Truck Driver Gear: CB Radios
While many say they no longer use CB radios, the CB is still a very valuable tool to have in your truck.
CBs are great for alerting drivers of inclement weather and other road situations. If you don’t have a CB in your truck, you should!
Here are a few of our top picks:
Cobra 29 LX 40-Channel CB Radio with Instant Access 10 NOAA Weather Stations and Selectable 4 Color Display
- Multi-Color display offers information on all radio functions, can be set to one of four colors, and can be dimmed for night driving
- Instant access and automatic scanning of 10 NOAA Weather Channels, emergency alerts for severe weather conditions in your area
- Automatically scan all 40 channels, searching for transmissions and stopping when activity is found; or scan 10 specific stored channels
- Radio Check Diagnostic Provides information on critical CB aspects such as battery voltage, RF power, and antenna condition
- PA Capability–use CB radio as a Public Address System with PA speaker; receive signals can also be monitored through PA
- Enormous Multi-Color display offers information on all radio functions, can be set to one of four colors, and can be dimmed for night driving
- Instant access and automatic scanning of 10 NOAA Weather Channels, alerts you to severe weather conditions in your area.
$99.98
Reviews:
By ce4tnkr
This Radio worked better than advertised!!! Our main purpose for buying this was to be alerted for severe weather during our crosscountry road trip durning the month of May. The biggest selling point was the fact the radio would turn on if a weather alert was transmitted in your area. The second day on the road we came out to the car after dinner to find the radio on and transmitting a weather alert. It saved us from heading directly into the upcoming storm. This was also very helpful to find out about traffic problems and we used it twice to alert fellow drivers of dangers in the road. I can not recommend this highly enough!!! I will always travel with this radio!!!
By medrive
This cb is awesome. lets you be creative and lets you have your own settings. easy to calibrate. love the weather scanner. cobra has done an excellent job even the mic is great and clear.
Uniden BEARCAT CB Radio With Sideband And WeatherBand (980SSB)
- Stay connected on the road with this CB radio!
- Features Weatherband with Alert, AM/SSB Sideband capability.
- Seven (7) Color Selectable Display! Includes Noise Canceling Microphone, Mounting Bracket and Power Cord.
- Built in Signal and SWR Meter. Full Frequency Display, PA Function, Noise Blanker, Mic & RF Gain controls & More!
$112.64
Reviews:
By Matt Price
This CB was installed in my 2012 JK Unlimited in a Tuffy single-compartment overhead console! This is a sleek unit, with tons of “new age” technology, such as LCD displays with useful calibration tools built right in for SWR calibration and Antenna tuning!! It has a built in PA option, which of course is always fun to have 🙂 The unit seems to be more powerful than some Cobra competition out there with out pulsing around 5W instead of the industry standard 4W. Couple this with a FireStik antenna, and you’re ready to trail ride with ease while keeping in communication with the group! Highly recommended!!
By J. Scott
This is a nice looking radio but that’s not the reason I purchased it. I’ve been using CB’s for 40 years now and big fan of the Cobra 29. Recently my Cobra stopped working in my new RV after I swapped it from another. It was over 20 years old so that’s OK. I started looking for a new CB and wanted something with the same features and a little more modern looking to match the new RV. After searching for a few weeks and reading all the reviews on different units I went with the Bearcat 880. There is a lot of new cb radios that just came out like the new LCD Cobra 29 but after checking them all out the 880 wins. It has all the features that my 29 had and more. The new cobra 29 was a close second but the unit is larger and the display is not as nice or as easy to read like the 880. Power is good and meters at about 3.89 watts out with a matched Wilson antenna. If your a Trucker then the Classic 29 is fine but if you want the same performance and a better, easier to read display day or night then the 880 is the one.
Cobra 75WXST 40-Channel CB Radio
- 10 NOAA Weather Channels
- Clearer transmissions and less-noisy reception
- Unified design; CB fits in your hand
- 40 CB channels
- 10 NOAA Weather Channels
- Clearer transmissions and less-noisy reception
- Unified design; CB fits in your hand
- Channel scan
$93.84
Reviews:
The Cobra 75 WX ST Weatherband CB provides an incredible amount of functionality in a very small package. Installation is fast and easy – with a couple tools, your antenna mounted, and little skill, you can have this radio up and running in an hour or two.
CB radios are limited to low-power broadcasting at 4 watts or less. This radio provides maximum power allowed by law and is capable of some pretty incredible range under the right conditions. With a properly tuned, high-quality antenna, I have had coversations with others using the same radio up to 9 miles away. Under normal circumstances, 1-2 miles is more realistic.
As for features, this one has several:
– Scan (all 40 channels in sequence)
– Dual Scan (two channels of your choice)
– Memory
– Lock (so the hand controls don’t get reset by accident)
– Weatherband (10 NOAA frequencies)
– Last 3 channels
– SoundTracker (like Dolby noise reduction)
I use mine in a 1999 Jeep Wrangler where there is little extra space for another device. It fits perfectly on my console with the small box hidden away inside.
I can listen to truckers while I am on the highway, talk to my friends when we go off-highway, or scan the channels for both when driving to and from the trails. In the two years I have used mine, it has never given me any problems. It is very sturdy and should stand up to hard use.
I purchased the optional external speaker so that it would be easier to hear but many people find the unit works well right out of the box!
There might be bigger, badder CB’s out there, but this one is a peach!
CB radios are limited to low-power broadcasting at 4 watts or less. This radio provides maximum power allowed by law and is capable of some pretty incredible range under the right conditions. With a properly tuned, high-quality antenna, I have had coversations with others using the same radio up to 9 miles away. Under normal circumstances, 1-2 miles is more realistic.
As for features, this one has several:
– Scan (all 40 channels in sequence)
– Dual Scan (two channels of your choice)
– Memory
– Lock (so the hand controls don’t get reset by accident)
– Weatherband (10 NOAA frequencies)
– Last 3 channels
– SoundTracker (like Dolby noise reduction)
I use mine in a 1999 Jeep Wrangler where there is little extra space for another device. It fits perfectly on my console with the small box hidden away inside.
I can listen to truckers while I am on the highway, talk to my friends when we go off-highway, or scan the channels for both when driving to and from the trails. In the two years I have used mine, it has never given me any problems. It is very sturdy and should stand up to hard use.
I purchased the optional external speaker so that it would be easier to hear but many people find the unit works well right out of the box!
There might be bigger, badder CB’s out there, but this one is a peach!
By T.J. VINE VOICE
After looking at multiple CB systems, I finally decided upon this little number for a few reasons.
Originally, I wanted a CB that would fit in my dash above my radio (I drive a 4Runner) so the CB would look nice and integrated. I was told by many installers that I didn’t have enough depth in my empty slot above the radio. One installer recommended this CB, but I was skeptical about the small, all-inclusive package. One thing I did like about this CB right from the start was that it’s easy to hide from view, thus reducing any potential break-in for my CB or my Radio. When I’m not using this CB I slide it under the front seat and it’s completely hidden and doesn’t bother any passengers. Another HUGE benefit to this radio that I didn’t discover until I used it was that everything is on the handset, which means that everything can be adjusted VERY easily while driving. In fact, after a few uses, you’ll know all the buttons, so you no longer have to take your eyes of the road or bend over to grab the radio or change channels. I just keep the radio next to my leg and operate it without have to move or look away.
Midland 1001LWX 40 Channel Mobile CB with ANL, RF Gain, PA, and Weather Scan
- Mobile CB With Built-In Weather Scan
- Adjustable Rf Gain Control To Adjust Sensitivity Range
- Weather Scan Instantly Finds Local Weather Channel
- Automatic Noise Limiter Improves Reception For A Weak Signal
$49.00
Reviews:
By M. Ormandy
First off, I replaced a very good performing Cobra 29LX with this unit, because that radio was huge, and with all the chrome it was just too much in a 2011 Silverado. I wanted something modern, but with good performance. This sure was the ticket. I tried the small Cobra that competes with this model, but it does not compare to this radio in terms of performance. The noise blocking feature is great for big metro areas like mine (mandantory actually). The squelch and RF gain take a bit of getting used to, but once you find the right balance, you can extract excellent reception. I use this radio with a cobra power mic, and the people I talk to often comment on the excellent sound quality, and I never get bad reports. The case is very small, and business-like. The display is excellent, and very modern. Having the weather function is a nice thing, though the radio is so sensitive, it will pick up the second closest station instead of the first, and IT not YOU selects which weather station to listen to. This is the lone defect of the radio. If you are within range of two weather stations and weather station reception is a big issue for you, don’t get this radio, it will irritate you. Since I got this to chat with truckers and base station users while driving on the freeway, I really don’t care about the weather issue, but some might. ***Remember you MUST tune your antenna SWR with ANY CB, period. If you don’t your performance will likely suffer at the least, and at the worst you can smoke the radio. I use a tuneable tip firestick 2 antenna (4 foot), and some good RG8X coax, and have an SWR across the band of around 1.2, which is very good. Combine this radio with a well tuned antenna, and a power mic, and you will have a quality setup for not much more than $100. That’s a great value. You can’t go wrong with this unit.