I'm in the market for a CB radio and was just looking for some opinions and experiences you guys using a CB might have. The radio will be used mainly to communicate with logging trucks on the 80km trail up to my trapline. I'd like a setup with maximum range in the bush as the sooner I can communicate with the truck the safer it will be as I can get off the road ASAP when I know there's a truck coming up at a specific km mark. The COBRA 19DXIV COMPACT seems pretty handy and compact as I'll have this set up in my Ford Ranger, but the low price tag makes me hesitant. The COBRA 29 LX seems like a pretty decent unit but of course comes with the extra size and higher price tag. So what do you guys think about those options? The unit has to be 100% reliable as this will be a major tool for staying safe on the trail. Of course if you guys have any other recommendations I'm completely new to this CB thing and I'm all ears.
CB Radio
- Thread starter jongun
- Start date
I guess the first thing to establish would be to know whether the trucks use C.B. radios?
Active logging roads, watch for dust down the road.
One could sit at the road beginning or end, depending on the direction and wait for a logging
truck to pass.
Then follow it.
Be dusty, but a good indicator to pull in behind when he does.
Then again, they know the road and sometimes pass each other on a known wide
spot on the road.
Find the radio and channel they are using and duplicate it.
Not cheap.
Active logging roads, watch for dust down the road.
One could sit at the road beginning or end, depending on the direction and wait for a logging
truck to pass.
Then follow it.
Be dusty, but a good indicator to pull in behind when he does.
Then again, they know the road and sometimes pass each other on a known wide
spot on the road.
Find the radio and channel they are using and duplicate it.
Not cheap.
fingers284
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Alberta Cowboy Ranges
I'm going to burst your bubble a little bit over a CB. As a safety radio on a logging road, they just don't cut the mustard, most times in hilly bush country if you can communicate with a truck you will be able to see the truck as well. In open country, with good tuned antenna's a CB will transmit & receive regularly a couple of miles but quite truthfully their range is most often a couple hundred yards at the best of times in the bush. Don't trust your life to one with 150,000 lbs of loaded log truck bearing down on you on a 8 % hill.
I don't know what is available to you in Quebec but here in AB there is a UHF radio frequency that logging companies and truckers in the logging/resource industry can access that will transmit & receive for miles in the wilderness. Most companies here using remote roads require their people to have one of these units in their vehicle, be it a pick-up or transport truck.
talk to the logging company office or one of the truckers, they will tell you what they use. It will be more expensive but will save your hide more than a CB will. Actually, The CB's in bush trucks around here are never turned on, they are just an annoying static noise box.
I don't know what is available to you in Quebec but here in AB there is a UHF radio frequency that logging companies and truckers in the logging/resource industry can access that will transmit & receive for miles in the wilderness. Most companies here using remote roads require their people to have one of these units in their vehicle, be it a pick-up or transport truck.
talk to the logging company office or one of the truckers, they will tell you what they use. It will be more expensive but will save your hide more than a CB will. Actually, The CB's in bush trucks around here are never turned on, they are just an annoying static noise box.
I know they're using CBs and I have the channel they're using. There are quite a few turns and ups and downs so spotting a truck at a distance would be difficult at times. Have only been up there weekends so far and was actually just telling my buddy we should get a CB to communicate with truckers during the work week. I mentioned the CB while we were on the trail and shortly after we were following a fellow on the trail he pulled over at a crossroads and motioned to us to pull up and talk. He told us it was really dangerous to be on the trail without a CB. This was on Sunday and figuring that we would have to go into town the next day for supplies and back again then hit the trail once more on our way out we figured to not risk it and left Sunday night. Was a touch disappointing as I didn't get a chance to get my salt blocks out nor get the floor frame built for my camp but no regrets as I'm safe and will feel much safer the next time I go up with the proper safety equipment in the truck.
Not sure about the rest of the country but here in BC I have never seen a cb in a logging truck. Always a vhf. The channel they are using is posted on a sign at the start of the logging road and changes on every spur road they travel and is also posted. Cb's would be up there with 8tracks.
Breaker 1-9
Sounds like you are pretty confident it's a CB setup but if it is VHF,
You can probably buy one of those cheap Chinese dual band ham radios for the same price or less then a CB radio.
Try a search here for Baofeng radios there has been a few discussions on which models are good value.
If you do get a CB you can get an amp and then skip off the ionosphere and talk( or at least listen) to all the other loud mouths around the world...
My buddy is into CB's and he says the main thing is to get the right antenna for your unit and mount it correctly.
I've got an old uniden that he gave me in my old pickup truck that's rotting in the back 9 here' a link to a trucker chat site discussing radios,
http://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/cb-radio-forum/26674-best-cb-radion-on-market.html
Sounds like you are pretty confident it's a CB setup but if it is VHF,
You can probably buy one of those cheap Chinese dual band ham radios for the same price or less then a CB radio.
Try a search here for Baofeng radios there has been a few discussions on which models are good value.
If you do get a CB you can get an amp and then skip off the ionosphere and talk( or at least listen) to all the other loud mouths around the world...
My buddy is into CB's and he says the main thing is to get the right antenna for your unit and mount it correctly.
I've got an old uniden that he gave me in my old pickup truck that's rotting in the back 9 here' a link to a trucker chat site discussing radios,
http://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/cb-radio-forum/26674-best-cb-radion-on-market.html
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There's a sign as you enter the trail that states the CB channel the logging trucks are using. I know CB is definitely outdated but if that's what the company is using then I will have to do the same. It is pretty surprising though that a large logging company would use such outdated equipment.
Logging trucks still use CB's, they give each steep curve a number and they will call that number to let oncoming trucks know where they are so they don't end up in a head-on collision at high speed. I have a Cobra 29 Ltd, peaked and tuned with a 4' Firestick antenna. On a good day, I can have a clear convo with someone 50 Km away.
As far as the transmitter and receiver in the Cobra 19 and 29 go there is little difference. The 29 just has a few more bells that do not help with reception or transmission. The 29 also has a bigger speaker, but, external speakers are easy to install and better sound anyways. Invest in a good antenna, cable and antenna mount, do not get the little short fiberglass antenna and dual antennas are a waste on anything smaller than a semi.
Just ordered a Cobra 29 LX radio and K30 magnetic mount antenna for my truck. Also got a COBRA 19DXIV COMPACT radio for my buddy so we can test the effectiveness of these things. I'll feel a whole lot better if I can get the hang of using a CB before I run up North and have to depend on the thing to save my life. Let's just say I'm happily looking forward to a blast from the past with the old CB.
- Location
- West Quebec
There is a good Youtube on it here..h ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGSDAZMP2Pg
Oh thanks for that youtube vid bud. Just been researching how these things work and was also wondering if you necessarily need an antenna on the outside of the vehicle or if you can just use the radio as is. Naturally you'll get further reception with a bigger antenna but is an antenna really necessary?
- Location
- West Quebec
I'd get the one Bellaro used the 4' Firestick antenna and ask him how he had it setup.. SWR readings are important to good transmissions.
- Location
- West Quebec
How to tune a CB radio is here .. h ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwFPKIjweP8
