So the Cobra 19 just wasn't cutting it for me....BUT

[taylormade]

Picked up a Uniden PC 68XL this afternoon.




Let me tell you. Night and day difference. $50 bucks more than the 19, but worth every penny. Also Uniden has a $20 mail in rebate going on through the end of the year.

This thing is solid feeling, awesome mic and many more features. Only about 1 1/2''s wider and a couple deeper. Loving it so far.

Now for the BUT. Got it in and hit the highway's to try it. Like I said very pleased. So I get home and my daughter asks if this one has a PA too (her favorite feature). So I let her try it out. It's twice as loud as the 19's PA. But I could hear incoming transmissions through the PA speaker? So I think Crap I have the PA speaker in the external speaker plug in. Checked, double and triple checked it. Nope it's in the PA out. But still hear radio traffic through the PA along with my daughter. WTF? Is it defective, interference or a result of the peak/tune?

I won't be able to get back to the CB shop 'till maybe next Wednesday. So anybody got any thoughts?

[languy99]

where did you get it from? I think something is messed up, you should not hear anything but the PA system. I would say something is broken internally on the CB.

[taylormade]

That's what I'm thinking too. Like maybe the PA/CB switch. When it's in PA nobody can seem to hear my TX (or at least didn't acknowledge).

It's a well known, long time CB/Scanner/HAM shop.

[Motor On]

It's a normal "feature"

She's not TXing through the PA, but the big radio's tend to carry the Rx signal out through the PA as well as the Ext. speaker, this way you can park your pickup, leave the radio on and still listen so when someone calls you, you can return to the truck and get on the radio. Just flip channels to something unused if you don't want to hear the rx over the PA, or cut the RF gain to nil.

[taylormade]

Ha, ha. OK, that's what I was hoping to hear. Thanks for saving me an useless and embarrassing trip back to the CB shop. I don't think they like us "Four Wheelers" much anyway.

Can anyone second this?

[srtga]

That's a nice radio. I run the same model with weather. Night and day difference aint it

[taylormade]

It is. I almost went with the one with weather, but didn't like that the volume and squelch were on the same knob where as with the 68xl they're separate.

[fwb]

Let me tell you. Night and day difference. $50 bucks more than the 19, but worth every penny.

Mind elaborating? I'm just stepping into the CB world and am trying to decide what to get. The FAQ sticky is pushing me towards getting a Cobra 19 but I'm curious about what's better with the Uniden for you.

[Lucky225]

Let me tell you. Night and day difference. $50 bucks more than the 19, but worth every penny.

Mind elaborating? I'm just stepping into the CB world and am trying to decide what to get. The FAQ sticky is pushing me towards getting a Cobra 19 but I'm curious about what's better with the Uniden for you.

The Cobra 19 is a good beginner's radio, but it's starting to pi** me off, somedays I get ack's, others I don't. The antenna is def. fine and SWRs tuned, I think the TX on the radio just blows. I'm leaning towards getting the Uniden 520xl now with a Skythumper mic. I just really want a small radio that's going to have enough power where someone will ack me if they're within 2-4 miles, that's all I ask and the 19 just doesn't seem to cut it.

[fwb]

Don't all CBs have the same capped transmit power?

Transmission Power

When it comes to transmission power, it's important to understand that all CB radios have exactly the same transmission power. Subsequently, a cheap $40 base CB will provide exactly the same amount of transmission wattage (i.e. think power) as a CB radio that costs three times as much. The more expensive radio will likely have a number of additional features and most likely have a higher build quality, but the radio's power will be exactly the same. As the power for CB radios is capped at 4 watts by the FCC, the largest determinant of CB radio performance is the antenna. Please see one of my other lenses for details on selecting and installing a CB antenna.