At 10:40 PM 4/4/98 , you wrote:
>Hey all,
>I got a question and since it is for my DAK I figure that it is relevant.
>How do I know what type of CB to get for my truck, I will be doing a lot of
>long distance driving and I want one for the road, but when I started
>looking I saw a range of about $50 to $150. So now I want to know. What
>sort of things should I be looking for and what do the different features
>do? Thanks
>
>Cuervo
>
As a former truck driver I guess I should add my $0.02 to this CB thing.
After all, we're supposed to be experts about this (we're not, but who am I
to spoil a good stereotype).
First of all, most CBs are basically the same. (OK, they're not. You can
buy a cheap one and get introduced to the you-get-what-you-pay-for fact of
life. You can also go the real expensive route and get a better one
although whether it is worth the extra money is questionable.) As long as
you stick to a name brand, you probably can't go too far wrong. Cobra and
Midland are both very good (I've had both). Radio Shack CBs also have a
good reputation although they tend to be more expensive for the same thing.
Federal law limits the transmit power of CBs, so they will all be the same
in that regard (The exception are radios with sideband capability (not
recommended for general purpose use) and hand held units which I don't like
for mobile use (sorry about that Hood Ki...oops, I mean Robert)). The
different bells and whistles you find on different priced units are things
like "RF gain" to help bring in distant signals and extra circuitry to give
a cleaner (but not stronger) transmit signal. Personally, I find these
extras to be of questionable value. All CBs can receive much farther than
they can transmit so paying extra to help you hear even farther is, IMHO,
not very useful. Also, at the typical distances that CBs are used, any good
name brand unit will give a good signal to other listeners.
By far, the biggest factor in how well your CB performs is in how well it
is installed and set up. For whatever it's worth, my advice would be to
start out with a basic unit without a lot of extras. Take the money you
save by not buying the top of the line unit and pay a professional to do
the install (even something like how you run the coax can affect
performance!)
Feel free to e-mail me direct if you have any other questions.
-- Mike Crumley mcrumley@airmail.net 97 Dakota Regular Cab Short Bed 3.9L V6 3.55 Auto DDBC Bug Shield Mud Flaps
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