Handheld radio and cb radio

kizer · Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2004 7:42 pm Post subject: Handheld radio and cb radio

Ok this is a newbie cb question because well Im a newbie cb question asking kind of guy. Wink

I have a couple of those cobra hand held radios. Now do they work or will they be able to talk to a mounted cb?

I guess what Im saying is with my hand helds I can pick a channel and then there are sub channels within channels. I use my hand helds while driving with others and if I can be lazy and just hook up a cb and let others use my hand helds it would save me the torture of carrying a handheld and installing a cb that I want eventually, but I dont exactly need just yet if a cb will not work with a handheld radio.

Ok did that sound newbie enough. Wink

Keep in mind I would like a cb because Im gearing up to wheel some more and a cb just makes a Jeep complete. Gotta have that rough and tough look you kno. Very Happy

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ThePhantum · Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2004 8:02 pm Post subject:

OK, the Cobra's you have...are they FRS (Family Radio Service ) or CB's? FRS's and CB's do not transmit on the same frequencies, so they will not work together...

It sounds like you have sidebands (channels within channels) which leads me to believe that you've got CB's....but they could also be FRS's with "privacy channels"...

What's the model number of the ones you've got?

Steve
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kizer · Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2004 10:20 am Post subject:

Yeah I think they are called privacy channels. I do recall the manual talking about that when I was playing with them. Something about if you get bleed over you can switch to a private channel to talk with everybody in your family.

I would post the model number, but since we've moved I haven't seen the radios. Probably still in a box waiting to be opened. Wink

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ThePhantum · Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2004 7:03 am Post subject:

quadna71 · Member Joined: 02 Jan 2004 Location: Delaware

yup - what he said. chances are that they're the frs ones that are only good for those frequencies (they usually come bundled in packs of two so that you can talk to another person) but in the event that they turn to be handheld cb's then you can get away with just a magnet mounted antenna and an adapter to fit it to your cb. this will bump up the range considerable and keep you from having to hard mount a cb.
chris

frs basic design

handheld cb basic design

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mikeleblanc · Member Joined: 17 Feb 2004 Location: Potomac Falls, VA

Unless you have an HT (handheld transceiver or handheld HAM radio), you won't be able to talk to CB's like the guys said above. With an HT or any other HAM radio in that band, you can set it up to talk to the FRS (and similar radios). My wife's uncle and I do that very thing. He carries his Kenwood EVERYWHERE and has a few memory channels set up for my motorola's. (and a few others for some Cobra's and Panasonics his friends carry). Other than that, they sell some cheap handheld CB's at Walmart, but for the sake of car-to-car and trail/obstacle spotting, the FRS won't be a bad backup. I use them a lot because I have them set up well and don't have to worry about a bunch of mall traffic. Also having the HT gives me more options as well, but an FCC ticket and the cost of the radios is something that's not an easy thing (like a CB or FRS).

Hope this helps (or at least gives you more ideas...)
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kizer · Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2004 11:22 pm Post subject:

Yeah what you guys said helps a lot. Im just curious and would like to get a CB for when I need it. Aswell having an extra handheld for traveling with others opposed to my wife racking her cell phone bill in the 2342342352353223535423 of dollars. Wink

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Code3TJ · Hacker Joined: 01 Jan 2004 Location: Uzbekistan

Here's some thoughts for CB's. Mine works pretty good with an external antenna and I have the option of taking it with me if I end up needing to hike out of some canyon. Embarassed

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ThePhantum · Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2004 2:02 am Post subject:

Yeah...I'm with Troy here. I have handheld Cobra HH 38 WX ST's with handheld mic/speakers in both Jeeps. They are hooked up to 4' Firestick II FS-4's. The setups work great, and like Troy said, you have the option of taking them with you if you need to.

Whichever way you go, make sure that you get them tuned...it makes all the difference. I got a cheapo $35 SWR meter from Radio Shack and did it myself...

HTH

Rock On!

Steve
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ThePhantum · Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2004 10:34 pm Post subject:

One more thing to add to this...make sure to use a good quality cable. I used the Fireflex Coax with the "Firering" and stud setup from Firestik.

Also, here's an image and link to the SWR Meter I got...$31.49

Rock On!

Steve
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