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| CB RADIOS Yesterdays Cell phone. A guide to buying, installing and using you old school new toy. |
| Roger that good buddy! OK, OK.... So no one uses or cares about Good old CB radios anymore outside of long haul truckers, and maybe some 4wheel clubs, but that doesn't mean it can't make a fine addition to your Rabbit or other car. In fact its just because the CB radio fad has faded into most peoples memory that CB radio is go great. NO ONE IS ON IT! And that means if you and your friends want to use it, ITS ALL YOURS. No interference to mess with your talking, no interuptions, no fuss. |
| Here you can see a "Pace 144" 23 channel radio installed in my Pickup. I bought this radio years ago at an Oregon Pawn shop for $12.00 Back then people still used CB to talk, and it was kinda like a chat room is now. Lots of trash talk, but also lots of good people and info. I recommend a used CB radio to start with. They are super cheap on E-bay, and can be bought with "tune-ups" (thats where someone goes into the radio and ups the power output for extra range) For about $15.00! |
| Base Station CB radio. So most CB communications are Car to Car, but with a base station it is possible to talk with your family at home at ranges up to and over 20 miles. I have this unit here in my office, and I use it to keep in touch with friends as they drive from work site to work site. But base stations are not for every one, Don't get me wrong, they are great, and offer many more perks verses a mobile one, but they tend to cost more used going for anywhere between $30 and $100 dollars on E-bay. Now, to use one you'll need one of these: |
| Antennas! |
| Yup, if you want to be heard, you'll need a good antenna. You can have a 5 dollar CB, but you better get a 30 dollar antenna. It makes all the difference. A tall good quality antenna will make it possible to talk for many many miles. A cheap, or smaller antenna will limit your range to a mile or two. |
| So thats about it... Why should you have a CB radio when they are Cell Phones? I have no idea. I guess its just another cool gadget you can play with, and another way to keep in touch with friends. It does have a couple of things it can do that a cell phone can't. Say your driving down the highway, and you hit a traffic jam. You can turn your radio to channel 19 (thats the national truckers channel) and announce your location. Ash what the problem is and how far it extends. 99% of the time there is a driver that has the answer and a solution. Even locally I've been saved a bunch of time from not being stuck on the highway for 10 exits, when there was an alternate route I took that a trucker was more then happy to provide. |