Can you help a mom out, please?

[SemiBoysMom]

My son is going to be 9 in two days, and is extremely interested in all things trucking. He lives and breathes semis. Out of the blue, tonight, he told me that he would like a CB radio, for his birthday. I was pretty young in the 70's, :r&r: and while I do recall the wide usage of CBs then, what I recall is pretty vague. Guess it's old age creeping up, eh? This is a whole new can of worms for me, so any advice would be appreciated. I don't know what sort of info you might need to aid in my quest, but here's a bit to get you started:

It will be used in the home.
We live in the midwest...central Illinois, to be exact.
Very rural area, but within 1/2 mile of a well traveled road with heavy agricultural semi traffic.
Are there CBs that can be used in the home, as well as vehicle?
What is a quality brand?
What is a quality brand for under $100?
What can be expected in regards to performance?

I'm certain I will have more questions, and please feel free to ask anything you feel is pertinent. Many thanks in advance!

[Bombero]

Grab yourself a Cobra 29 LTD Classic at Walmart. You can find a nice antenna A-99 or Bandit for just about a $100.00 at some of the CBRT sponsor sites.

There will be a lot of people here with good advice that should be adding to this post.

Good Luck

[SemiBoysMom]

Thank you! I was actually looking at that very radio, to be honest. I will have to check it out some more. I am looking forward to hearing what everyone has to say. I do want to clarify, that we are NOT parents who allow their children to run amok. Just as with the computer, CB time will also be supervised. I don't want anyone to be scared away from replying, thinking that fellow CBers might be subjected to a bratty 9 year old, allowed to do whatever he wants on the radio.

I know I am partial because he's my son, but he's actually quite mature. It's amazing how knowledgable he is on semis...the makes, models, etc. He swears his first vehicle is going to be a semi...quite the dreamer. I don't know why it never occurred to me to get a CB, before he recommended it, but the more I think about it, the more I like the idea, for numerous reasons. Undoubtedly, it will be fun. But more importantly, we homeschool, and this would be wonderful, in that respect. From learning the basics, to understanding how it works, and even to geography and beyond, I think it will prove to be an amazing tool.

Like I said, looking forward to any information offered!

[MoJo]

Semi mom shoot me a pm and well turn that little guy into a duck plucker in no time.

[715minigrass]

He will be the happiest boy on earth when starts firing up that first radio.

May be someone on the site might have something inhand to offer.

Good luck Maam. Tell your little boy "one five minigrass" said Happy Bithday.

Aloha, James....

[Wile E. Coyote]

SemiBoysMom, Welcome to the CBRT Forum. Your son will have a lot of fun with a CB. I don't want to tell you that it is wrong, but you may have to ensure that some of the truckers that your son might get to talk to on the radio isn't using foul language. Sorry, but the truckers can get quite explicit at times in their talk. Don't be discouraged though, because you can find a channel that will be locals that will talk to your son and talk to him and not be a potty mouth. There are a lot of old timers that would enjoy talking to a young boy and show him the correct way to use the CB. Used to be a lot of kids that got to talk on the CB in the 70's, times have changed and you are right about having someone there to step in when he is on the radio so that some of the truckers don't go overboard with the talk. As "MOJO" said let him explore the world of CB and learn the lingo. You might even want to get your son on the Forum and let him check out the site and visit with us all. I would enjoy talking to a young man that has the want to learn all about setting up a radio and shooting skip (long distant talking on CB). Enjoy the site and I am sure we can all help in getting him set up the proper way.

[SemiBoysMom]

I'm trying to PM you Mojo, but I keep receiving an SQL error. So if you get a PM or two...or eight...from me, you know why! LOL!

[SemiBoysMom]

Wile E., you are absolutely correct, and I appreciate you sharing your concerns. I do know there could possibly be some language issues, which is another reason why his CB use will be supervised. I knew it was a "hazard", and it's one we've actually faced to a degree already, with our long-range 2-way radios. On occasion we've actually picked up truckers on the 2-way, but only when we're traveling. I don't believe they have a CB band, but I could be mistaken. Anyhow, I have found with the 2-ways, that usually once we made it known that there were young ears, people were respectful.

I hadn't considered allowing him to join...he would get such a kick out of it! Like I said, we do supervise his computer time...but I have now read through numerous threads here, and have not found language to be an issue. Will have to go over rules with him, etc...but look for the young one to come on board within the next day or so. Anything that you could teach him would be wonderful, and much appreciated.

[linx]

I second what Wile E said. I love CB's, and they're fun, however my older kid is 4 years old, so needless to say, the CB hasn't been on in a while. She's like a walking sponge when it comes to foul language.

[Circuit Breaker]

I second what Wile E said. I love CB's, and they're fun, however my older kid is 4 years old, so needless to say, the CB hasn't been on in a while. She's like a walking sponge when it comes to foul language.

I'm in the same boat as you. Mine turns four on Sunday.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand.

Semiboysmom,

No one has mentioned that the radio will also require a power supply. Look for one that does 13.8 volts and, I would say, 10 amps continuous just to make sure there's enough power. 5 amps might be okay, but if he ever has any work done to the radio to increase the power output, or upgraded to a radio that had sideband, then the radio will really be pushing the upper limits of the power supply and that can shorten its life span. 10 amps would provide sufficient power for any FCC type accepted CB radio. When my grandparents got me a simple 40 channel CB radio for my 16th birthday, the moron at Radio Shack sold them a 12 volt 1 amp wall-wart power adapter meant for small electronics.

With a 10 amp supply, a Cobra 29 and an Antron 99 antenna, he would be doing pretty good. That would be more than enough to get him started. If you're out away from tall buildings, as it sounds like you are, then getting 20 feet of electrical conduit, sinking a few feet into the ground and bolting it to the side of the house should get the antenna up high enough to get some good coverage. Depending on how far the antenna is from where the radio is, you'll need to get an appropriate length of coax. You can use RG-58 but I recommend at the very least RG-8 mini. It's just better quality coax and I would suggest you get it from any other source other than Radio Shack. You've got questions...they've got dazed and confused looks.

[bigdog853]

another option is to look on a used item site i got my navaho base radio for $40 and an old beltek 23 channel with a magnet mount and a base antenna for $70

[Capndave]

I think it is most exellent that you are going to buy him a CB,The words were hardly out of my mouth,and my dad bought me a Robyn 520D and a radio shack Hygain 5/8 ground plane antenna,that radio will be a good for him to start with.Its good to feed your childs interests.Good luck.

[black_dog106]

Hi Mom: Cant add anything that hasnt already been said. Like everyone said, the 29 is hard to beat for the money.When he gets alittle older and wiser to the CB thing, then he can upgrade. Best wishes to you and your little guy... david

[PONY EXPRESS]

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Very nice dealer in Illinois and Highly recommended by many on this forum

[TheTeZ]

when i read this post i also though "uh oh!" because of the language that goes on over the radio. Now maybe if some people realize its a little kid they may watch their mouth, but im sure that that same fact will also just "turn on" some others. Because its use is going to be monitored, you cant necesarilly see whats going to happen, or whats about to come out of someones mouth.

My recommendation is to try and stay off 19. generally when your not on that channel the language will be significantly cleaner. Maybe you can find a group of commuters or something. Or get him started full force, and get him a SSB capable radio, At least near me the language is clean and "family friendly" ssb GENERALLY attracts hobbyists, some of which have kids, so at least near me everyone on our frequency watches out because you never know whos standing in the background. so while SSB is a tad bit more complicated its easy to learn, and probably less hazardous...

[Turbo-T]

My 2 cents on this....

First off that's cool your little one wants to join in.

A good brand of CB would be a Cobra or a Uniden, for a starter radio. Performance to be expected depends largely on the antenna used.

A quality radio for under $100? Well there's a few of them, and here's what I recommend, a Cobra 25:

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Or this is another good one, a Uniden PC68:

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However your son will find more people to talk to when skip rolls in (as it has been as of recently), with a single side band (SSB) radio, such as this one, a Cobra 148 GTL, as seen here:

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Then you will need a power supply, such as the one listed here:

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The radio above is actually a mobile radio (used in an automobile) but the power supply I listed allows you to use it in the home. Then when your son gets his first car, he can take it with him in the car.

Since this radio is to be used in the home, you're going to need an antenna to do it....here's what I recommend:

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Keep in mind that antenna I just posted is BIG. And it sits on the side of the house. Or you could probably install it on a pole in the yard...regardless it's going to stick out like a sore thumb...not in a bad way but it will.

All of what I posted comes from Sparkys CB shack, and mind you has probably the highest reputation of any CB shop that I know. He's probably one the last honest businessmen you'll ever meet. In fact, he's located in Belgium, Illinois if you wanted to just drive up there and talk to him.

Where in rural Illinois are you? I'm here in rural Missouri. Sometimes I travel along I-70 to go to Indianapolis. I always enjoy the open fields of Illinois with the oil wells just going that I see along I-70.

[SemiBoysMom]

WOW! Again, thank you everyone!! I appreciate all the input, and while I'm a bit overwhelmed, I know it will all make sense to me once I get a chance to sit down and really look at everything. I definitely like the idea of being able to use a mobile radio in the house, and then transfer to a car when he's old enough. As for the antenna, I'm not too worried about the way it looks, honestly. We still have our TAAAAAAAAAAAAALL tv antenna, and since the satellite dish is no on the roof, instead of the antenna, I will likely just attach it there, and run the coax through the same place where the satellite comes in. I guess I'm glad now that DH didn't take that behemoth antenna down now, afterall! LOL! Once we get things figured out, I'll be certain to let everyone know how we went. I think I'll be making a call in the morning to Sparky's. Thanks for that recommend. =o)

As to what part of rural Illinois we are in, we're about 10 miles to the west of I-55, and about 10 miles to the north of Route 24. Central Illinois, about an hour ENE of Peoria. I-70's considerably south of me. When we go to see my FIL in Alabama, it always startles me to see the derricks...I always associate them with "the south"...you know, Texas, Oklahoma, etc. But southern Illinois is extremely rich in deposits.

[Turbo-T]

Cool. Looks like if you wanted to drive there you could hop on I-55 south and head into Bloomington, then take I-74 east towards Indiana until you get off at 1 then drive south into Belgium. I'm guessing that's a 2 hour or so trip for you.

[Roughneck424]

Make sure you tell Sparky CBRT sent ya!

[TheTeZ]

Make sure you tell Sparky CBRT sent ya!

good call... roughneck is serious about this...

[quickdraw83]

Since I live in Central Illinois, Ill keep a ear out for you guys....good luck in your adventure. I was probably about his age when i got my first CB radio. Ive got a cobra 90LTD i think it is. It was my first radio. its a base station radio, so there is no other power supplies needed, it will plug directly into the wall. You could use something like this and use a 102 inch stainless steel whip for the antenna. you would have to have some type of ground plane for that and of course something to mount that on to get it up in the air. This could all be picked up very reasonable. If i would have seen your post earlier, I would have tried to connect with you. I have this stuff laying around and would have offered it up to you.

I hope your able to get the kid up and going.

Pat

[SemiBoysMom]

PMing you quickdraw! =o)

[Century21]

If you cannot find a setup, coax, power supply, antenna, mast pole or something to mount it on, and a radio in the budget you have in mind. I will donate a cobra 29, in excellent condition. Im not rich or have things to give away. But i know when I was 9 and first got started, the old timers helped me out a lot. Mostly with knowldge, but a few pieces of equipment also.
The foul language is going to be out there, hard to avoid it. Dont let it scare you from letting him listen. You already said he is mature for his age. He will know whats wrong and right. I'll recall a time when i was 12, riding with my grandfather ( former trucker ) from CT to NC. We hooked up a president grant export model and a mag mount on his car. Every time i turned it on it seemed like some trucker was talking about this pretty little thing with her leg on the dash or something. So i would turn it off hoping my grandfather didnt hear it. After about the 10th time he says to me " Jase, Just leave it on, I dont pay no attention to them when they talk like that." And the fact is, you can turn your tv on now a days and see and hear it all there on any channel.

[SemiBoysMom]

Century...that is so very kind of you! I possibly have a lead on some equipment, but I'll have to see how that pans out. Cost is definitely an issue. BTW...lol...my son is over my shoulder saying: "MOM!!! TELL HIM WE'LL TAKE IT!!" LMBO!

And you are too right about turning on the tv, and seeing any number of things. I find it appalling that even in the middle of the day, there are shows, and advertisements on, that are very inappropriate, IMNSHO. It's pretty sad when I have to supervise his watching Nickelodeon, a kid's channel! Generally he's pretty good about not watching the things he knows he's not allowed to. But, like a kid, every now and then he tries to get away with it. Thank God I have that extra set of eyes in the back of my head!

I have to say, I was pretty impressed with my big guy (now that he's 9, he doesn't want me to call him my "wee one")...I came on forum to show him some of the 10 codes...he knew around 20 of them, just from playing semi-based computer games! I was quite amazed, actually! He is turning inside out with anticipation!

I keep having this funny feeling though, about starting with CBs. About a year ago, he asked if he could have some fish...a neighbor had offered to give him some Convicts (a species of cichlid). We had a 10 gallon tank, so I thought heck, why not. We'd clean the tank, set it up, and "have fish for free". Yeaaaaaah riiiiiiiight! It quickly became apparent the fish were aggressive, and the tank was too small. Now, a year later, a new larger tank, hood, bio-filter, substrate, etc etc etc...all the things that go along with the hobby, a few more colorful cichlids (yellow labs), a few expensive cichlids that were way too aggressive for the tank that had to be given away, and some colorful, but expensive, dither fish to aid in cutting down the aggression that ultimately became dinner...those "free" fish have cost me more than $400!! I have a slight feeling...nay, I fib...a STRONG feeling, that CBing might have the same effect on my pocketbook! ROFLMBO! But you know what? This is something that I KNOW he is very interested in, something that will be an enjoyment to him, something that can also teach...I have no hesitations in supporting him in it.

[SemiBoy]

Hi, guys. This is SemiBoy. Thx for helping my mom out, I cant wait to start cbing.