Breaker 1-9..breaker 1-9.. got me a new CB, c'mon back!

Yep!

I feel like Jerry Reed. I want to start singing about the open road.. about the miles of straight strip... convoys!

Got me a CB Radio a'comin'!

I've been wanting to get a radio for some time now. Ever since I moved and haven't been a FF/EMT anymore I've missed the radio chatter! I've found myself on YouTube, listening to videos with trucker radio traffic on it. How sad is that?

So I set about trying to find the perfect setup for The Sarge. I knew a few things I wanted to avoid. Two of which were major to me.

1. I don't want the remote controlled truck look. You know the one... the truck/car with the single long antenna sticking straight up out of the roof. Makes it look like if you had the right frequency you could get our your Futaba radio and make it take off into the ditch.
2. I don't want some big, honkin' radio crazy glued to my dash, bolted underneath the dash in the way of the 12v plugs, cut into the center console where I'd have a mic wire hanging out of it.

I had a few options for the radio:

Smaller unit that would fit in place of the now non-functioning and redundant CD unit on the lower part of the mid-dash. That didn't look like the best option because the very few units I saw that met the size requirement had NO extra options at all and looked like they were better suited to hold that stubborn window open that keeps slamming shut in the living room than to hear trucker radio traffic.

A hand-held unit that I could use on and off the road. I had a few good options there but didn't know about how the range would play into it. The biggest piece of advice I seemed to run across on the CB sites were "get the options you need in a radio, but then get as big and tall as an antenna you could get. You get what you pay for." The little rubber antenna on the handhelds didn't seem to be the best option.

Then I saw it. It was like a beacon of light shone through the window, onto my screen, highlighting it. Sounds of angels singing in my head. The Cobra 75 WX ST. It's a radio that mounts out of the way. The controls are on the mic itself. It has weather band, dual channel monitoring, backlit LCD display, full channel scan....the angel voices grew louder.

What's more, it came as a kit. The singing grew even louder.

Included the antenna...
...and antenna mount of my choice...
...and external speaker...!...
...and SWR meter (to tune the antenna)..!!...
...and it was all for less than $200, shipped (fast shipping guarantee!)

Ok, I have to admit, at this point the angels were pretty much screaming like Steven Tyler in the last minute of ever single song he ever sings.

So after all was said and done I ended up getting everything needed for a nice clean install, including the tuning equipment needed for a good install, and what looks like a great customer service for post-purchase questions and help.

I can mount the unit under a seat or under the center console, mount the extra external speaker wherever, and have the mic with all the controls placed neatly on a mic mount somewhere easily accessible.

Oh- and the kit also comes with a mirror mic hanger so I can have the mic dangling off the mirror for easy access if I want.

Too cool.

Now... let's hope there are no hold-ups from UPS. I'm leaving on the road trip on Wednesday and the radio was shipped out Thursday. Only leaves about 3 work days worth of shipping time!

C'mon little radio...!... c'moooonnn!!!!