Midland 75-785 Handheld CB Radio

they look great but our two way GMRS radios get better range then the cbs

This comes in handy when traveling. Mobile phones still have their limtations. But with Citizens band radios you have no limits.

This is a reasonable product for the price. I liked that I could power it with the included car adapter without any batteries required. With the small attached antenna, it seems the range from inside a car is probably only a few hundred yards. So I bought a magnetic roof mounted antenna at Radio Shack for $35 (I later saw one at a truck stop for $20), plus a $5 adapter to convert the normal CB antenna plug to the smaller plug on the Midland. This improved reception, I'm estimating to about a mile radius (my estimate is based on conversations I hear from truckers in the opposite direction on the freeway; at 60 mph (so about 120 mph differential speed), a conversation comes in and then fades out in about 1 minute total. But a 1 mile radius is still pretty pitiful for a CB, you really don't hear much of the chatter even on a busy truck freeway like the I-10 between California and Arizona. And transmission seemed even weaker; I couldn't get anybody from the opposite direction to hear me, but rather only people a few hundred yards in the same direction. So in short, if you want something to chat with a caravan buddy, two of these would likely work fine and are a great price (and you don't have to mess with batteries like with many newer handheld two-way radios). Add an antenna if you want the bare minimum ability to communicate with truckers. For anything more, you have to lay down more bucks for a much more powerful CB radio that can blast a signal and can pick up signals much farther away.

For those who buy a CB for their kids to have fun on family road trips, be aware that some truckers have really really foul mouths (I have a very high tolerance for those things, and even I think some of the things a few drivers say are just downright gross). It can still be fun, but be ready to turn down the volume!

Even driving on the freeway with trucks around me no one could pick me up. I could only hear talk from a few hundred feet away.

this product works well but your range is bad if 1 is indoors and 1 outdoors no range inside vehicles. uses not much batt. power