Any fellow CBers here?

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cwilliamsws6

cwilliamsws6

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Feb 27, 2018
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Idaho
I have always been fascinated by CB radio and my Grandpa got me a Cobra 19 from Walmart and a little Scosche magmount antenna for my car when I turned 16. Some of my truck-buddies at school run CBs as well.

I have since upgraded to a Cobra 29 Chrome which I scored at a flea market for $5. The guy was a retired trucker who "never wanted to see another CB the rest of his life" and let me have it. I also got a Highgear power mic and Tram 3500 antenna.

In addition to those I own 2 RadioShack handhelds, a Realistic TRC-415 and Mini-40 I've scored at work or garage sales.

I usually spend about an hour to two hours every other night talking on 19 or trying to shoot skip on 6. I usually manage to make contacts about 100 miles out give or take, one time I talked to a guy out in South Sudan though. At night I can usually hear people from Alabama or Mississippi but I am pretty sure they cannot hear me.

[Linked Image]
 
I have about 20 including the Galaxy 10m radios that are modified to use the11m band. I have a Galaxy dx99v in my Jeep. A Philippines built cobra 25 in the FJ and a Galaxy dx 952t in my truck.

A couple years ago I scored a brand new uniden grant still in the box at a yard sale for $20!
 
I've always wanted a Galaxy radio but I have no real need for anything that nice. The DX 959(?) is one I've had my eye on for awhile now. I've thought about getting one custom made from Bell's CB or LesComm. Maybe, maybe one day.
 
I run a Galaxy DX93-T radio in the truck I drive at work. Its a 10 meter radio with the conversion to work on 11 meters. I bought it 10 years ago, just before they stopped making them. It has the blue LED channel and frequency lights in it.
 
Originally Posted by cwilliamsws6
I've always wanted a Galaxy radio but I have no real need for anything that nice. The DX 959(?) is one I've had my eye on for awhile now. I've thought about getting one custom made from Bell's CB or LesComm. Maybe, maybe one day.

You can cut 2 wires and add 2 switches to the 959 and get upper and lower funnies. The frequency counter even works when you do this. My 959 is the best working radio I have.

Around 1999 I broke down in death valley. Nobody around. I finally got a hold of a guy on 27.425 with my 99. He was in Georgia and called the company in California to tell them where I was.
 
I didn't know if anyone used CB's anymore. May be time to pull out my radios from the 70's and check things out.
 
Thats funny. My sophomore year of HS (2015) everyone that had a truck got CBs so we could all talk $#!* on each other while leaving the parking lot. Some hilarious stories come out of that parking lot.
 
I used a Firestick antenna on a spring mount with a Cobra 25 when I was on the road. Cobra makes a decent radio. I always wanted a Connex but the nice radios were the ones that got stolen on our yard so I kept using 25s.
 
I have a few mobile cb setups but I do not have any mounted in my vehicles now. Mostly stuff I picked up from yard sales. I would really like to get a base station setup for my garage but having a hard time figuring out a antenna. Base station antennas can be expensive and not sure I want a large antenna mounted to my house.
 
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I have a Uniden Washington out in the shop with a base station antenna. It easily talks to other base stations 25-30 miles away, and I have made quite a few skip contacts with it also. An AM-only CB is fine for a mobile, but if you really want to start making more contacts I suggest getting a unit with SSB and setting up a base station at home.

I haven't played with the CB's much since I got my ham ticket, but I still get on once in a while. Most of the time I talk on the Kenwood 2 meter radio in my Expedition.
 
Originally Posted by cwilliamsws6
I have always been fascinated by CB radio and my Grandpa got me a Cobra 19 from Walmart and a little Scosche magmount antenna for my car when I turned 16. Some of my truck-buddies at school run CBs as well.

I have since upgraded to a Cobra 29 Chrome which I scored at a flea market for $5. The guy was a retired trucker who "never wanted to see another CB the rest of his life" and let me have it. I also got a Highgear power mic and Tram 3500 antenna.

In addition to those I own 2 RadioShack handhelds, a Realistic TRC-415 and Mini-40 I've scored at work or garage sales.

I usually spend about an hour to two hours every other night talking on 19 or trying to shoot skip on 6. I usually manage to make contacts about 100 miles out give or take, one time I talked to a guy out in South Sudan though. At night I can usually hear people from Alabama or Mississippi but I am pretty sure they cannot hear me.

[Linked Image]


Let's see your antenna set up. I've been wanting one in my Mazda but the antenna has to look good and I haven't found a decent solution.
 
I have a Galaxy DX959 running through a Wilson 1000 antenna in my truck, a Cobra 29LTD Classic running through a K40 antenna in one of my cars and a Cobra 148GTL that I use on my work bench as a base station running through a Solarcon A99 antenna. I also have an old Lafayette Comstat 25 tube type 23 channel radio that I sometimes use on the base station.
 
Originally Posted by Rob_Roy
I have a Uniden Washington out in the shop with a base station antenna. It easily talks to other base stations 25-30 miles away, and I have made quite a few skip contacts with it also. An AM-only CB is fine for a mobile, but if you really want to start making more contacts I suggest getting a unit with SSB and setting up a base station at home.

I haven't played with the CB's much since I got my ham ticket, but I still get on once in a while. Most of the time I talk on the Kenwood 2 meter radio in my Expedition.


What kind of base antenna are you using? I've been thinking of a eBay dipole in a tree or maybe in the Attic of my garage.
 
Moved to Ham Radio almost 40 years ago! From millWatts to KiloWatts, I've worked the world using voice, Morse code and digital modes. Radio has been a life-long hobby, and the interest led to a career as a technician, an engineer, a supervisor, project manager and manager.
 
Originally Posted by FFeng7
I would really like to get a base station setup for my garage but having a hard time figuring out a antenna. Base station antennas can be expensive and not sure I want a large antenna mounted to my house.


Solarcon Antron 99 is popular around here for base station antenna. Antenna and ground plane can be had for $129.99 on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Solarcon-Omn...;qid=1566051799&s=gateway&sr=8-8
 
Originally Posted by FFeng7
Originally Posted by Rob_Roy
I have a Uniden Washington out in the shop with a base station antenna. It easily talks to other base stations 25-30 miles away, and I have made quite a few skip contacts with it also. An AM-only CB is fine for a mobile, but if you really want to start making more contacts I suggest getting a unit with SSB and setting up a base station at home.

I haven't played with the CB's much since I got my ham ticket, but I still get on once in a while. Most of the time I talk on the Kenwood 2 meter radio in my Expedition.


What kind of base antenna are you using? I've been thinking of a eBay dipole in a tree or maybe in the Attic of my garage.


I used an Imax 2000 until a wind storm damaged it. I replaced it with a Tram 1498 antenna, which is very similar to the Antron 99.
 
Originally Posted by Rob_Roy
Originally Posted by FFeng7
Originally Posted by Rob_Roy
I have a Uniden Washington out in the shop with a base station antenna. It easily talks to other base stations 25-30 miles away, and I have made quite a few skip contacts with it also. An AM-only CB is fine for a mobile, but if you really want to start making more contacts I suggest getting a unit with SSB and setting up a base station at home.

I haven't played with the CB's much since I got my ham ticket, but I still get on once in a while. Most of the time I talk on the Kenwood 2 meter radio in my Expedition.


What kind of base antenna are you using? I've been thinking of a eBay dipole in a tree or maybe in the Attic of my garage.


I used an Imax 2000 until a wind storm damaged it. I replaced it with a Tram 1498 antenna, which is very similar to the Antron 99.


Thank you for the info. I'm trying to set up something that is not so visible. I don't have a HOA or anything to deal with. Just a wife and not wanting to much of a antenna.
 
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