Offroad-Express

Do many people actually run CB's in their 4x4's?

a few clubs do...however CB is basically dead now.....a lot of people use the 40ch PRS but the limitation here is that you can only get 5w with these instead of 25w+ with CB and other bands....which shows in the hills/bush especially when its wet.

Depends where you are to, down here we still use CB mostly with the clubs - it has got better now that less people are using CB, interference is largely gone.

Running both PRS & CB, They both have their place..

NJ

I am running both. CB is mounted permanently and PRS is handheld.

You will find alot of people still run both, but PRS is more preffered in CHCH

I fitted a Uniden UH095m it does CB and PRS (plus has another 40 frequencies that youcan select to receive on only, police band etc)

Out on runs I have it searching on both the CB and PRS channels being used, ie 14 on PRS and 24 on CB, it scanns them both so you dont miss a thing.

Being mounted in the truck it has a better range tha the hand helds, the best of both worlds.

Currently running "standard" 26MHz CB. Great for listening to Channel 11 while on the road, as this is the one the truckies use. Give all sorts of info - speed traps etc - as well as some rather colourful discussions. (Not so good when young ears are listening though )

Have found a number of 4WD groups running CB when in the Napoleans Area - as well as some other areas - that haven't been picked up on my little hand-held PRS.

Having said that, am looking at getting a UHF Set for mounting as well in the truck - then have best of both worlds

Best to check out what others in your area are using - especially channels, unless you get a scanning model of radio similar to what Northland_Pajero talsk about.

Jerry wrote:a few clubs do...however CB is basically dead now.....a lot of people use the 40ch PRS but the limitation here is that you can only get 5w with these instead of 25w+ with CB and other bands....which shows in the hills/bush especially when its wet.

I don't think many 26mhz Cb's will do 25w+ they are only meant to do 4w max, 12w max Side band, (I think) from memory. the 25w+ will be for the commercial radios that are on other separatley licenced frquencies, such as the tararua Club uses on VHF band etc...

With a good Aerial and all things being equal, 26mhz CB will have much better range in some conditions (over hills etc) depending on the environmental conditions at the the time - mostly due to the wavelenth charaterisitcs (propogation).

PRS (UHF) can be better where a repeater is available though, but otherwise will be 'line of sight' only.

I do disagree that the old CB is dead though, there are many sets still around and you can buy then new. i have both the old Cb and the new PRS.

John

I run both and will never get rid of the cb. Thinking of investing in a vhf set as well, but need to spen 2K on them. On waitangi weekend I was on top of the old man range and I was talking with some guys on the serpentine, thats almost 50+Km's distance.
Al

i have both and they get used most time we go out as some in the club dont have both and you can still talk to all on the trip

re vhfs they are designed for marine applications and you need to be licenced to operate them burnsco has them for under $300 for mounted ones can be cheeper 2nd hand,must use correct aerial or they blow up so i,ve been told if wanted distance hf radios like the mountian radio would be better and belive they are quite pricey
well my 5c worth
in the middle if instaling a cb in ute uhf when can afford

Im running TJ's old Uniden in my feroza .. My wife has a Cb in her zook and we use them all the time to communicate with each other when cruzing, really handy for close range communication but have found that once we get more than 900m-1km apart my wife can still send a message to me and I can hear it fine when I reply my signal is all distorted .. played with squelge(sp) button and all but no affect, dont know if it's a prob with the cb's .. the instalation (most prob as I did it) or my airel (My wifes is new mine is second hand)

meece4x4 wrote:Im running TJ's old Uniden in my feroza .. My wife has a Cb in her zook and we use them all the time to communicate with each other when cruzing, really handy for close range communication but have found that once we get more than 900m-1km apart my wife can still send a message to me and I can hear it fine when I reply my signal is all distorted .. played with squelge(sp) button and all but no affect, dont know if it's a prob with the cb's .. the instalation (most prob as I did it) or my airel (My wifes is new mine is second hand)

Sounds like your antenna is not "tuned" to the cb fully. There is a bit (or actually a lot) of science behind how radio waves work. The antenna you are using (if its the one I was using) should be okay. Another culprit is the cable in between. You also need to make sure that the antenna is grounded properly. Try earthing the base of the antenna to the chasis and see if it improves transmission. I am saying this because the unit and antenna worked perfectly in my set-up.

TJ wrote:

meece4x4 wrote:Im running TJ's old Uniden in my feroza .. My wife has a Cb in her zook and we use them all the time to communicate with each other when cruzing, really handy for close range communication but have found that once we get more than 900m-1km apart my wife can still send a message to me and I can hear it fine when I reply my signal is all distorted .. played with squelge(sp) button and all but no affect, dont know if it's a prob with the cb's .. the instalation (most prob as I did it) or my airel (My wifes is new mine is second hand)

Sounds like your antenna is not "tuned" to the cb fully. There is a bit (or actually a lot) of science behind how radio waves work. The antenna you are using (if its the one I was using) should be okay. Another culprit is the cable in between. You also need to make sure that the antenna is grounded properly. Try earthing the base of the antenna to the chasis and see if it improves transmission. I am saying this because the unit and antenna worked perfectly in my set-up.

Hi TJ .... not too sure whats going on .. I bought two new cables from tricky dicky's along with a new short 4' airel for the wifes wagon, both are showing good earths on the mounts (frabed out of 5mm alumiumumumumum plate and mounted to the bonet gutter) and good earths on the antenna its'self, swapping antenna over makes little differance to her range, im picking it could be a interferance prob with her cb and zook... we discovered that if her cb is on channel 12 (and only 12 for some reason) her idle "surges" slightly between 600-700rpm, does it every time as soon as you put it on channel 12 and try and transmit or recieve bizzare.! ..not too worried as the range at the momnet as it's is suitable for what we need.

we use tait radios at work on the forklifts, both handheld and base sets, and because of the high level of interference that are endemic in coolstores they have to be quite grunty. when a mate and me went up in the hill a few weeks ago i grabbed a couple and they were brilliant, never had any reception issues unless we were 2 or 3 kms apart, and i will certainly never go out without some sort of radio...