 | Home > Off Topic > Handheld CB Radio advice |
 
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| Tim in Scotland Member Since: 23 May 2007 Location: The Land that time forgot Posts: 3750  
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My experience with hand held is that using it as pure hand held the range is poor, if you connect it to a roof mount (and I think you can use a mag mount on a Disco) then then Range is much better. The one I had was a Midland and it came with both a stubby antenna and an adapter to allow the use of an external antenna Pangea Green D250 90 HSE with Air Suspension, Off-road Pack, Towing Pack, Black Contrast roof , rear recovery eyes, Front bash plate, Classic flaps all round, extended wheel arch kit and a few bits from PowerfulUK Expel Clear Gloss PPF to come
2020 D240 1st Edition in Pangea Green with Acorn interior. Now gone - old faithful, no mechanical issues whatsoever ever but the leaks and rattles all over the place won’t be missed! |
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4th Apr 2020 10:51pm |
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| jst Member Since: 14 Jan 2008 Location: Taunton Posts: 7687 
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Save your money, they arent great between vehicles. Fine for someone outsidegicing guidance to driver but no good vehicle to vehicle. I bought 4 of them around £150 each with external vehicle antenna options, they just sent cut it. Mine are only used for outside to driver comms.
Try PMRs or licenced radios. If your still convinced I can send you one to try. Cheers James 110 XS Utility 130 Puma Station wagon/camper (in the making) 90 Puma Hardtop |
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4th Apr 2020 11:07pm |
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| dantastic Member Since: 04 May 2010 Location: London Posts: 367 
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We actually gave up on CB a couple of years ago and are all using walkie talkies between vehicles instead. The walkies don't have a great range, granted, but between vehicles they are pretty ideal. Also all the benefits of of them being handheld obviously.
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5th Apr 2020 8:30am |
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| jst Member Since: 14 Jan 2008 Location: Taunton Posts: 7687
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My licensed radios have a 3km or so range, vehicle swr'd cb 3 to 5km on a good day. Pmrs 500m. Cheers
James 110 XS Utility 130 Puma Station wagon/camper (in the making) 90 Puma Hardtop |
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5th Apr 2020 8:35am |
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| landy andy Member Since: 15 Feb 2009 Location: Ware, Herts Posts: 5422 
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Remember you can get CB’s where all the controls are on the handset so unit can be completely hidden and only one wire showing that goes to the mic. That’s what I fitted to my Discovery when I had it.
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5th Apr 2020 8:50am |
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| LandRoverAnorak Member Since: 17 Jul 2011 Location: Surrey Posts: 11240 
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For many years, I used a Midland Alan 42 handheld. I even had it installed in a Discovery for exactly the same reason that you've identified. Used with the optional vehicle installation kit and a mobile phone mount, it's a compact and useful unit.
http://www.4x4cb.com/public/item.cfm?itemID=631 I've used PMR's before and they're ok for green lane convoys but lack the range to be useful elsewhere. They're also, of course, no use if everybody else is using CB's. For marshalling duties, where the distances tend to be greater, a CB is an ideal compromise between range and cost. Darren 110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak "You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia |
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5th Apr 2020 9:14am |
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| ARC99 Member Since: 19 Feb 2013 Location: North Yorkshire Posts: 1831 
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I had a handheld CB at first on my Disco. The radio itself had the option for external ariel, I bought a mag mount and connected that. It was okay up to a couple of miles.
I still have the mag mount but got rid of the CB. Don't make old people mad. We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to  us off.
Richard |
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5th Apr 2020 9:47am |
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| mini Anaconda Member Since: 23 Aug 2016 Location: Thames Valley Posts: 715
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Thank you all for the feedback and advice. I was looking at the Midland Alan 42 (link posted in LRA's post), which seems to be decent for the price. I don't need miles of range from the built in aerial - across a field / in convoy range is good for me. I like the look of a springer type aerial (which I have on my 90) but I think getting the cable out to the roof without drilling too many holes/letting water in puts me off when I would only be using the CB a few times a year.
Thanks James. I have a good Midland PMR which I use for work but for Greenlaning/4x4 response etc, they are all on CB. What issues did you have with them between vehicles? Was range an issue? BORG - Bucks & Oxon 4x4 Response Group  |
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5th Apr 2020 7:46pm |
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| jst Member Since: 14 Jan 2008 Location: Taunton Posts: 7687
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Yep, range, they don't work, it's a faraday box Cheers
James 110 XS Utility 130 Puma Station wagon/camper (in the making) 90 Puma Hardtop |
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5th Apr 2020 10:17pm |
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| ARC99 Member Since: 19 Feb 2013 Location: North Yorkshire Posts: 1831
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I ran the cable out of the rear door over the seal, there was enough give in the seal as to not cut the cable and it did not leak. Don't make old people mad. We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to us off.
Richard |
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6th Apr 2020 10:04am |
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| mini Anaconda Member Since: 23 Aug 2016 Location: Thames Valley Posts: 715
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Thanks all
 BORG - Bucks & Oxon 4x4 Response Group
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6th Apr 2020 7:50pm |
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| Hunky Gibbon01 Member Since: 20 Mar 2017 Location: Dorset Posts: 90 
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If you have a roof rack or bar you can purchase a car cigarette plug power into the CB. Thunderpole whom sell that sort of equipment are great for advice.
My set up was a handheld with cigarette plug, the aerial wire was just put through door and the rubber seal. No damage and leaks. To get good signal I used a magmount bolted that stuck to a steel plate, the plate was mounted to roof rack using 2 x m8 bolts. The magmount acts as a false ground plane and I always had good signal when offroading or in convoy. |
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6th Apr 2020 8:58pm |
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| TJH1985 Member Since: 22 Aug 2016 Location: Midlands Posts: 238
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I had a Midland 42 also, unusable inside the 90 ended up with a external aerial and even then it wasn’t great - it blew after maybe 6 months use with a 1.4 SWR. Replaced it with a CRT SS9900 and that has been night and day on the same aerial easily cover 3-5 miles and its crystal clear and much louder in the cab. I ran the cable out the door without issue.
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8th Apr 2020 8:44am |
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| legin Member Since: 22 Jul 2017 Location: Chelmsford Essex Posts: 1004 
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I have a Midland 42 which I have mounted on a Ram Mount which bolts in to the grab handle and using a plug in hand mike works fine with no holes cut I did have a mag mount aerial but found this no good so fitted on the nearside wing to match the factory mounting of the radio on the offside wing if I was ever to sell the 90 I would just sell and complete CB kit with the Land Rover ,the Ram Mount also take my phone so when I don't need a CB just use the same fixing for the phone so keep the dash tidy without loads of mountings .
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8th Apr 2020 1:12pm |
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