Cb

[Paul G]

My Wife has bought me a new CB for Xmas, I haven't had one for over 20 years, however, I was wanting to get a handheld one to keep in the house, to keep the mobile phone bills down.
Does anyone know of a cheap unit that will do the job?
Is there a good web site on CB Radios?

[T1z3R]

the maycom AH-27 is meant to be good.
i have the EH-27 which is the mobile model.

[Paul G]

Cheers T1z3R, I'll Google it, I don't even know what reception we will get in Shetland but it has to be better than the Mobile phone coverage, The wife said it's a Midland that she has bought me but she hasn't told me what model it is.

Do you know much about Midland CB's?

[T1z3R]

yeah mate ive had a few midlands over the past 20 years or so.
generally they are good enough for the job. no frills on them though.

the maycom might be a bit ££ for what your wanting to be fair. check ebay for 40ch handhelds like the eurosonic or realistic.

[Paul G]

Just had a look at the Maycom Ah-27 mate, looks good but yeah it is a bit pricey, Karen just told me it's a Midland 98 Plus she got me, unfortunatly she didn't get an aerial with it, What kind of Aerial will I need to buy for this model to work it's best in the 4Runner?

[T1z3R]

thats a decent little radio.

theres plenty of options for antenna. ive currently got a sirio silver mega-watt 4000 on a sirio mag mount. its quite tall though at about 7'. kinda makes the truck look like an RC model when its stuck on the roof
i get a good 20ish miles coverage on that with standard 4w out of the radio. obviously your coverage depends on your surroundings etc though.

ive just put my current setup up for sale on a radio site.
www.transmission1.co.uk

its a good source of info.

[Paul G]

Cheers for that link it looks interesting, Where abouts on your Truck do you mount your Antenna? apart from the Antenna is there anything else that i might need that you can think of?

[T1z3R]

i stick mine right in the middle of the roof. its the best place for a groundplane. i did consider fabricating a mount so i could stick it to the top of the spare wheel carrier.

only other thing id recommend is a SWR meter.

[Paul G]

Middle of the roof sounds good to me, I forgot about an swr meter, this is going to take some time is learning all about them again, this is the most i've been excited for xmas in years, I want it now.

Looks like i'll be trailing E-bay all night, i'll also have a look at that link I got of you, Paul

[T1z3R]

haha. i was excited about it too until i switch mine on and found that practically no one near me uses it like they did 15 years or so ago.

i decided to sell what i have now and maybe get back in HF radios instead.

good luck though, i suspect there might be more users up north than there are down here these days

[Paul G]

What is the differance with VHF, UHF and HF?
I Have seen quite a few Cars, Vans and Landrovers with Cb Aerials around Shetland, also i think most of the Fishing Boats have CB's, I could allways chat to them and find out what the traffic is like in the North Sea

[T1z3R]

its the frequency mate. high, very high and ultra high.

the boats would likely be using marine band.

you might get some good use out of a scanner that far north.

[GRASSMAN]

Hi guys,

Wish I could use mine when the wife's with me
but there's too many bucket mouths out there,
for her. "effin' an blinding" every other word, it's a shame.


Gman.

[Paul G]

Hi Grassman, I dont even know if i will be able to pick up a signal yet let alone talk or listen to anyone, anyway my wife works with old folk so am sure the effin an jeffin will be ok lol

[Apache]

Have a look at PMR 446 radios. They are licence free UHF handhelds, and some have a range of up to 30km. Probably the cheapest option at around £50 - £80 for a decent pair. Even the very cheap ones (£10) will get you 5km if thats all you need.

I think most VHF stuff will be pretty expensive for your needs really, and *may* require a licence. (Marine is generally in this band - except for very long range stuff which is down below 10MHz if I remember correctly)

You dont see many HF (CB) handhelds these days, but if you can find a 2nd hand one on eBay, one of those and a mobile unit used in the house might be the 2nd cheapest option with reasonable range straight from the box.