Handheld CB's

CB19Kevo

Hi all,
Just looking for a handheld CB for use when out and about.
Any ideas wat i should go for ?

vector

The two contenders are Midland/Alan 42 Multi and Intek H520
You'll pay abour EUR 150 on ebay including postage from the UK,
however with a CB radio, to put it simply, the bigger the antenna the better
and IMHO you just can't carry an antenna large enough on a handheld to go the distance in the real world

watty

I've 5 handheld CBs.
SSB is rarer on them sadly. 1 is AM and Irish Band with loading coil so aerial is not too monsterous, the other have maybe 5ft telescopic whips but are FM on UK channels (Irish Church/Community licence frequency. You must extend the whips fully. The rubber duck aerial for handheld CBs is very very poor because of the frequency, very negative gain, only good for maybe 0.5km to 2km outdoor. The Whips maybe 12dB or more better (2km to 8km).

You can get same power (4W) usually with a 1W setting. 1W AM is actually 4W peak, so a 4W FM/SSB amp does 1W AM carrier max.

SSB handheld with full size 1/4wave telescopic whip (5ft to 6ft?) would be best range.

Pataman

i have a friend with a Harley Davidson. It comes with an american CB included. are the Irish CB on a different frequency?

watty

I think only the UK CB different. My AM handheld is USA Model and does the Irish band.

We are allowed AM 1W, FM 4W and SSB (LSB,USB) 4W peak. They may only have FM and AM.

Pataman

Thanks i will try one to see.