Hand Held/Portable CB, Good or Bad?

[vtblazer]

Looking into getting a CB for travel and trail ride communication.
Thought that a hand held/portable unit might be the way to go.

Hoping to get some input from those who know.

 

[Z3PR]

Honestly, hand held CB's do not have much range. Hand helds are great for spotters standing a few feet away too tell you about what you can't see. But if you'll use it on the roads, get a regular CB with a good antenna.

 

[cbbr]

I have a couple of Midlands that live it the truck. They suck for anything except calling people back too the truck, from the truck CB. They have a very short range range.

 

[Roz]

they arnt that short. but they dont have enough power to reflect off the atmosphere so u can talk to people on the other side of a mountain. but open space or on a small pack of people it will be fine. i would recomend a mounted cb but they are only a little bit better stock, but it has more upgrade possibilities. and they are about the same cost.

 

[maynardogle]

With only a watt or two most handhelds are weak, Operated from inside your cab as you drive down the road you will hear stations that can't hear you. If you buy one of these get one with an external antenna conector. Then go buy a quality (like K-40) mag mount base loaded whip. An external antenna for when you are on the highway will make a huge difference in talk out. Don't expect more than 1 mile range on any of the popular channels.

 

[tRustyK5]

I just got a pair of Cobra PR3500DX handhelds. 10 mile range, voice activated hands free mode, 22 channels. My buddy has a pair of Motorola's with the same range IIRC and we tried them out on a somewhat recent trip. They're great on the trail for what we use em for the most...bs'ing back and forth, spotting etc etc. There were many times we were as far as mile apart and had no troubles with the radios, and this was in very mountainous terrain.

Personally I prefer these to the traditional mounted CB, mostly because around here any trail worth wheeling just rips the antenna's off the truck anyways.

They're compact and easy to use so we also use them for events that we go to. My daughter can take one with her and she can go off with her friends for a while...then we can easily find her again.

Rene

 

[maynardogle]

Those Cobras are GMRS/FRS combo radios. They operate at 460 MHz vs. 27 for old class D CB. If you use them on the GMRS channels they power up to 2+ watts and line of site they will go several miles. When you use them on FRS chanels they power down to .5 watts., and range drops to about 1 or 2 miles line of sight. technically you're supposed to get a license ($75) to use the GMRS channels.

 

[vtblazer]

I just got a pair of Cobra PR3500DX handhelds.

I looked them up on the Cobra page and was all set to order but got side tracked from looking at the CB's...

I'm thinking about ordering both, now I gotta decide which CB.

 

[Z3PR]

For a CB, do you just want a basic radio, or do you like the ones with more features and funtions ?? Anyways, for a strait AM 40 channel CB, I like the older Cobra 29 LTD Classic. If you want sideband and "extra channels" I really like my President Lincoln.