CB-Radio Reviews

Don't believe the last review. I had mine about a month before I tossed it out the window somewhere near Charlotte, NC. Nothing but problems, barely recieved or transmitted and was extremely weak when it did. I actually had truckers ask me to stop transmitting because all they could hear was squealing when I keyed. Tossed it, kept my K40 antenna, bought a Uniden Pro538W and have loved it! Much better radio! Don't buy anything Cobra makes!

My is working good for over years now so Please buy one & try them & you will see that RedDog was wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've had my Cobra 29 for over five years now. It's been in four different trucks, and traveled over 500,000 miles with me. Once I added two wilson antennas and a power mic, I can get out over four miles on a good night. My personal record is a line of sight 130 miles from a mountainside. I love it. I was thinking of getting a galaxy, but why? I have a great radio here.

Class D citizen band provides an excelent very short distance communication. With the FCC only legally allowing 4 watts on 11 meters your range is very limited; all CB's can potentially be modified however for a illegal higher output. Unless your running a half wave base antenna, a nice beam, or a extremely long hi-gain mobile antenna dont expect much from this rig, or any other CB rig. With the new FRS fad they are pounding in the 2 mile range... however this is not true because one they run in (FM)frequency modulation mode which has excelent sound but its mainly line of sight communication only, two they have extreme power restrictions and no external antennas; those 350 miliwatts of power will barely get you a mile unless your in an excelent terrain. I highly recomend AM mode for distance, however if your going to buy a CB get one with (SSB) single side band which will allow you to use a portion of an AM wave the upper or lower part. In side band mode your 4 watt radio will produce 12 watts of legal power because you are only using the top, or bottom part of a wave without a carrier, this tends to be garbled so constant adjustment with the clarifier nobb may be neaded. As well on CB..11 meters if your lucky in the heat of the summer days the band accasionaly will open up and allow your radio wave to skip clear across the world; this is rare though running such low power but it is possible and ive seen it happen. But for those who seek the distance of radio Amateur (HAM) radio is what its all about. The FCC has made it possible to become a liscensed ham operator without knowing morse code anymore and a 35 question test which you can pass with a 70%. As a ham operator i can tell you its very rewarding, repeaters are free to use and usually have about a 25-40 mile range which you can hit with just miliwatts of power, or for those who seek long communications it is legal to run up to 1.5 kilowatts (1500 watts) of brute power. Although this is not neaded you can easily work the world with low power on certain bands. And with repeater ive hit some of them next to 100 miles away running only 5 watts on 2 meter fm. but thats all i have to say
73's
kcØmvl

The Midland 77-092 is definitely not overloaded with features, but it is a good low cost general purpose transceiver. I use it as a mobile unit with the Midland 18-2983 magnet mount antenna and am pleased with both products.

This Cb is great I have been using it for a while now and I love it. You do have to go to radio shack and get a cigarette adapter and splice the wires but its common sence stuff. and I didn't mount it. it sits fine in my ranger. You should get a good antenna I got a plastic whip at radio shack for about 20 bucks and it gets out far. The only thing you might consider is a filter because when the car runs it makes a buzz noise not lound just annoying but its nothing that you couldn't fix with your squelch because when you talk it goes away and when you get someone talking to you it will go away but if you are one that needs everything perfect go get it at radio shack. but other than that no problems! Its Great GET IT!

I waited 4 months for this radio, it looked wonderfull, but looks can be decieving. The raido fit right where I wanted it to go. But when I started using it problems became apparent. The controls were hard to use. The squelch and volume are on one stalk control and are hard to set with out moving each other at the same time. There is no noise blanking system. The squelch circuit is very quick to open therefor letting in a lot of impulse noise that would not be let though on other radios. Then the last straw, the latches holding the removable face plate broke! They were made out of PLASTIC! The radio is going back!

I love this great state-of-the-art radio. the features that it has are excellent. the feel that it gives you when the mic is in your hand is just top of the world. the mic has a heavy feel to it which is good because it makes it not feel cheap.

can anyone tell me the range of this CB radio

The range of any cb depends upon the antenna. A $30 cb on a good antenna will have considerable more range than a $150 cb on a cheap antenna. Inexpensive cbs do have less sensitivity and features of more expensive cbs, but if you are just starting out, I would suggest an inexpensive cb with a good antenna such as a Wilson 'Lil Will' magnet mount. If you purchase the antenna at a cb shop, normally they will be more than happy to install and tune the antenna for you free of charge. The antenna normally runs around $30 and is one of the better entry level antennas out there. I have ran a cb for 10 years and I still use one as a back up. But remember, the secret to range is in the antenna system.. not so much the radio. But whatever you choose.. do not get one of those 'through the glass' or a 'rubber magnet mount' antenna. These are poor antennas with very limited range, usually less that a mile. Get something with a steel whip equal to or over 36" in height.

The previous review that mentions antennas are key to a good CB setup is correct. For a normal CB user I would recommend either the Wilson lil' Wil or the Wilson 500 antenna. Both are magnetic mount antennas. The lil' Wil antenna is a relatively small antenna and it's only around $39.00. Actually any Wilson CB antenna will be fine. Also, to do a good job at setting up your antenna you should purchase an SWR meter. They are not expensive. You only need the meter connected inline between the radio and antenna when you are adjusting the antenna. Once you are done adjusting the antenna you can take the meter out of the connection and connect the antenna directly to the radio. Don't be fooled by cheap ordinary CB antennas like you will find at radio shack. Do not settle for anything less then a Wilson antenna. Cobra and Uniden both make fabulous CB radios so either make will be fine.

I had two of these units from Amazon with the same identical problem. The channel selector turned and clicked but did not change the channel. I also own the Midland 77-092, which is actually a cheaper model, but I've not had any problems with it, and am completely satisfied. You may want to consider that model from Amazon instead of the 77-104XL.

THIS PRODUCT IS GREAT I'M SURE BUT FOR ONE CATCH...YOU HAVE TO HARD WIRE THE CB RADIO TO THE AUTO'S ELECTRICAL SYSTEM YOURSELF. PERHAPS NOT A PROBLEM FOR SOME BUT FOR OTHERS (MYSELF INCLUDED)IT IS I AM SURE. IT IS MY FAULT THAT I DID NOT NOTICE THIS IN THE PRODUCT DESCRIPTION PRIOR TO ODERING. I JUST WANTED A CB RADIO THAT I COULD PLUG INTO THE CIGARETTE LIGHTER AND GO. THIS IS NOT THAT TYPE OF CB UNIT. FOR THIS REASON ALONE I RETURNED THE UNIT TO AMAZON.COM SO NOT TAKING ANYTHING AWAY FROM THE CB ITSELF ....JUST BE AWARE THAT ONE HAS TO WIRE THE UNIT TO THE AUTO AND NOT JUST PLUG INTO A LIGHTER....

The CB is just what i expected. It's not very clear in the description but it DOES have a PA switch and output. The best part is, I got it in three days!

ryan

...but mine broke after one use. This is not my first antenna and I am not particularly abusive of them, but the second time I put the antenna on my truck it did not work anymore. Maybe it was bad luck, but the Lil Wil I got to replace it is still kicking, so I'll be staying away from the Midland antennas for a while.

I have purchased two of these Midland units and have been happy with the performance. Nice value for a low price.

I dont get what point the reviewer above is trying to make, he knew exactly how this antenna installs before he bought, but then states that as a deficit.

Assuming you put this on your roof, there is plenty of cable to run into the trunk and then through the back seats, and then weave it around inside so you wouldnt even see it. The trunks on most cars have a gap, a gutter to catch what comes through the gap when it rains and then the seal, which is raised above the gutter, you can easily fit this cable through that gap, and the seal will be big enough to compress and allow the cable through, no water will get through, unless its some kind of tropical storm, and even then it will be a small amount, and you shouldnt be out then anyway.... If you dont like having cable running from middle of car roof down to trunk, just put it on your trunk lid, or a rear corner of your roof.

If your going to moan about mag mounts, either get a through-glass style, or a permanent fixture. Through glass are usually small and lack RX and TX power, are permanent, ruin your window if you ever remove it, and permanent whips, well if you own a car, most people dont want a 7 foot whip.. Weigh up the pro's and cons of each style before you buy, dont buy something and then complain about its design, and doesnt your door seal have enough give to place the cable where the door closes?

This is a good mag mount.