i also recomend taking whatever you get to a CB shop to have it peaked and tuned....was a huge difference in straight out of the box

 

[4x4junkie]

The built in SWR meters aren't reliable... you should really get a separate meter... having the antenna bent like that might effect where your signal goes, but it shouldn't effect SWR.

The only radios I've found with unreliable meters is the HR2510 and all it's clones (radios with digital-segment meters). Radios having an analog meter with a needle seem pretty accurate (certainly way accurate enough to at least know whether your antenna is working or not).

Though like said, in-line meters are only $15-20, so I wouldn't put great weight on finding a radio with a built-in meter. Many meters will tell you your watts output too, though good accurate wattmeters do tend to get pretty expensive).

Oh and yes, bending the antenna over destroys your SWR! Fortunatly it comes back when you let the antenna back up (though maybe that's what damaged your radio?)

 

[Bray D]

Oh and yes, bending the antenna over destroys your SWR! Fortunatly it comes back when you let the antenna back up (though maybe that's what damaged your radio?)

Well piss. I never let it up, fawker is too tall haha. With it bent, the top of the arch is flush with the top of my cab.

Looks like I'll be getting a new antenna too...