Portable CB Radio HELP-Urgent (Xmas present)

[tm77]

Hi everyone,
Hope you don't mind me joining your board for a while. My dad drives a big rig and wants a cb radio that he can remove when other drivers use his truck a few days a week. I bought a cb & magnetic antenna @ RadioShack a few days ago, but after searching the web, the radio seems very basic. I have seen some cobra & uniden models that have illuminated displays for ease of use when driving at night. Do you know if any of these are portable or do they actually need to be installed in the truck?? I appreciate any info you guys can provide. Running out of time here as I need to order asap for delivery before Xmas.

Thank you!

[Malaki86]

A Cobra 29LTD with the Nigh****ch - that's a nice lighted display on a good radio.

Use it with the magnetic antenna he's already got, or find a quick-clamp mount for the antenna - the one's I've seen have a 'vise-grip' like attachment.

[Uturn2001]

What you can do is go to Radio Shack, Autozone, truckstop, etc and get a male 12 volt plug and put that on the end of the power wire of any CB radio and he can power it through any 12v power outlet on the truck. When he wants to move the radio all he has to do is unplug it. That way you cna choose any radio you want to give.

As far as the ant goes the mag mount is not practical on a truck as there is usually not enough metal to mount the ant. What works better is a quick release mirror bracket. This looks like a pair of vice grip pliars with an antenna mounting bracket on it.

Ant mount

12 volt power plug

Thos links are just to give you you an idea of what I am talking about.

[slider64683]

I really hope you dont try and get him a handheld. LOL

Happy Holidays

[tm77]

I went to TA and decided to go with the Cobra 29 NWLTD w/ Nigh****ch. He loves it--he said his friend at work has the same one. As far as the antenna goes he found out that his truck is already equipped for one-the guy who drove his truck before had everything set up. So I just gave my dad $ so he could pick the antenna out.

Thanks to all of you for your suggestions-it really helped me out.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas! Stay safe out there!

-T