Favorite used cb/cbssb base radio

#385747

Shopping for a used base cb or cb/ssb I can find on eBay.The last time I was on the air was back when everything was tube.Can someone chime in on maybe the top 6 favorite radios cb or cb/ssb.Under the $200. range. I am leaning toward the Realistic navaho's trc 457/458/490.& the cherokee 1000. Thanking you in advance, tom south florida

#385756

I just got a President Washington and I think that is a great rig.

There are a lot of interesting rigs for sale.
Best wishes on finding the best one for you.

Welcome to the Forum.
I haven't been back into radio too long yet either.

73
Mike

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#385758

Got my galaxy 959 for 150. Made lots of contacts with it. What kind of antenny ya gots?

#385761

The Navaho 457 is a good choice, look at the Royce and Robyn models too plus the all time favorite Cobra 142GTL.
I see you are a new member, could you post an intro in the "Welcome to the Forum" topic,, so other members can say "Hi", thanks.

3's

Greg

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#385796

hi Tom, you may be able to find a few units at the local pawn shop or garage sales, althou that can be a crapshoot too.
you may get lucky and find a complete set-up for ?? $15 from some little ol lady that only used it to talk to her bingo connection in Bogata

it would get you started anyway,,, and much like a drug addition,, so is CB's

do you have any friends that are into CB's? ask them to set you up.
the next cb antenna you see, try to talk to the guy, pick his brain. most CB'ers love to talk about cb's. probably even sell you a spare.
and last but most important, consider the biggest tallest largest antenna array that you can muster.
a 2 watt walkie talkie is all you need then.

#385797

443 Arizona wrote: ↑June 15th, 2017, 1:30 am hi Tom, you may be able to find a few units at the local pawn shop or garage sales, althou that can be a crapshoot too.
you may get lucky and find a complete set-up for ?? $15 from some little ol lady that only used it to talk to her bingo connection in Bogata
it would get you started anyway,,, and much like a drug addition,, so is CB's
do you have any friends that are into CB's? ask them to set you up.
the next cb antenna you see, try to talk to the guy, pick his brain. most CB'ers love to talk about cb's. probably even sell you a spare.
and last but most important, consider the biggest tallest largest antenna array that you can muster.
a 2 watt walkie talkie is all you need then.

Well said, about the addiction part.

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#385798

Hey there Tom,

I will have a Cobra 142 GTL for sale
in about a week. Let me know if your interested.

I'll get pictures up asap.

73

Mike

#385799

any of the radios you mentioned are good radios. just remember the older the radio it may need caps replaced if not already done. the cherakee 1000 would be the newest radio and less chances it may need any caps changed.

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#385803

what who addicted to cb?..... ill be back i have to check if skip is in.....

#385888

My TRC457 came homw from the doctor today. I have a washington also. Funny thing same board. The old realistics and presidents are all Uniden chassis as are the Cobras. They are all great just have to decide on what bells and whistles you want. I always liked the looks of the Madison.

#385889

My TRC457 came home from the doctor today. I have a washington also. Funny thing same board. The old realistics and presidents are all Uniden chassis as are the Cobras. They are all great just have to decide on what bells and whistles you want. I always liked the looks of the Madison.

#385891

still need to find a Tech that will work on the old Washington.
It is a great looking rig and sounds wonderful.

Hope I won't be needing to send it too far.
The McKinley is doing well also.

73
Mike

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#385892

Cobra 2000 GTL....was the top of the line in it's time...

Today however.....the Cobra 2000 GTL is "Top of the Line!"

May cost you a little more than $200 for one that is not all hacked up, but you can't go wrong with the 2000 gtl.

#385896

My favorite base radio is the president Washington with the 858 PLL in them. it will be dead quiet and some one will key up with a signal of S1 and it will come to life. if set up right those have one of the quietest receives that I ever had. I wound up with 3 of them that had to be recapped to bring them back to life.

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#385913

Im liking my magnum 1 this radio has a great recieve features and packed full of extras..its pricy but i turned it into a base and my everyday radio

#385931

cobra 2000 hands down.

#385935

I would also go with the Cobra 2000, or the 142 gtl...Have both of them, they hold up well...

pabxone · #385939

There's lots out there.

Uniden Madison
Uniden Washington
Stalker XV
Stalker XX
Cobra 142 GTL
Cobra 2000 GTL
Tram D300
TRC490

And my personal favourite the SBE LCBS 8

All the above are made by Uniden and have pretty much the same internals with a few slight variations of the circuit board.

President Madison
President Washington
TRC457
TRC458
Robyn SB520
Cobra 139XLR
Courier Centurion

All the above are made by Uniden with the same uPD 858 circuit board.

If you are up for a challenge consider these
SBE Console V
SBE Console VI
Craig L231
Pace 1000B ( 40 Ch ONLY)

#385944

Hey Tom,
Welcome to the forum!

I have to agree on the Washington, love mine. You can really pick out those far off and weak signals and hone in on them. The meter is far more sensitive and accurate than the garden variety meters in a lot of rigs. I can tell when someone is broadcasting by the meter fluctuations (especially on SSB) before I can hear them. Then I hone in with the clarifier and can usually get a good contact. I also use a Galaxy 979 as a base and get almost the same result from it (extremely good meter in that one too) although the front mounted speaker on the Washington is clearer and easier to listen to especially when the signal is weak.

When looking for a good deal, I keep my eye mostly on local buy & sell sites. And I always test before I buy (something you can't do on Amazonian or ebayzian) even if it's just a temporary mag mount antenna on my daughter's Honda. Unfortunately, there are some liars & cheats out there who'll sell you old junk in a shiny box. I've found that if they're selling something but insist on meeting in an alley or parking lot, they may be on the shady side. But good deals abound. I've picked up 40 or 50 radios in the last year and only got burned once. While a lot of us here are getting back into CB, there are a lot of folks out there no longer using their once expensive radios. I've picked up some unbelievable deals. Both the Washington and the Galaxy I got dirt cheap. The Washington because the owner didn't know how to hook up or mount his antenna and couldn't get a good SWR match so he got frustrated and dumped it. I got the Galaxy because the guy just wasn't using it much. Both turned out to be excellent radios.

There are a lot of good ol' radios out there but keep in mind they may need help. I'm not too good at fixin' up the insides like most of these guys here but I've been able to figure out a lot just by asking dumb questions and getting good answers here. Having a good local radio tech is also a great asset but, they aren't as common as they used to be. I talked to an electronics tech who advertised he could fix anything but when pressed, he admitted he'd never even seen the inside of a CB radio. I might let him tinker with my TV, but not my Washington.

Good luck in your search. Let us know what you end up with. Let us know where you are too. If you're around here, Mighty mo's got a nice Cobra 29 for a great price and I'd be willing to let some of my extra stuff, Cobra, Uniden, Realistic ... go as well.

TrblShooter · #385962

Like others have mentioned, if you can grab a cobra 2000 gtl in great condition off of either ebay or one of the forums, grab one.. Its probably out of your price range, but its a great radio, along with the uniden madison.. Or you could go with a Uniden grant XL mobile and use it as a base.. There a few nice ones up on ebay... The grant XL is a favorite of mine for various reasons... Good luck on your search...

#392306

Trc-457 all the way!!

#392314

If you could find one a Midland 78-999 AM/SSB 40 channel Base. it was about the size of a RS TRC 457, maybe smaller, dual antenna switch for using it on a dual polarity beam, very quiet receive but pulled in those distant signals well. Not many were made. My second choice would be a General Electric 3-5875 Super Base. More or less the same radio but twice the size of the Midland.

3's

Greg

#392316

TRC-450, really nice Realistic but its not a Base but, I use it as one. Old thread but a goodie!!

51 · #392425

haha, everybody keeps telling him cobra 2000. he wants to spend a couple hundred dollars, not $800. have you seen the absolutely ridiculous prices people want for those things now, pshhh. i say save a couple dollars more and just get a brand new galaxy dx2547 and be done with it. if you gotta go cheaper used, i vote with everybody else, realistic and uniden base radios. or some of the real old school base radios made in the 70's, lafayette, robyn, colt etc

#392451

51 wrote: ↑December 23rd, 2018, 4:48 am haha, everybody keeps telling him cobra 2000. he wants to spend a couple hundred dollars, not $800. have you seen the absolutely ridiculous prices people want for those things now, pshhh. i say save a couple dollars more and just get a brand new galaxy dx2547 and be done with it. if you gotta go cheaper used, i vote with everybody else, realistic and uniden base radios. or some of the real old school base radios made in the 70's, lafayette, robyn, colt etc

Seeing how this thread is over a year old now, I would assume he found a radio by now...However, it is possible to fine decent Cobra 2000 gtl's close to $200...Just got to keep watching the auction site and be willing to jump when one pop's up...Seen several go for around $250 that looked very clean...needless to say they didn't last too long before someone snatched them up.

Just steer-clear of ones that have all kinds of mods and switches all over the front...

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