|
To throw on what others have said, if you've got a vehicle and drive at all frequently, it is fairly easy and inexpensive to install a CB radio in your vehicle. I've got one in my Subaru Legacy I stuck up by the driver's seat, down to the left of the steering wheel. The radio itself is a Uniden PRO520XL (around $50) with a TRAM 703-HC antenna (about $20) that's on my trunk via a magnetic base. The antenna cord goes into the drunk (under the rain seal - no modification needed) and runs along the inside of the car tucked under the flooring. No tools needed, just tuck it all in until it's out of the way. The radio itself is just screwed into a blank spot my knees don't hit with the included screws (just needed to pre-drill the holes). Ground wire is wrenched down under a bolt to the vehicles frame, and the power comes from the in-cabin fuse box (for mine that was closest, right next to the steering wheel) using a fuse tap (which lets you go under an existing fuse, so no permanent wiring or soldering needed), which I got a pack of 4 of for around $8. All in all, about $80 to get it all together and other than two small screw holes, it can all come out like it was never there if needed. I would reccomend getting an SWR meter (around $50 for the Workman brand one I got), which you can use to calibrate your antenna so you get better reception - it makes a major difference. On the road, it's great in heavy traffic and rush-hour, as you can often pick up (and join in, though some are more open to this than others) trucker chatter, either to pass the time or as a pre-Waze-style method of knowing where the jams, cops, accidents, and so forth are so you can avoid them as needed. As LinuxBender said, channels 17 and 19 seem to be the usual trucker channels - some places will use both, some cities will focus on one (the Cincinnati area, for example, generally seems to be all on 19). I've never run into the "people playing with voice modification and trash talking" busterarm mentioned in his comment, but the truckers are often VERY colourful in their language and topics - I would reccomend picking up some of the more common slang they use (I used to do tech support for trucking dealerships and garages, and years ago my dad drove a box truck, so I knew a reasonable amount already when I started) as it lets you get a lot more out of CB, since they're really still the primary people on it, at least in the US. My radio also came with and output port for hooking a PA to it (i.e. in the hood like some police cars have), and while I've tested it with a cheap Pyle trumpet style speaker, I don't currently have that hooked up because I can't quite work out a good way to run the wire for it from the cabin to the engine compartment (though there are plenty of spots inside the hood I can zip-tie in the speaker, which I've seen people have pretty solid success with) - not exactly related to CB itself, but a fun thing if you want to add function to the radio, I suppose. |