me and my buddy are shooting to buy CB radios for the both of us to talk to eachother while driving around. we both have low budgets so any suggestions on what a cheap yet reliable CB would be we would both appreciate it. thanks!

You can get a great basic setup for less than $100 easy. Where do you plan to mount the antenna? After you know that you can really start to determine what you will need.

You can get a basic setup for close to $50 bucks, but probably between $50 and $100 for a decent one.

I have a Midland 1001Z Radio... Cost me ~$25 at Buy.com... Works good for what I use it for, has R/F Gain, Squelch, etc.

I used to use a 4ft Firestick with Tune-able tip on it.

With this setup and 9ft of Belden Coax in a Hood Channel Mount, I got about 6 miles of transmit range, and 8 of receive range.

I would not do the hood mount though if I was you, it works quite well, and it is actually a good spot to put your antenna, but when the wind gets to blowing that antenna around, it rubs in the hood and the fender and removes the paint, so I took it off. Now I have a toolbox, and I have dual whips, but only one of them is hooked up, because for dual whips to be effective they have to be much farther apart than they are on a pickup. I get less range with this, because I haven't tuned it at all, even though I should.

The cheapest setup you could go is get that Midland 1001Z, and then a cheapo magnet mount antenna and put it on your roof. The bad part about this is that the magnet mounts can get knocked off easily, and they also scratch the hell out of your roof.

No matter what antenna you get, you should really consider getting a spring, that way if you end up going under a low hanging branch you won't lose your antenna.

Alon, on this forum, makes an antenna mount that uses an existing bolt that you tailgate latch uses, look here: http://www.fordrangerforum.com/class...na-mounts.html

I have been considering making one of these myself... the dual whips I have now are just for looks, and I would like to get another antenna with a quick attach on it so I can just put it on when I'm going hunting, etc.

So lets just do a little calculating, shall we?

Midland 1001Z @ Amazon.com $26
http://www.amazon.com/Midland-1001Z-40-Channel-CB-Radio/dp/B00024DIDK

Firestik "Firefly" 3ft Antenna @ Amazon.com $13 http://www.amazon.com/FireStik-FL3-R-FireFly-Antenna-Tuneable/dp/B000X3800G/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1293643087&sr=1-2)--

IF YOU HAVE STAKE POCKETS: Stake-Hole Antenna Mount @ Amazon.com $16
http://www.amazon.com/FireStik-SS-294A-Pickup-truck-antenna/dp/B000X3C9EY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1293643187&sr=1-2

18ft of Coax @ Amazon.com $17
http://www.amazon.com/FireStik-K-8A-single-antenna-cable/dp/B000X3EPCI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1293643255&sr=1-2

For a grand total of :: $72

If you have stake pockets, that mount above is a great alternative to drilling holes in your pickup, and since I see you have the regular Ranger bed... I think you should have stake pockets. 18ft of Coax should be plenty to run to a radio in a regular cab. That antenna is a 3ft Firestik, but its somewhat thin, which allows it to be alot more flexible than a regular antenna. Also, it has a tune-able tip on it, which is a really great feature of Firestik antennas. It allows you to fine tune your setup for best reception.

Here's just a basic setup with the radio and a magnet mount antenna: (http://www.walcottcb.com/1001zms512-...th=340_377_379), but it isn't a high quality antenna.

I'm partial to the Midland CB's... however, the Uniden 510 or 520 are also good radios as well. If you have local swap meets around you, these are good places to look for CB radios, a friend picked up 4 total radios for about 20 bucks.

You will need to get the whole setup tuned, now whether you choose to buy a SWR meter (About 15 bucks or so) or if have someone else do it, it doesn't matter, just make sure the setup gets tuned properly. Some truck stops USED to tune CB radios, but your best bet now is finding a CB radio shop near you, they are slowly becoming few and far in between though.

Good Luck! Sorry for the novel, but.... if you have any more questions, hollar.

I agree with OscarMike. I use a Midland 1001Z as well and it performs perfectly for my moderate use. I as well use a Firestick no ground antenna although I use a 4'. I had mine mounted to the center of my toolbox but I now have a camper shell and have the antenna mounted in the stake post hole. The setup above will work perfectly for you.

cobras are nice and arent very expensive. you can find them at most truckstops

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94 Mazda B2300
jvc head unit scosh hds and xplod speakers also have 2 12 inch subs in the back.
american racing directionals on 30/9.5/15s
INDIANA RANGERS
MAZDAS

cobra works good and cost less

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2001 Ranger Edge 4x4 , Stepside,FRF decals, 4.0L SOHC decals, Primus IQ brake controller, curt 2" rec. hitch, custom winch mount,
Tinted glass, Yellow BUGGMAN OVALS a real treat to have. OHC, CB, night vision goggles, 36" periscope,
DiabloAmarillo = The Yellow Devil

I disagree to a point, Cobra's littlest radio (the model 19) is not a very good radio, the Midland or Uniden is a better quality radio for about the same price. Now, Cobra's big radios, (29, 25, etc) are great radios!

Wow thanks OscarMike. that is a lot of information to handle but it is helpful. very comprehensive and i appreciate you taking the time to help me out. i will actually most likely go with the exact set up you gave me. it seems cheap and reliable and will last me untill i can afford to go bigger and better. thanks!

This is what Im going to be getting for my Ranger here in a month or two.

CB Radio: http://www.12volt-travel.com/40-chan...ol-p-8927.html

SWR Meter: http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2036239

Antenna: http://www.amazon.com/FIRESTICK-II-TUNABLE-TIP-BLACK/dp/B000X3EP7I/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1293667873&sr=8-6
Mount: http://www.amazon.com/FireStik-SS-294A-Pickup-truck-antenna/dp/B000X3C9EY/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1293668034&sr=8-3
Cable: http://www.amazon.com/FireStik-K-8A-single-antenna-cable/dp/B000X3EPCI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1293643255&sr=1-2?tag=completenirva-20
Total: $154.14

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1988 Ford Ranger XLT Standard cab, 2.9L V6, 5 Speed stick, 2wd.

No problem, I was in the same position as you a while ago, and I had a hard time finding something that would work, because flaresides don't have stake pockets... but I think the setup I gave you is a good setup and the stake pocket mount doesn't require any extra holes, so that's good.

The setup that "killich" gave is also a good setup, his radio is also a Midland, just a "nicer" one with more features.

I run a radio shack cheapo mini little transceiver with a 3 ft mag mount and it works pretty good. I get out a few miles on it and have had times i could pick up chatter from canada. (i they were flukes) I am looking to upgrade to a better radio though.

One thing you may also want to consider is the NOAA Weather Radio capability. I have a stand alone handheld radio for that and it comes in handy. If you do start to look into that, some have the SAME alert function in them and some don't. What that means is, if there is a weather alert issued (tornado warning, Severe thunderstorm watch, winter weather advisory, etc) your radio will have an alert tone go off (loud beep followed by the "err err" sound you here on your tv when they do those tests) IMO, it can be pretty useful.

I didn't get a radio that had the capability and i wish i would have.

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1997 Ford Ranger XLT, 2.3L I4, Auto, 2wd, Regular Cab, 91k miles. 7.5in 4.10 Open Rear Axle

Keep the air in the spare, and the bag in the wheel - Adam Carolla

so i recently got paid. lol so i have about $200. i would like to get the set up kilich posted but i am wondering do i really need the HAM radio for 60 dollars? seems expensive anad i dont really know it use? thanks for the help. o one more question if i want to mount my CB receiver too my roof in my truck between the two sun visors. is there any special mount you guys know of? thanks!

Just get the standard CB... a HAM radio is nice, but it is not necessary, and it is over kill for just BSing around town.

You can mount your radio to the roof between the visors... the easiest way to do it is to remove the "latches" where your visors snap into, and mount a metal bar between the two, then mount the CB radio's attachment bar to that bar.

What kind of distance are we talking about?

I've been on a couple roadtrips, and i was the only one with a cb, so we used FRS walkie talkies, the range on those babies can be surprising.

ok Oscar thanks i will just get the CB and yeah thats all i will use it foris BSing with my buddies who have them and just messing around. and ok so just mount a bar using the visors as a sort of template.

and Ranger Sport i dnt know like 10 or so miles would be plenty. i will only use it too talk to my buddies around town and that kind of stuff.