I plan on buying a CB radio. What all equipment do I need and what are some good brands?

I have heard Uniden is good and a 40 channel radio is all anybody really needs.What size antennae should I go with and what else goes along with it?I plan on buying a CB radio. What all equipment do I need and what are some good brands?
Let's see: sw meter to measure signal when placing antenna on vehicle...antron antenna and poles or a way to get it in the air...a good flexable antenna for roof of car and cb in car...that should do it!I plan on buying a CB radio. What all equipment do I need and what are some good brands?
....try to buy any model that can be hidden under the dash or under the seat.........so at least theves will have a harder time stealing it.....I plan on buying a CB radio. What all equipment do I need and what are some good brands?
Well, uniden is one of the best brands out there.

It all depends on what you want to do with it.



CB is in the 11 meter band (27mhz ) and therefore will require a rather large antenna but not extremely huge.



You want an antenna that will match the wavelength for the specific frequency you are transmitting on. The typical antenna for mobile is a ground plane antenna which means that it utilizes your vehicles metal body to reflect RF waves out. It typically resembles a straight antenna with no radial arms.



You can calculate the length by using this formula



Wavelength=300/Frequency in MHZ

or

Wavelength=300/27

This is equals 11 meters.

If you are in us then you will need to convert it to feet.



11meters=429inches (11*39) or 35.75 feet. Now if you have a half meter antenna then you would divide the 35.75 by 2 which equals 17 feet. Hence the reason why cb antennas are so long.

There are many models out there that are much shorter due to a larger wave.



Typically a 4 or 5 foot antenna is sufficient.



Now you will need an swr meter. This measures forward and reflected power from your transmitter (cb radio)



For example if you transmit at 4 watts (the legal allowed limit for cb by the fcc) then it will measure how many watts is actually reflected back down the cable from the antenna into your cb. If it is too high it can burn out the finals on your radio.



A perfect swr is a ratio of 1:1 which means no wattage is reflected back. However this is impossible so you aim to get it as close as possible.



I cannot remember the specific formula but you can google swr formulas in google and get it to assist you.



Unlike amatuer radios that transmitt at a maximum of 1500 watts, you do not need a license to transmit on cb (citizen's band) frequencies.



Make sure you get an antenna with a 50ohm cable. This is standard so you should not have any problems. CB equipment is available at tons of places such as radio shack, or even a local truck stop, although you need to be careful there.



Best bet is to find a local amatuer radio shop and ask them to assist you if they deal in cb equipment.



Being that you are only using 4 watts of power swr is not as big of a danger as it would be if you were using 50watts.



So I hope this helps and remember to always use common sense.



KE5ODZ (my amatuer radio call sign)