Does anyone know of a good CB radio and antenna that works great?

Can I find a good CB that costs between $60 to $100?

I basically want it for talking to my friends when wheeling and for when we go on our camping trips to Western Md. in the mountains.

Any info. will be appreciated.

I run a Cobra 29 with a 4ft. Firestik. I bought the cobra off ebay with a couple modifications to it for $90 and it is LOUD and clear. The Firestik is less than $30 and is a great antenna for the price.  

Thanks for the info. I know Walmart sells some Cobra CB radio's, but not too sure if they are the good ones. By the way what's the brand name of the Firestik?

I myself would like to have an antenna that has a magnetic base that I could keep inside of the truck when not in use to prevent some of the idiot *** from stealing it or bending the antenna, and when I need it I could take it out of the cab and place it on the roof of the cab when ever I drive it. Does the Firestik have a magnetic base?

I think the better cobras at wal mart will run you around 130, and they aren't tuned. You can buy brand new ones on ebay "still in box" for 110 i think last time i checked.

Firestik is the brand name... and you can put about any antenna on a magnet base if you want, the only trouble I had with that was knocking it over on trees and blasting through the mud...then needing a new antenna. If you go the magnet route it may be worthwhile to just get a metal antenna because they will bend and not break like the fiberglass Firestik. They make a quick disconnect for thier antennas which would allow you to just leave the base and remove the antenna if you wanted.

www.firestik.com

If I may, the best antenna for your money will be a 102 inch stainless steel whip. They are big, but they provide the farthest talking distances when running a cb w/o an amplifier. Another antenna is the Wilson 1000, 2000, or 5000 trucker series. They have a centerload in the middle that must stick abpve the cab of the truck, but they do come with magnetic mounts. No offense, but they seriously outperform the firesticks. Radio Shack or any local truckstop should carry antennas and radios. A cobra 29 is a great radio. I have run them with great success. Be careful when purchasing one that has been turned up. Make sure that it was done properly or you will blow the finals out of it. If you would like some more info, my dad has a book showing the proper way to tune it for better audio. I'll be glad to look it up for you. Good luck.  

Thw whips are nice, but very troublsome, at least in my experience. I agree that the wilson antenna's are good. I guess i just liked the fact I could tune the firestik and that it was cheap.  

What exactly do you mean by a CB being tuned?

When buying a new CB, does it have to be tuned, in order to be able to use it?

I went into the Firestik web-site and it said that there antenna's  must be tuned before use. What does this mean? Is both tuning the CB and antenna something that I can do myself, or do I have to take it to someone else?

I always thought you just buy a CB and antenna and hook them up and your ready to listen and talk away. All of this " tuning " stuff is all new to me.

the CB doesnt have to be tuned to use it, however, tuning is a form of modifying the internals of the CB to put out more power and signal and such..  it isnt a requirement, if you and your group are close enough together you will be just fine.  Yes you can tune an antenna yourself, get an SWR meter and you have to fine tune the antenna to get max performance out of it. Is it required? no not at all..

I agree a 102" whip is good, but not for trails as they tend to hit trees and whip around.. can be dangerous.. but for highway and dunes they should work pretty darn good.. for the trails since you will be fairly close together a shorter antenna would work just fine.

with firestiks you can tune the tip with just your fingers, but you will need the meter. The cb and antenna will work with no tuning whatsoever, just increases its performance.

Thank's from both of you for the info. At first, this sounded pretty complicated at first.

Let's say I bought a mid level Cobra CB and a good quality antenna with no modifications to either. In a "ball park figure", what would be the range off the CB. By the way I live in Northeastern Md.

Sorry for the confusion. With a good Cobra 29 and a mid grade antenna, it is still hard to judge. Weather conditions have a big effect on your signal output, but on a good day I can reach out about 5-6 miles runnin a 102 inch whip and my old Cobra 29 before i tuned it.  A firestik will not put out quite that far. At least in my experience in Louisiana. Remember that your SWR's must be at or below 2 to have the best performance. A 102 inch whip does not have to be adjusted in any way. It is pretty much plug and play. The Wilsons have a metal stinger on top of the center load that may need to be lengthened or shortened to get your SWR's right.  I would reccommend the whip or the firestick for you because they are the easiest to use. The firestik will work if you do not plan to hook up an amplifier, but if u do, then definitely go with a whip.

That sounds good enough to me. Like I said before, I just want it to talk to my friends when exploring 4x4 trails and to stay in contact with them on our way to the mountains.

Again, thanks for the info.

hey i just looked at that site that blackchevy gave out and i looked at the cobra 29 ltd classic do i need all the parts like

if you are going to install a C B  a 102 in. whip is going to be your best bet. use what you want. as far as the woods go when you get their bend the whip over and stick it in a hole in the side of bed want hurt a thing be sure to put a spring on it.  it will take all the punishment you can dish out.  any thing else is going to break sooner or later. SWR stands for standing wave rating IT DOES HAVE TO BE AJUSTED or will burn the CB out sooner or later. look at it as feed back if you will. BE SURE TO CUT THE COAXE  LENGTH IN 3FT 3IN INCREMENTS EXAMPLE if you need 9ft cut 9ft 9in if you need 10ft cut 13ft . on a barefoot radio in the hill's expect not to talk to far at all . if you get close to water you can talk further. some day's when skip is rolling in you will be surprised at how far you can talk sometimes a state or two over are futher. most important is DON'T key the mic. when your buddy is right next to you will burn his CB up!!!!! the lower the SWR'S the further you will talk and hear. if your going to get one tuned ask if they can put as much swing in it as possible example dead key is when you key the mic and hold it and get a reading just say 3- 5 watts that's all it's going to do. swing is keying the mic and getting one reading but when you speak in it it goes way passed that reading you get louder for example. this should get you up and running. P.S if you cut the cable like i said and use a whip your SWR'S should be belowe 1 or just above you will be fine if connection's is good . need any more help let me now...  

U do not need any of these "toys". Most of them like the roger beep will eventually get on your and others nerves. Noise cancelling mics are nice, and amplified mics are too, but be careful about how loud you turn them up. I would go with a noise cancelling mic if your truck is loud in the interior, but just remeber with it u need to hold it close to your mouth when you speak.