My little brother really wants a CB radio for Christmas, are there any brick and mortar shops in the area?

He's capable of installing it, but I'd like to buy it at a brick and mortar shop so they can maybe help him tune it. I haven't messed around with CB radios since high school and mine was terrible because I don't think I tuned the antenna very well.

12/12/2012 10:34:40 AM

CB radio? what is this 1984?

I'm Krallum and I approved this message.

12/12/2012 10:35:20 AM

Radio Shack would probably be your best bet. I feel like they have stuff like that.

Also, maybe 4 Wheel Parts (or somewhere similar)?

12/12/2012 10:36:46 AM

^^ He's a teenager with a truck, he wants a CB

Whoa, I didn't know Radio Shack still existed. I'm really looking for a place that does installation so they can tune it if he needs help.

4 Wheel Parts looks like a good suggestion
(looks like there is a Sound Station & Security beside it that may also do it)

[Edited on December 12, 2012 at 10:44 AM. Reason : .]

12/12/2012 10:41:21 AM

Quote :

"Radio Shack would probably be your best bet. I feel like they have stuff like that."

This. Or any of the nicer truck stops (TA, Pilot, etc) usually have a really good selection.

As for the installation, you are probably on your own. Best Buy used to install anything even if you didn't buy it there, but I don't think they do it anymore. I'm sure that any place that does stereo installation/car customization would do it, but they would probably charge you way too much.

Tip: Don't go cheap on the antenna. No matter how good the CB you buy is, it won't work for shit without a decent antenna.

[Edited on December 12, 2012 at 10:55 AM. Reason : a]

12/12/2012 10:53:49 AM

I don't want anyone to install it, just the ability to go somewhere to help tune it

12/12/2012 10:56:35 AM

I had a CB in my last truck and I have one in my current truck, never had to "tune" either. What do you mean by "tune"?

12/12/2012 11:01:23 AM

Because CB is limited to 4W, its very important that you have the antenna the right length so that your standing wave reflection (SWR) is low. If you are reflecting 3W of your 4W back to your CB, your only transmitting 1W and you are probably going to destroy your CB because those 3W are going back to the transistor.

You tune antennas by adjusting the length to get the SWR as low as possible. Each channel has a different ideal length, so you usually aim for something in the middle so that that the other channels are less out of tune. The rule of thumb is usually an SWR under 2.

Desired wavelength (ft) = 984/Frequency (Mhz)


[Edited on December 12, 2012 at 11:08 AM. Reason : on short antennas its more critical]

12/12/2012 11:06:02 AM

hmmmmm, interesting. I never put that much thought into mine. I just plugged them up and they worked.

That being said, I bought my current truck from a truck driver and it already had the CB in it. He probably already had that bitch tuned to perfection

[Edited on December 12, 2012 at 11:09 AM. Reason : a]

12/12/2012 11:07:03 AM

http://youtu.be/YwFPKIjweP8

(and it looks like GxB commented on the video: Good video. I haven't used my radio? in years and needed a little refresher to get me going. With the UNWARRANTED ANTI-PATRIOT ACT, SOPA, CISPA, NWO, FEMA camps, NDAA, etc, And now if you seven days for of food or you support our constitution you're a terrorist? All that not to mention the coming market crash. This is why everybody should make sure they have at least one CB radio either in the car or their house. The computer generation better start thinking about other means of communicating.
haha)

12/12/2012 11:09:45 AM

dtownral is right. Getting a CB "Peaked & Tuned" is very important if you have a "nicer" model CB radio and care about not destroying it.

Back when I had my jeep, I seem to remember there being a CB shop on Capital Blvd. Cant remember the name though.

12/12/2012 11:14:05 AM

CB ain't what it used to be. Since the users are few and far between, it seems like everyone is running a linear and blasting 100s or 1000s of watts now(with the exception of a few truckers that actually need the limited range). There is a guy in Raleigh that still modifies them for customers, but I'm not at liberty to give out his address.

It sounds like you already know how to tune a basic setup though. Antenna placement on the vehicle is crucial. It's hard to go wrong with a Cobra 29, there are lots of tutorials online and it's easy to overmodulate and peak out if he wants to.

12/12/2012 11:21:03 AM

I kinda wish I had one for road trips, but I'm not tearing up a leased company vehicle (and my wife would say no anyways)

12/12/2012 11:23:56 AM

Nah, just get a wilson magnetic mount and run the cable up the door jam.

12/12/2012 11:24:51 AM

The Hess station at I40 & 42 (exit 312) sells CB's and accessories. RF Integrity off 401 near Wake Tech Main Campus can probably tune it for you. He may sell CB's as well.

12/12/2012 11:26:32 AM

SWR meters are cheap at radio shack, and it's worth the time to learn to tune your own antenna properly. gives you a good background in the theory too (if you're into that)

IMO as long as the antenna is cut ("tuned") properly, the coax is the 2nd biggest factor. don't get some cheap shit and then run it through the door... that is not an "installation"

he could even take a little more time and get his ham radio license, where the max allowed PEP is 1500W in most cases, and your mobile antenna doesn't have to be 9 feet long

12/12/2012 11:28:35 AM

don't you have to know morse code for HAM? no thanks.

12/12/2012 11:34:06 AM

They have a Technician license now that gives access to the 2 meter band for chit chat, no morse code required. Much higher wattages and a better class of people, probably.

Note that you can't use a HAM radio on the CB band legally.

[Edited on December 12, 2012 at 11:44 AM. Reason : .]

12/12/2012 11:40:57 AM

all i ever used mine for in high school was talking after school and 4-wheeling

Would it even be useful for a road trip, can I find out where cops are or if traffic is stopped ahead? Do truckers talk about that kind of stuff? I want to know where speed traps are and annoy my wife by singing the theme song to Convoy while getting bear reports on my CB.

12/12/2012 11:44:44 AM

^you could tune to channel 24 to hear me fucking your mother.

12/12/2012 11:45:43 AM

I doubt you have the transmit range, she's pretty far away

12/12/2012 11:47:07 AM

^ I rarely even use mine. Usually it's just random trucker chatter, nothing of substance.

12/12/2012 11:47:20 AM

If you're on an interstate you'll hear truckers pipe up if there's a wreck or something. And if you're in the right neck of the woods you'll hear rednecks and people too poor to afford cell phones. Maximum legal range is only 4 miles, remember. If you're the type of guy that likes to run his mouth you'll have a good time though. These things are the internet chat rooms of the 70's and 80's, with all the inane chatter and dark sexual taboos that you'd expect from the internet.

On channel 6 at night you'll hear guys from all over the country shooting skip. These are the guys that have 1000 foot aerials in their backyard and just obliterate all other signals. The geniusxboys of the cb world. They record their exploits and post them on youtube(no joke). They'll talk shit to you and there's no way you can reach them back. They call this "gettin' down".

[Edited on December 12, 2012 at 11:52 AM. Reason : .]

12/12/2012 11:49:11 AM

Go to Burlington and get on channel 3. Call out for bassmaster. He will have your stuff "talkin half way around the world"

12/12/2012 11:49:58 AM

Hmm, I've got a big road trip coming up soon to see some family, maybe I'll end up buying 2 CB radios and keeping one

12/12/2012 11:54:45 AM

Yeah, a lot of these guys host cb radio call-in shows. They play music, talk shit, and will rebroadcast you sometimes. The FCC really doesn't give a shit any more unless enough people complain that you're screwing their TV reception, which I think is less common now that everyone has cable.

12/12/2012 11:55:27 AM

They are good for finding lot lizards.

12/12/2012 11:56:49 AM

Trader Joes in Youngsville, NC is a good shop. Open 6-9pm weeknights and 9-1pm on Saturdays. Listed on the internets.

12/12/2012 6:19:31 PM

get on the interstate and hit the first trucker stop you find?

12/12/2012 7:02:04 PM

When I was in high school it was the cool thing for all the guys with trucks and jeeps to get a CB radio installed. If you were really cool you had a PA speaker under the hood.

Go to Radio Shack (AKA The Shack) and they will hook you up with radios, speakers, coaxial cables, and an antenae.

** Also, it's technically illegal, but most hunters in eastern nc who run dogs for deer or bear use marine radios instead of CB radios. The signal is much stronger and travels further.

[Edited on December 12, 2012 at 7:10 PM. Reason : .]

12/12/2012 7:08:10 PM

is a window mount antenna good enough to goof off in traffic?

12/12/2012 7:10:34 PM

What is this Ham Radio you guys speak of?

And proper SWR is VERY important. Does not matter if it is CB/Ham/Public Safety.
On every Durham two way radio
we install into a city vehicle we check the SWR before the install is completed to
make sure there are no shorts or mismatch in the coax.
We also use a radio test set to check a variety of other
radio parameters before install....


With the radios costing upwards of $4 grand it is no surprise the city wants to make
sure everything is operating at peak performance.

12/12/2012 7:13:57 PM

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/

12/12/2012 7:17:28 PM

i had a Superstar 121 until last year. didn't use it much after high school except to maybe listen in during traffic jams on the interstate. i had the PA speaker under the hood for a while too. me and my buddies went to marine VHF and never looked back. had enough range for us and cost a fraction of the price. no tuning. weather channels. you could also get a handheld for <$100. removed my marine radio before i sold the truck and installed it on my boat. left the CB in the truck when i sold it.

i got all my CB stuff at The CB Twenty in Goldsboro right outside the SJAFB front gate. i think he finally closed up. walking in that shop was like stepping back in time.

[Edited on December 12, 2012 at 7:58 PM. Reason : adsf]

12/12/2012 7:57:10 PM

http://youtu.be/QPJJuDvbFwc

ok, i'm getting one for my upcoming holiday road trip. fuck it.

12/12/2012 8:29:43 PM

I don't buy shit from the Shack unless it's one of their highest end units, which are made by Cobra. My advice is to get one with both RF and Mic gain; definitely helps out with fringe. Antenna placement and type is rather crucial to good performance. Establishment of ground plane is crucial, and I prefer permanent mounts over any and all magnetic. For the most even transmit pattern, center mount in the vehicle is preferred, while bumper mounting results in more I'd a cardioid pattern with highest signal gain towards the front of the vehicle. It's about the only way you can mount a 1/4 wave whip though, as they're 8.5 feet long. If you must use an antenna with a loading coil (read: anything shorter than the aforementioned), go with a high quality one from a supplier like Wilson or K40. Twin cophase antennas such as you see on most OTR rigs net the best Tx/Rx fore and aft of the truck for more linear coverage (most crucial to OTR trucks driving mostly straight lines).

And I too will extoll the necessities of tuning SWR. Too high and your transmit PEP is shit, and you run the risk of burning up the power transistors in the back end. It's not hard to do, and while there is no one antenna length setting to cover all 40 fully modulated channels, you can dial in a range to cover your most frequently used channel or two, and the rest will do fine.

I know it's overkill, but I do like to run at least RG8 mini cable, and have used RG8 even on low wattage (4W). Fuck RG58. I cut all my cable to length and use good quality screw ferrule solder type PL259 connectors.

12/12/2012 11:57:28 PM

The employees at the last shack I went into didn't know shit about anything they sell, so I doubt they'd know anything about CBs, installation, parts, tuning, etc. They know how to punch numbers into a cash register and how to say, "have a nice day". Unless you run into the rare enthusiast who still works there.

[Edited on December 13, 2012 at 12:34 PM. Reason : .]

12/13/2012 12:33:13 PM

My rule of thumb for buying electronic and radio components is to look for the really old guy and talk to him.

I don't plan on going to Radio Shack for this, btw

12/13/2012 12:40:29 PM

good call. Radio Shack is good for buying parts to fix shit you already have, but I would never buy something new from there.

and batteries, they have tons of those shits

[Edited on December 13, 2012 at 12:43 PM. Reason : a]

12/13/2012 12:41:48 PM

most Flying J's or Pilots have someone on staff that is CB knowledgeable and can help you tune it. I know of only one CB shop but it's on 85N outside of Gastonia. it's a little shed on the side of the road. So I can't really help you there. But if your brother can wire it himself a simple SWR meter may be all he needs to fine tune it. I've had 3 or 4 different ones over the years. a cheap Radio Shack CB with a magnetic antenna was my very first. the last was a Cobra 29 with NOAA weather alerts. It was a fantastic unit and I loved the weather alert addition, especially when i was covering a lot of ground on the roads.

the CB was mostly used when offroading and talking to other jeeps in my pack, but it worked great for traffic updates or speed traps.

Quote :

"is a window mount antenna good enough to goof off in traffic?"

no. these are a complete ripoff. at minimum get a magnetic antenna, roughly 36", and stick it on your roof and run the cable down your door jam as someone mentioned.

12/13/2012 1:14:25 PM

Seeing ya talk CBs reminded me of recently finding this gem in our city "Radio Graveyard":


That is a Motorola CB. Power Supply is hosed but other than that it is in perfect condition

In the early 80s during the "CB Craze" the City used to keep this CB turned on in communications
in case someone called for help on channel 9.

12/13/2012 2:40:20 PM

My dad was really big into CBs in the 70's. He built an illegal antenna in the yard and whenever he turned it on everyone on the block would lose TV reception.

CBs were the cell phones / internet of the late 70's and early 80's

[Edited on December 13, 2012 at 2:49 PM. Reason : a]

12/13/2012 2:47:26 PM

CB rezivol

6/2/2020 9:09:52 PM

Rezivol!

6/5/2020 9:55:21 AM

LOST SHEEP TO SHEPHERD LOST SHEEP TO SHEPHERD YOU GOT YOUR EARS ON OVER?

6/5/2020 2:25:19 PM

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_CB_slang

6/5/2020 3:42:31 PM

...Was the dark of the moon on the sixth of June
In a Kenworth pullin' logs
Cab-over Pete with a reefer on
And a Jimmy haulin' hogs...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqYTX7parRw

6/5/2020 4:32:08 PM

Breaker breaker

10/16/2021 8:03:49 PM

Haha. When I grew up in eastern NC everyone had CBs and whip antennas that would get ya a free car wash. But I’m old. I know cool story bro.

10/16/2021 11:06:08 PM

I was glad to see KE4ZNR posted in this thread.

[Edited on October 18, 2021 at 4:05 PM. Reason : less so dtownral]

10/18/2021 4:05:37 PM