Cobra HH 38 WX ST Handheld CB Radio

I was looking for a cb I could use on car club road trips to communicate with others in the group. I wanted a hand held because I didn't want to have anything installed on a permanent basis. That said I used it without an antenna on a trip to Northern California with 7 other cars. In order to hear instructions from the lead car I had to be in the second or third slot. I could hear the conversations from cars in the rear but they could not hear me. It suits my needs as long as I'm in second slot which is where I prefer to be anyway. A cross country road trip is being planned for 2009 with many more cars. I will either upgrade by then or have an antenna installed.

I am finding this CB to be quite adequate for limited range which I require. The weather channels are quite handy and the scanner is an added plus.

The Cobra HH38WXST Handheld CB Radio is an excellent radio for anyone looking for something portable and well-built. This radio claims to have a 4-mile range, but it seems to be closer to 2 miles in the woods, and 5 miles in an open city. I also purchased the extension antenna from Cobra, which extends to 27". This will increase your range dramatically. In the woods, near the lake, I can talk to truckers over 15 miles away. I can easily hear the drivers 8 miles away, and you can quietly hear the drivers approximatly 15 miles away. The only problem is that you may be able to hear that far, but you must be within 4 miles of that radio to talk to them. It is all in the reception.

If I had the option to recommend this product, I will tell everyone in the market for a Portable CB Radio. If you are planning on using it for a base unit, though, look for one with an external antenna and mountable. This radio does not pick up well in vehicles without the optional Car-Mounted Antenna, which I have not tried as of yet.

it goes with me everyday to work .... i use the weather feature on it everyday , especially in the spring time right now with all the bad weather going on

We had to take a long roadtrip during some questionable weather. I wanted to have a CB in the minivan so I could listen to truckers, learn about traffic problems, and hear about road conditions. Also, I wanted a weather radio. This unit had the features I desired. It was quickly delivered and worked fine out-of-the-box. I used the included 12v adapter and kept it powered up during the whole trip. I used a roof mounted Cobra antenna (A1500) coupled to this radio via a BNC-to-Standard adapter. Because I didn't know what language I'd hear over the CB, I also got a earphone/microphone combination that plugs into this handheld. This setup worked great on the trip. Range wasn't wonderful - probably about a mile or so. But I did not have the equipment to set the SWR of the antenna so I wasn't too surprised. (An internal SWR meter would have earned this 5 stars.) Would I get it again? Yes, the setup worked out fine for us. Truckers could hear me fine (if within range) and I could hear them. It was nice listening to weather radio also.