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Best mobile CB/10M radio available

Quiksilver

Active Member
Oct 23, 2006
386
20
28
Washington State, USA
Hello Folks. It's been a long-long time....
I've been out of the CB loop for quite some time now. Use to run a President Lincoln, HR2510, and the classic Cobra LTD 29 (Philippines) in the mobile. What is the best CB/10M radio available now days? Feeling like I want to get back into the hobby.... My 04 Tacoma is still bonded and grounded bumper to bumper, and still have the PL259 connector caped up on the roof ;), and still have my slew of high quality antennas.
Should I seek out old classics, or new models?
Thank you!
 

Welcome back.

Clubhouse has been re-modeled and password for entrance may have changed.

1). To my mind, reliability trumps other concerns, first.
That’s argues in favor of new gear.

2). Reliability, and quality
That starting point would be President brand of radios.

3). One would be well-served with either of these two (2):

A). President McKinley
AM/SSB

B). President Lincoln
AM/FM/SSB/CW
(Source: www.bellscb.com)

4). Then, adding an RM ITALY KL-203 Amplifier;
(Source: www.88radio.com)

5). Along with a West Mountain Radio ClearSpeech DSP Speaker
(Source: www.westmountainradio.com)

— as necessary outboard accessories to ANY radio chosen such that the, “Hear & Get Heard”, problems are solved. No need for built-in amps; and DSP is an Amateur-level aid missing in CB/Export (no substitute once experienced).

6) A five-foot or longer aerial on the roof, but look into doing a
permanent antenna installation to best leverage of what the radio is capable. (Source: www.k0bg.com).

7). An Antenna Analyzer to work the details once buttoned up.
(Look at NanoVNA just for some familiarity).

A really well-tuned antenna system is the ace-in-the-hole.
Gear is just something you plug into what really matters.


Sure, there are other choices and other pathways. “What is best”, winds up being idiosyncratic. You can spend more (find a recent, low-use YAESU ft450d), but what is performance versus price starts divergence.

(You might use the above as a handy default for comparisons. Most for least).

To this, also:

www.cbradiomagazine.com

All of the above should be enough to get started here at WWDX in reading threads and running down leads via the Search Function


.
 
Last edited:
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if you still have those radios ya listed and antennas id just hook up what ya got see how ya like it before spending money.for antennas a 102 whip is still the best..i like a 5 foot skipshooter i like the topload design .a cobra 29 is still a great radio.if ya want sbb id recommend the uniden bearcat 980 or president mckinley...for a export radio i reccommend the president lincoln 2 plus
 
I think the 2004 tacoma is pretty much the same as the 2001 on the inside...I have a 2001 tacoma and installed a President McKinley in the dash...very easy, and makes for a clean install...(just have to replace the factory 2DIN stereo with a aftermarket 1DIN stereo and then there's room for the McKinley!

I also have a 1x2 amp thats inside the toolbox, that has a remote switch to turn it on mounted on the side of the console. (RED toggle switch in the first picture just to the left of the cigarette lighter)

c8Icj2C.jpg

spt4cpi.jpg

ApZdoYQ.jpg

cQ3DELY.jpg
 
I think the 2004 tacoma is pretty much the same as the 2001 on the inside...I have a 2001 tacoma and installed a President McKinley in the dash...very easy, and makes for a clean install...(just have to replace the factory 2DIN stereo with a aftermarket 1DIN stereo and then there's room for the McKinley!

I also have a 1x2 amp thats inside the toolbox, that has a remote switch to turn it on mounted on the side of the console. (RED toggle switch in the first picture just to the left of the cigarette lighter)

c8Icj2C.jpg

spt4cpi.jpg

ApZdoYQ.jpg

cQ3DELY.jpg
Man, that's a nice clean setup you have there. That din size president looks like it was made to be there.
 
Man, that's a nice clean setup you have there. That din size president looks like it was made to be there.
And with the front-firing speaker, it really don't need a external speaker...The speaker inside the McKinley is allot better than what comes in most radios now days.

I already had a external speaker installed in my truck from a previous set-up, so I just left it...It really doesn't need one, but the speaker isn't in the way, so may as well use it.
 
Hello Folks. It's been a long-long time....
I've been out of the CB loop for quite some time now. Use to run a President Lincoln, HR2510, and the classic Cobra LTD 29 (Philippines) in the mobile. What is the best CB/10M radio available now days? Feeling like I want to get back into the hobby.... My 04 Tacoma is still bonded and grounded bumper to bumper, and still have the PL259 connector caped up on the roof ;), and still have my slew of high quality antennas.
Should I seek out old classics, or new models?
Thank you!
Good to see ya Quicksilver, run what you have for now, it should work great. If you would like to upgrade there are some good choices above, Good luck to ya.
NeedleBender 2811
 
And with the front-firing speaker, it really don't need a external speaker...The speaker inside the McKinley is allot better than what comes in most radios now days.

I already had a external speaker installed in my truck from a previous set-up, so I just left it...It really doesn't need one, but the speaker isn't in the way, so may as well use it.

Agreed!! The magnet is the same size as the speaker. It sounds real good!!
 
The anytone 6666 I know from experience won't disappoint on either am or ssb for much less money than it's cousin sr-955. The Lincoln 2 is another good one at a good price but others will have to speak on its behalf because I don't own one.

The one downside to the anytone flavors is there's no support or warranty in the usa. That said I own 2 for around 2 years without an issue.
 
I think the 2004 tacoma is pretty much the same as the 2001 on the inside...I have a 2001 tacoma and installed a President McKinley in the dash...very easy, and makes for a clean install...(just have to replace the factory 2DIN stereo with a aftermarket 1DIN stereo and then there's room for the McKinley!

I also have a 1x2 amp thats inside the toolbox, that has a remote switch to turn it on mounted on the side of the console. (RED toggle switch in the first picture just to the left of the cigarette lighter)

c8Icj2C.jpg

spt4cpi.jpg

ApZdoYQ.jpg

cQ3DELY.jpg

Nice looking truck!
 
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