Dodgeboyz, the Chinese made Cobra 148's are the ones that aren't as good as the older ones made in the Philippines and Malaysia. However, if yours is working good and your happy with it, then by all means have some fun with it!
As far as antennas go, if you're looking for a magmount, the Wilson 1000 is a fine antenna. They're around $60 and include the coax. I had one for a while that I used and I liked it. If that stinger is too tall for you, the Lil' Wil is shorter, and around $30. I have one of those for my girlfriend's car when she lets me hook up the CB in there. It works OK, but not nearly as good as the Wilson 1000. There's also the more expensive Wilson 5000 which has a higher Q (a measure of how efficient the antenna is) than the 1000, and a higher price tag to go with it at around $90.
If you want "cheap but works good" a plain old 102" whip is great. They're pretty tall, though. I have one that is pretty thick for a 102" whip, so it doesn't bend around too much. You also need a spring for one of those to get it around the right frequency range. I like that, too if you can handle the height.
Since you're not running a whole ton of power, even a taller fiberglass type antenna (5' Firestik or Wilson, for example) will probably work great for you. They're around $20. I have both a 5' Wilson and a 4' Firestik. I usually run the 4' Firestik, which works decently. The primary reason I run that is because it's mounted a little close to my other big HF antenna, and I don't want my CB antenna to de-sense the HF antenna.
And then lastly, there's the Predator 10K antennas. The Predator 10K is a very well built and machined aluminum antenna with a decent sized coil in the middle. There's a couple different single and double coil models, and you can get the shaft made in different lengths (you need to get the coil above the cab) Personally, I would go with the single coil if I were to get one of those (Oh wait, I do have one of those, too <img src=http://users.joplin.com/dutch64804/posticon7.gif ALT=":7"> ) I think they're about $75 or $85. There are other coil type antennas like these, but the Predator is the best built one I've ever seen.
The last thing you need to know is to get an SWR meter. I little one is around $20. You mentioned that you were into CB in the past, so I won't go into that much, unless you need the info.
Moleculo
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