20 Best Cb For Truckers (2022 Updated)

Product is good except for missing a set screw needed to hold the whip on. Box was severely damaged and open. It did arrive on the date I was told.

Just like the wilson at half the price. Recieves and transmit outstanding.

Compared to my Predator 10k and my Monkey Made 9. signals are from 1/2 to a full DB better on receive. Bought 2 to co-phase and will do that when new truck is ready. But now just the one on old truck.

Cant wait to try both.

Installed this radio in the center console. Removed the dashboard so it could be mounted properly. Added a new fuse box under the dashboard for power. Have both a 10 amp fuse and a four amp fuse connected to the radio.

Also purchased the external speaker and affixed it under the driver’s seat. Antenna installed in a four-foot Firestik. No holes had to be drilled as there is a grommeted area between the bed and the backseat.

Radio works great as far as receiv. At this time I have not been on the road when other CBers were on the road nearby. Perfect radio if you are looking for road updates and possible help. It is small and fits perfectly in my truck.

I have been in the CB radio repair since 1959. When we saw the Cobra Mini it was just the answer for the little amount of space in our. My wife loves it and the best about this little guy ituts out a solid 4 watts.

Used an external speaker from one of our new Motorola radios that matched perfect. I ordered another one to mount on my solar generator with a loaded antenna so we can have contact with the family when camping.

Cobra you did it again and still the greatest. Keep up the terrific work. Many thanks. Al & Jane B, In The Great Northwest.

Amazing radio. So compact it fits in console when parked. No “tinny” speaker and even with small road-king speaker sounds the same! I have it temporary hooked up to magnetic k-40 whip (swr-1. 1:1) but will be doing perm k-40 roof mount.

It joins my other Cobra 19 x2, Cobra 25 chrome and Cobra 29 Been CB -ing since 1972 with a Royce then to the Cobra line but never to sideband.

I bought these radios for work on our ranch. We move livestock, need to coordinate movement from vehicles and check in from work site to home periodically. We live about a mile from the main ranch house which is tucked away in a canyon and the quality of sound is great.

I’ve picked up transmissions from a neighbor down the river two miles away with little loss. I’m very satisfied with the quality of the radios. The led flashlight is ok, not super bright but enough to put the animals away at night.

Range if about 10ft max, my gripe about the light is that the power button for the light is right next to the transmit button and if you’re not paying attention you’ll turn on the light instead of talking.

The other gripe is the clip. Very bad compared to Midland. Hard to use and limited opening only allow you to clip it to thin materials and not easily. I make a necklace with 550 cord and wear it around my neck when I’m actively working with my hands or riding horses/atv.

Easier to get to it and I don’t have to spend time getting it on and off or out of a pocket. It’s been in a heavy rain with no problems, and the rechargable batteries and dock work really well. I can easily get 12 hours out of a charge.

Uses rechargable AA’s, so no problem finding replacements if they go out. Overall pretty satisfied, just not a fan of the clip. Would recommend even with that fault.

When some old walkie talkies I have stopped working right, I went to the Columbia, Maryland Best Buy to get a new set. After chatting with one of their salespeople, I settled on these. The walkie talkies have some plusses.

The biggest in my opinion is that you can use regular AA batteries with them though they come with 2 sets of rechargeable AA batteries and a recharger that you can plug into a USB outlet with the cord that is included.

My old set used battery packs that were very expensive. Also, you can use a screw driver or coin to remove the back of the walkie talkies making it very easy to replace the batteries. Another nice feature is the weather channel where you can get the weather forecast for the area.

On their range, it depends on the lay of the land and what might obstruct the signal. From what I’ve seen so far, these should do what I need them to do i. e. enable me to keep in contact with my travel companion.

The walkie talkies do have an encryption feature which is nice but, you must sure both walkie talkies are on the same encrypted channel. Overall, after testing these a good bit, I think their very good walkie talkies.

I look forward to using them on my next cruise.

I got these to replace an old Motorola pair of walkie talkie. Usually Cobra is good brand when coming to electronics (in general) and these was no exception. Setting them up is very similar to other brands (easy and smooth) the devices are more tough and smaller package.

The range is not bad at all. Covering the same as Motorola but with less noises and dead spots. Battery seems to last longer and the voice is clearer. The antenna is slightly longer but that’s not a big deal.

I think this is the longest range before you get into the UHF/VHF radios where license might be required. I took my time before writing this review. I pushed the radios to the limit several time and overall I am happy with their performance.

Already have a set, picked up the additional to add to the kids emergency bags now that theyre old enough. Since this model is tested and works well for our specific needs I decided to match them. In terms of usage these are not high end and not long-range, and the batteries arent great, but these units accommodate alkaline cells which is handy for when it counts.

For the price they are rugged and hold up well to saturation and extreme moisture conditions and they tested reliably within planned retreat perimeters. Overall these are great for our intended purpose, but be sure to thoroughly assess YOUR specific needs when considering any comms product.

Good walkie talkie the 37 mile range max isn’t even close I made it max about 5 miles and it would cut in and out with only obstacles being a few trees on mostly flat farmland. For close distances they work really well worth the money but the range is far from 37 miles.

Lightweight and easy to hold buttons feel pretty nice when you push them not cheap or flimsy. Easy to use all of the functions such as privacy codes and weather if you read the directions.

The only gripe I have with these radios is getting the battery cover off. It’s like they super glued the covers on. Otherwise, these are great radios. 🙂

I like the Yaesu mobiles, and have the UHF version of this as a home base unit. Others have complained about the fan, but since mine is in the auto, I do not hear it. Strange thing is, the UHF at the house doesn’t run much at all.

My only complaint is the mounting bracket. Alittle deep for mobile installs, had to drill a couple holes closer to the top of the bracket, so there would only be 1/4 inch clearance between bracket and radio.

I use mainly for SKYWARN, and performs excellent.

Great radio, I purchased it primarily for use with a Kantronics KPC-3 for packet operation and the radio has performed very well. ~2. 5, 5, 10 amp draw for the three power levels of 5, 30, and 65 watts.

Firmware has decent feature set, including temperature monitoring. Fan noise is barely audible compared to even just my computer idling, it is NOT loud. The fan starts up around 80F operating temperature and tends to stay on, again no problems here.

The air intake for the cooling system is located just behind the face of the radio on the bottom side, so be sure to have at least a little clearance for this. There is an aluminum cover over the air path that appears to be removable if you desire to dust it out.

Hot air exits toward the rear. The heat sink temperature only gets into the mid 90’s even working at high power, and the internal temperature display reflects this, so the thermal solution appears to be doing its job.

Fast shipping and great packaging from DX as always, thanks guys!.

I would recommend this radio to a friend. Runs cool after long key downs. Great TX/RX audio. Hot receiver. Compact with great looks. My only problem is, the cooling fan runs all the time and it’s a bit noisy.

If this is normal, I’ll have to install a resistor or a quieter fan as I’m using it as a station. Probably would not be a issue in my truck.

I use these while working and they’re great! There are still a lot of features I’m trying to learn. Some of the directions in the instructional booklet are hard to understand without having to look back at the diagrams.

I haven’t tried them over long distances or uneven land (hills, mountains) yet, but they work well over flat land. I’m still trying to learn all the different functions, but so far I’m very happy with this purchase.

The radio is an excellent feature, especially for weather warnings and such.

I’ve had the radio for a few weeks and use it almost daily. AM and FM reception are as advertised, the reviews raving about the quality of reception are not exaggerated. Sound quality is very good. It was clearly designed with vocal legibility being the primary goal, so without tone control adjustment music is pretty bland.

However, unlike a lot of radios with adjustable bass and treble, with this radio you can turn the bass level all the way up without it becoming boomy – in fact, turning it up all the way is just about right for music.

Turn the treble to about 2 o’clock, and you’re all set. Set them back to 12 o’clock if talk radio is your thing. I like the thoughtful touches in the design – the wide base makes it very stable when sitting on a tabletop, the rubber feet keep it in place, the carrying handle has a rubber insert for good grip, the display is large and very legible with excellent illumination, adjustable for brightness.

4 D cells should give very good battery life. Only time will tell how long the extremely thin top segment of the telescoping antenna will last. I can see how the top-mounted preset buttons could be susceptible to dust or moisture, so I will vacuum them periodically, which is not unreasonable.

The NOAA weather band is very useful, the 2-meter amateur band not so much, more of a novelty to me. It’s a bit pricey for a tabletop radio, but so far it appears the extra dollars get you a very well-built, good-performing radio.

As advertised, this is an ideal radio for listening. I wanted a receiver so I could listen to out-of-market baseball games at night, and the CCRadio 2E definitely fits the bill. I’m able to listen to the Reds, White Sox, Red Sox, Guardians, Orioles, and the two NY teams at night, with a minimum of deep fades.

I can listen to the two NY teams by day, but unfortunately cannot listen to the Orioles, because of the static. As for DXing, my Tecsun PL-880 with the Terk Advantage loop is better than the CCRadio 2E, mainly because of the static.

I can still DX with the CCRadio 2E, but I prefer using the Tecsun PL-880. All the same, I’m happy with the purchase, because the CCRadio compliments the Tecsun, and I just like the idea of the long life D batteries, which reminds me of my ye olde analog GE Superadio.

Since it weighs a ton, I can’t recommend the CCRadio for travelling, though I’d love to see how it would do on a camping trip, away from all the noise.

The CCRadio 2E Enhanced is very well made. The quality of the materials and fit/finish is very high and has a nice heavy feel in the hands. AM reception is exceptional. FM and weather band reception is also very good and the weather alert works well.

I am not sure if the 2-meter Ham band is working or not – I have yet to hear anything on 2-meters and there are a lot of Ham operators in my area so can’t say much about 2-meter operation. The radio is very much designed for talk radio which is what I bought it for but if you are looking for rich audio for FM then you might want to look at something else.

I wish there was a way to have the screen light come on/off with the radio and have it remember the brightness level the user set when last used but you have to turn the screen light on and off everytime – not huge but having more control would be nice.

Another feature that would be nice would be the ability to charge rechargeable batteries. As it is if you want to use rechargeables you have to take them out of the radio to recharge. Is the radio worth the price? I would say yes based on material and build quality and the excelllent AM reception.

There are other radios available at a much lower price that perform almost as well but are not built as well or with top quality materials. I am pleased with the radio and would recommend it.

I tested the Garmin inReach Mini 2 on a six-day backpack through Dark Canyon in southeastern UT. New to satellite communication devices, I spent a week testing and learning the unit’s features back at home, alternating between using the device as a stand-alone and paired with my phone and the Garmin Explore app.

As I will detail below, due to a combination of user error and some irritating design features of the Explore app, on the actual trip I was unable to use the device with my phone. Although that initial experience was very frustrating it revealed that, for such a small unit with a tiny monochromatic screen and clunky set of buttons as the interface, the programmers for the device itself did a really nice job of laying out the menus and features in a reasonably logical fashion.

After two days and with the help of a cheat sheet I brought along, I got pretty good at accessing the features quickly. But typing out waypoint names and sending txt messages without the benefit of one’s phone is tedious – I suppose a necessary trade-off for a unit that is barely the size of a credit card.

To preserve phone battery life I don’t leave apps turned on that I don’t use frequently, especially those that require the phone’s GPS location feature to be turned on. So I didn’t try to access the Explore app on my phone and pair with the Mini 2 until we were near the trailhead.

Big mistake, for one needs an internet connection to sign into the app. That, clearly, was user error. But once home I went back and re-read the instruction manual and re-watched the instructional video with Garmin rep, Chip Noble.

Both were silent on this seemingly important first step. Yes, in this day and age it should be obvious one needs an internet connection to log in. But this device has a lot of features, it’s complicated with a learning curve, requires one to establish an account on-line and specify numerous preferences and then download the app on the phone, figure out how to pair, etc.

There is a lot going on and during all my testing I was focused on how to preserve battery life for the Mini 2 and my phone since I was going to be out for six days. With this focus I neglected to keep this obvious step in mind.

Frantically walking around Elk Ridge trying to get a signal so I could sign in, at one point I managed to get one bar of 4G service, but I kept getting hung up on a user verification page that requires one to verify they have read the user agreement and that they are older than 13! Really, Garmin? After having to set up an account with home address, credit card info, emergency contacts, etc, I need to specify that I am older than 13 and read the user agreement each time I log into the app? The product designers need to have a sit-down with the legal department and re-think the login procedure.

After re-testing back at home I did discover that when you sign out of the app Garmin does provide a warning that you need an internet connection to sign back in. But given the device is intended to be used where there is no Internet connection in the first place, and under circumstances where preservation of phone battery life can be critical, it would at least be helpful to design the app such that login is feasible when you only have one bar of 4G service.

Because of the mishap with the Explore app I primarily used the unit for saving waypoints, sending txt messages, using the compass and obtaining a weather report. Not using the tracking features I didn’t really test the battery duration.

In the upper parts of Dark Canyon where the canyon is wide, txt messages were sent successfully within a minute or two, even under a canopy of ponderosa pine trees. Lower down where the canyon deepens and narrows considerably, it took up to 15 minutes for a txt message to go through.

The compass was surprisingly sensitive, even lower down in the narrowest parts of the canyon, a pleasant surprise because without the aid of detailed maps and track points on the Explore app, I relied on the compass and paper maps to determine our location in the narrow goosenecks typical of the lower canyon.

The basic weather reporting is, well, pretty basic. High and low temp, chance of precip, presumably, but not specified, for the next 24 hours. Clouds were building the first time I checked the forecast, which gave a 1% chance of rain.

30 minutes later it started raining! Back at home sleuthing around the web I tried to determine the source of the forecast – NOAA, Weather Underground, proprietary – and how large a region it is pulling the forecast from? But found no info.

I wish I had been able to test the Explore app in Dark Canyon and provide a more complete review. In general, the unit is well designed, it’s super compact and lightweight. It’s pricey and although there are two different subscription plans with several tiers within each plan, if you end up using the device most of the year and want to benefit from the device’s features you will end up spending at least $400 in monthly subscription fees and an annual service charge.

Just remember to login to the Explore app before you leave home!.

My 1 star is based on the battery life in tracking mode. Don’t believe the battery estimates provided by Garmin. They are ridiculously high. I purchased this for use this during a 2 week long bikepacking race.

Across the board everyone I talked to saw horrible battery life. In a number of instances, battery lasted less than a day. The issue seems to be that when the InReach can’t find a satellite, it repeatedly looks for the satellite and that drains the your battery.

Most participants were using rentals which were locked in at 10min tracking, but since I had my own, I was able to set at 1hr tracking. Battery life for me was a few days, nothing like the estimates provided by Garmin.

As far as open sky goes, conditions were definitely ideal. I was in open land, with a constant view of the sky, few trees etc. Yet still the battery life fell way short of what Garmin predicts. I would not be surprised if the estimates are simply calculations and were never tested.

Besides that, the device seems to work fine. Setup was simple, messaging works etc. I think this is a good device to have if you simply want SOS functionality and messaging. For tracking, you will need to bring a big power bank to keep it running for any reasonable amount of time.

If there was a way to swap out batteries easily or use a standard battery (SPOT uses AAAs) that would be a better design. If you want the InReach for only the SOS function and messaging, the device will work.

If you need to track your position, you are better off with a less power hungry device like a SPOT tracker.

Not too bad. Definitely not a 20 mile range. However, I was able to speak chat a few miles out in an area full of hills and trees. I’m actually pretty impressed by that. For the cost, it’s a good deal.

The battery life seems pretty good so far. Range is reasonable. I like that they have the NOAA setting on them. The seem pretty durable as well. Overall, a good purchase. Very lightweight for a bug out bag or just to carry.

Signal remains very clear until out of range. No choppiness like some other brands. Recommended. I actually bought 4 just in case. These may come il be pretty useful down the road for anyone. Shipping was pretty quick and easy.

Advertised to have a 35 mile range, you must understand that this is quite optimistic. It might be true from the top of a mountain to the flatlands, but any intervening structure will seriously degrade the useful range.

Across suburban terrain which is quite flat but heavily forested and clustered with homes and electrical lines, we find the effective range to be about a mile. Nice units for use in closer quarters, but not 35 miles.

Well made and have a quality feel. If you are over 60, get a magnifying glass to read the instructions!.

These radios are perfect. We live in a rural area where the local electric co-op is not very reliable. Wind, rain or snow, we always seem to have a power outage of some type. The radios have a AM/FM radio so you don’t have to sit in silence, a NOAA weather rasdio to check on the outside storm and of course, the 2 way radio in case I go outside and can talk to ther hopuse.

My wife is disabled and I take the radios out when I mow my 10 acres so she can contact me if anything is going on inside. Could be a lifesaver. I recommend these radios to anyone.

I have a lot of cb radios. I actually prefer the compact model 68, but if you have the room, this IS the classic full size trucker radio. This will blow away the junk Cobras, and is a bargain for the money.

My model 78 has been peaked and aligned, and some of my other radios come close, but nothing surpasses the transmit and receive of my big Uniden. Delta tune is a holdover from olden days, when crystals would shift off frequency.

You could say that it is a useless knob, nowadays, but the SWR set feature of the other extra knob sure is handy, if you have room for such a big radio. A full size radio interferes with the visors of some vintage Petes, requiring a smaller radio.

If your rig has space for this big guy, it is a great choice.

Unidentified is a reliable brand. I am a trucker and need my CB for road related e BBC ents and many companies require drivers to use the CB for dock assignments and scaling. The radio is loud and clear.

It is easy to use. Having a built in SWR meter provides me with a good antenna match for optimal performance. I recommend this CB to anyone who wants ease of use and quality. Price was great too!.

The radio itself is a good radio. Be careful what antenna you use. I bought a Firestik Firefly and to be quite honest. it was junk. I put a Lil Will on it and it worked really good, I then switched out the Lil Will for a Wilson 2000 trucker and now.

it’s near perfect. All in all I’m pleased with the radio. It also has a SWR meter built in so tuning was easy.

The CB arrived in good condition. I have not connected it yet so I am unable to rate the quality and performance at this time. Item was shipped very quickly and arrived sooner than I expected.

It sucks worst cb I have ever owned led went dead sent back to factory for warranty service took 4 months to get replacement and the sent one that didn’t work so I thru in trash and said heck with uniden neverbuy another.

I’ve only had it for two days. Professionally installed. Radio seems great and time will tell. Possible downside: I expected more radio traffic on it. I hope the age of CB isn’t over. Also, I’ve gotten no responses when asking for a radio check, but the meter says I’m transmitting just fine.

This is probably due to the same “lack of traffic” I already mentioned. Experience with the unit may clear things up.

I was wanting a cb for my wagon since I am into cb but didn’t want to pay full retail. I found this 18WXSTII that has a lot of great features. My goal was a small radio for the limited space. It has good receive and after I tuned it not peaked it ,the unit has a solid 4watt carrier with around 15+- watts of modulation with normal speech into the microphone.

I use a cobra base load 43″ mag mount ant in the middle of my roof. Transmit range test net 8 miles on an overcast day from my drive way to driver on the highway passing a mile marker. I do like the dual watch and scan features as I like to hear any one that maybe on the air.

I did read reviews on this model with many having mixed feelings about the performance but most of the bad is either trying to have the unit do more than it can or not having it tuned properly. Always tune the antenna on the car and with the radio you want to use for Max tx/rx.

I would recommend this model to a friend.

Ordered the radio online and it showed up on time with adequate protective packaging and everything advertised on the store page. The radio and everything with a chrome finish (including the plastic mic) is carefully wrapped in bubble wrap within the box.

The finish was perfect and and the radio is beautiful. The built-in speaker is plenty loud and the blue LEDs are easy to see & read even in direct sunlight. Only issue is the quietness of the talkback feature and the installation of the mic clip onto the side of the case (mounting holes on each side are unthreaded), but easily fixed with some elbow grease.

This radio was worth the cost and I’d consider getting another one as a base station.

This radio from this supplier is clear and clean. I added a Ranger EB 2015 Echo Board before ever using it. I have had great reports on it over the air it talks really loud over the air. I can not tell you if it is as loud this without the echo board as I never tried it.

I made this radio for my dad, and I liked it so much I am buying another for myself. The factory talk back works well, however I can not tell much of a sound difference with the pod all the way open, but it is good as it is.

I wish this radio had standard black covers myself. Black covers from another cobra 29 bolted right up other than the chrome addition having an extra screw in the back.

Great CB easy to tune , light weight. 4 watts out put . highest power allowed by law . Using a bass antenna it really reaches out long range .

I bought mine from a CB shop that sells and repairs. For xtra charge: Transmit and Receive circuits tuned/aligned, the dim/brt switch was changed to Talk-Back and relabeled, channel display reliability improved, preventative maint.

performed, and microphone switch reliability improved. My trunk mount is a Comet CP-5NMO with a Browning BR 140 antenna. SWR is 1. 1 to 1. 3. With this 25 LTD and Browning antenna, my range has been 3-6 miles, depending on conditions and terrain.

I wanted this smaller unit which, replaced my Galaxy 929 for my Mustang.

The process of selecting the CB radio was clear-cut and delivery was on time. The radio appears to be well built and potentially long lasting. In addition, the “switchology” was simple, well designed and robust.

MAN TELLS YOU WHAT HE HAS GOT, AND I BOUGHT IT AND IT IS A VERY GOOD RADIO, IT WORKS PERFECT, I LIKE IT, YOU ARE THE PEOPLE I LIKE TO DEAL WITH, AND ALSO I APPRECIATE THE FIELD METER ALSO, THAT COMES IN HANDY SOMETIMES, THANK YOU AND HOPE YOU HAD A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR.

DOLA1949.

This is a Christmas present so I’ve got to hold short on 5 stars on this. This is the right size/form factor for my off-road application, but it’s wrapped for Christmas…;^ )

Great cb! Purchased for use in my International 4700, with 2 2ft antennas. Range, and clarity are good. Screen on it is also nice, also has weather bands. For the cost, it’s a great functioning cb, and also looks great in the truck.

I use this radio everyday for both traffic and weather information, what Walmart failed to let buyers know is that this unit, can use an optional wireless Mike that can be used up to 200 feet away from the radio, It costs around $43.

00 dollars and is available on line, (NOT AT WALMART). and works great. the only thing is that you can’t change channels thru the mike, you can only a just the volume. I highly recommend this radio if you enjoy talking or just listening to the CB radio/weather.

The Cobra 29 has been the top of the line Cobra AM CB mobile for many years. This radio delivers more modulation swing than the Cobra 148 GTL. Many operator thought they were able to get more power from the 148 because it cost more money and had sideband.

On the contrary, because the 148 has sideband, a compromise was made. The audio transformer that delivers the higher voltage to the final and driver stage of the 29 isn’t used in the 148. I’ve seen 20 to 23 Watts peak out of a Cobra 29, were the 148 is capable of 16 to 18 Watts peak.

There have been rare cases of a couple Watts more out of these radios, but this is in 1 out of 200 radios. The Cobra 29 is capable of delivering 28 to 30 Watts of peak and 8 Watts of carrier power by changing the final transistor to a 2SC1969 and adding some capacitance and tuning.

One area that the 148 GTL excels over the 29 is in the receiver. The selectivity and noise reduction is better in the 148. But they are both very good receivers. There are tricks to lower the carrier of the Cobra 29 transmitter while keeping the modulation swing almost to maximum.

Say you have a amplifier that requires 25 Watts peak input to deliver full peak output power, but you only want a 2 Watt dead carrier. First the final output transistor must be changed to the 2SC1969.

Then the JP-36 jumper is removed. Add a 50 to 200 Ohm resistor and a 220 MFD 16 volt capacitor in the JP-36 location. See the schematic below for the resistor and capacitor location. This Info, Was Very Helpful To Me.

Wanted To Share.

Skywalker Radio has increased power, keying the (tuned to radio) Ranger Mike makes a power hum. Clear and crisp. Skips easily Boston to Detroit with correct conditions. Boston Locally, reach 3-5 mile area (congested) Wish more people locally into c.

b. radios like the 1970s. Using a lighter plug power cord and a Lil Wil Antenna, calibrating to a 1. 25+/-.

The Cobra 29 series has for sometime been the CB industry standard. The NW – Night Watch series, add the convince of a back-lit face plate for easy viewing at night. The sound of the radio is great and transmits a clear signal.

The Dynamike control boosts your mike gain so there is no need for an amplified mike. With the built-in SWR meeter you can quickly tune the antenna to the radio without buying another meter. You also have variable settings to clear up noise in the background when receiving.

Walmart beat everyone else’s price on both the CB radio and shipping. The radio arrived quickly and in perfect condition. This was bought for my RV and I am now thinking about buy another for my car.

Walmart has provided great Customer Service.