ok so I was planning on buying a 10 meter radio or something that gets out good and sounds loud. first and foremost, I know almost nothing about radios.

here are my questions.

1. I was thinking of a connex 3300, followed BigDiesel's link and seems like a good price. Is this a good radio, or what would you recommend?

2. What else do I need for the setup, as far as what is a good antenna and coax to go with it?

3. How hard is it to modify it to work with a regular CB?

4. I pull a dump trailer and a trash transfer trailer (depending on what work we have), so I am in really rough mines/landfills daily. I don't take it easy through them so the truck takes a beating. Will one of these hold up? I don't want to replace a radio every few months or something.

Right now I just have a regular Cobra 29 with a cheap firestik antenna and don't even know what coax, but it's old. In fact I think I found it in an old truck of ours lol

I'd like to keep it under 300 bucks for the whole setup, or close to that.

 

anyone? (besides RadioRay)

 

Great radio, and highly recommended.
I prefer Wilson 2000 Antenna however I believe any Stainless Steel whip will work fine. Just try to not run any coax thru your window or door as this will weaken it over time. If you absolutely must run it thru the window/door, do it on the passenger side as you use this door less. Do not trim the cable from the original length as this will affect performance unless you understand Wave Length. You only need one antenna and in most situations one antenna will work better anyways. The most important thing is to make sure you set your SWR on the antenna. If you don't know how, ask a cb shop or do an internet search as this is the single most important part of having a radio that "gets out"

No need to "modify" it. It will be ready straight out of the box. Put it on "bank D" that is regular CB

I have had my Connex for 4 years in a dump truck(albeit never off road) and have had nary a worry.