radio recommendation needed for heavy equipment

[TommyT]

I'm looking for recommendations for a quality, durable cb radio to be mounted in a piece of heavy equipment (backhoe, etc). It will be mounted in a dusty, high vibration environment. It must have good sound qualities and not sound like a tin can like the cheap radios do. We tried the cheap radios from Radioshack and Wal-Mart and were not happy with the speakers - they sounded too "tinny" and hard to understand. The boss has decided to loosen the purse strings a bit and buy better equipment in the hope that we will get better function and life span out of the investment.

Tuning the antennas on these machines is a nightmare as we cannot mount the antennas on the roof of the cab due to low clearance issues when entering the shop, and the booms are constantly changing positions relative to the antenna when working. We really only need to have about 1 mile of range which has been elusive at times with the cheap antennas/radios we currently have. Considering our unique situation, I'm planning to go with the Wilson 1000 antenna due to it having the coil weight down low (to prevent whip on rough terrain) and because it will flex easily when entering our shop.

Any ideas or recommendations are appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[W5LZ]

Best recomendation I can think of is to forget CB radio and go commercial. It costs more but they tend to be more reliable and secure.
I'm not aware of any CB type radios that are specifically made to suit the environment you want to be able to use them in. I'm sure some are better than others in that regard, but don't expect much.
Wish it were different, but...
- 'Doc

 

[formulamojo]

Unidens!!!

Cant go wrong.

I run a pc68xl in my truck and I do a ton or off roading and drive even more dirt roads. It has never failed me.

 

[formulamojo]

Unidens!!!

Cant go wrong.

I run a pc68xl in my truck and I do a ton or off roading and drive even more dirt roads. It has never failed me.

 

[Bow]

add an External speaker the faces the operator?

 

[SR385]

Kenwood KES-5 speakers....they aren't cheap, but they are fantastic. Try one.

Kenwood KES-5 Mobile Speaker

 

[Bow]

Specifications
Maximum Rated Power: 40 watts
Impedance: 4 ohms
Enclosure Size: 5 1/16 x 5 1/16 x 3 inches (129x129x77 mm)
Weight: 1.81 lbs (820 g)

Aren't most CB's rated for an 8 Ohm External Speaker?

a 4 Ohm may burnout the Audio IC....

 

[freecell]

the common ta7222 audio ic is rated for 5.8W into a 4 ohm load and 9.3W into 2 ohms. within the range of load impedances from 2 - 8 ohms the lower the load impedance the higher the output. choose a speaker with a maximum rating that matches the rated output based on the load impedance for full volume range with minimum distortion levels.

TA7222AP

 

[Bow]

the common ta7222 audio ic is rated for 5.8W into a 4 ohm load and 9.3W into 2 ohms. within the range of load impedances from 2 - 8 ohms the lower the load impedance the higher the output. choose a speaker with a maximum rating that matches the rated output based on the load impedance for full volume range with minimum distortion levels.

TA7222AP

OK.. Just checking!

 

[SR385]

the common ta7222 audio ic is rated for 5.8W into a 4 ohm load and 9.3W into 2 ohms. within the range of load impedances from 2 - 8 ohms the lower the load impedance the higher the output. choose a speaker with a maximum rating that matches the rated output based on the load impedance for full volume range with minimum distortion levels.

TA7222AP

My RACES group run a lot of these with plain old amateur and commercial mobiles with no trouble at all.

The big bonus is the construction is very very solid and the sound is robust and full range, not tinny like so many communications grade speakers.

They are capable of being VERY loud if you run a small audio amp...loud enough to hear across the street from your vehicle if you so wish. Normally they have plenty of volume just driven from a radio.

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

if you do decide to try new radios sparkys has the 68xl for 80 bucks with a free tune and alignment included . Uniden PC-68XL Mobile CB Radio
uniden is doing the 30 and 40 dollar rebates again this year . Uniden | A World Without Wires
5o bucks for a sparkified 68 brand spankin new is a real good deal .

 

[formulamojo]

I may have to grab one of them there 68's Booty. Shelf it for when I do an install in the wives new car.

 

[Mr Clean]

I agree. Uniden. They also make nice external speakers. About as rugged as you are going to get. ESP 20 is a nice one.

 

[TommyT]

Thanks for the help guys.

Although Sparkys' picks the Cobra 25 LTD Classic over the 68XL for durability reasons, I am going with the Uniden PC-68XL because: (1) you guys endorsed it, (2) my co-workers hate the big clumsy microphone on the Cobras.

I passed Sparky's web site info on to our purchaser today and if she didn't already do it, Sparky will be getting an order for seven PC-68XL radios and seven Wilson 1000 antennas.

Regarding commercial radios mentioned above: We already have Motorola FM radios for our Company radios but we need the CB's to communicate with about 150+ different truck drivers making deliveries every day.

THANKS AGAIN!!!!!!!

 

[formulamojo]

Good to hear!!