I have been eyeballing the CB radio market as a good way to get into a trail-friendly communications device without getting my HAM license yet. I also decided that to be worth it, I would want to install a radio with the NOAA weather monitoring stations. I was thinking that the space below the radio would be perfect for the cobra 18 WX ST II like many other people on yotatech have: (My dash center now as it is) (Cobra 18 WX ST II) Now, I'm not entirely sure. I saw the FMU mod, or the field monitor pulled from a subaru, and I'm now hell-bent on having one for myself. That sort of puts the kaibosh on the WX ST II in the standard mounting location for me: (SoCalPaul's flippin awesome FMU installed) That leaves me with the cobra 75 WXST. All the functions are digital and handheld vs. analog and mounted on the radio. I would assume that the WX ST II would be at least slightly more reliable, but I also know that as far as wattage goes, all CB's are capped at the same level. I'm planning on a dual 3' firestik II setup with a co-phased coax cable. I'll be mounting them to the top of the tailgate of the 4runner on either side with almost 100% of the antennas in full view of one another, so supposedly I'll get that good forwards and backwards projection. Basically what I want to know is this: Since dash space is at a premium with my plans, is the hand-held radio worth getting? Is it markedly worse than the full-sized unit that many people seem to be fairly happy with? Has anyone spent enough time living with either of these radios to speak to their longevity? Anyone have problems with the tunable firestik II's with the firering connectors? Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated! (Firestik II antenna diagram) (Firestik door jamb mounting hardware) (co-phase firestik firering connection cable)

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I don't have any experience with those components, but I would imagine that they'll be "good enough" for basic trail com. If you're thinking about getting into Ham, I suggest a more temporary CB antenna mount, such as a roof mount magnetic K-40 or Wilson 1000.

I just got my ham license and picked up a used 2-meter ICOM mobile radio for $100. It totally blows away the CB.

Good luck any way you go.

id say the cobra 75 best place to put the antenna is on the roof or front fender i wouldn't go with dual antenna's id go with a single wilson 3ft