CB handhelds, why so expensive.

[The Collector]

Pethaps just settle for a few sets of batteries and a 1/2 wave copper wire aerial thrown over a tree branch then? It wont weigh you down and will fit in a small bag or in a rucksack with your sarnies

[scanhermit]

Pethaps just settle for a few sets of batteries and a 1/2 wave copper wire aerial thrown over a tree branch then? It wont weigh you down and will fit in a small bag or in a rucksack with your sarnies

Some handies have a li-ion battery. That's probably a neater solution than AAs. Maybe I could carry an ATU and convert the bike frame into an antenna.

[cb4ever104]

Thanks, Collector. That's a comprehensive answer. I may have to junk the bike idea

Come on ! You won't have issues as long as you get the weight distribution right

CoOvBOGWgAQ8Eu4.jpg

[paulears]

I really cannot understand how any radio that sells for the price of a delivered Indian meal for two, and has a really capable performance can be spoken about like people do with Baofeng. They are dirt cheap, have a very decent performance and cost less than the battery pack for many other radios. Fairly basic hand portables can be upwards of 80UKP for the less selling products. We have taken Baofeng price points to be 'normal' and they are not - they're very cheap. CB products with just a few channels are never going to be a mass market product, especially when they are country/area specific.

[original45]

I had great fun and some super contacts with my old es 200 c.f. Ht few years back. I would have once said nothing was better until the baofeng craze got me. It's unfortunate that the 200 doesn't perform anywhere near as good as the uv5 even on pmr .
We tested both side by side from high ground ,home, garden. Pmr wins.

As I posted prior the Chinese as missing a huge market if a smaller ht with ssb so on can be improved upon in performance and size.
I happen also to rate the uv5 highly for its ability I now own several and within our small local net I bet we bought 30 now easily and many have bought together new old friends.
Baofeng got this right, few tweaks needed maybe but their fantastic for the money.

Come on Mr baofeng in china, build us a decent ssb ht so on.

[Mudslinger]

Imagine what CB would have been like in 1981 if we had been given a 446 allocation rather than 27mhz, and radios for it were as cheap as they are now.

You would need about 2000 channels just to give enough room for people using them.

[original45]

On yes, c.f. Must be still popular ? How many are sold daily new and used on eBay alone.
I.know collectors , rig docs ,greenlaners but loads but the amount must be huge .
In fair baofeng have made a bloody good uhf 10 watt ht and testing it against others we have between us is really really good. T99 plus.

[scanhermit]

Thanks, Collector. That's a comprehensive answer. I may have to junk the bike idea

Come on ! You won't have issues as long as you get the weight distribution right

CoOvBOGWgAQ8Eu4.jpg

Hah! An old Midland wellington boot it is then!

[rpcomms]

Supply and demand seems to be the main issue,R&D engineering costs,Fabrication costs and claw back of R&D all adds up,then TAXes,import duties,shipping from china factories all adds up to a final product.If you have ever worked in electronics manufacturing the amount of detail and effort required is quite astounding even now with CAD,CNC milling ,Plastics injection software\hardware machines.There a lot of effort involved in producing a product which seems to get overlooked with final retail prices.
If they is low demand but low term gains then prices will high price
and opposite if supply is in great demand as bulk ordering of parts\fabrication runs become easier!

£100-200 for a new cb handheld is reasonable,especially considering new build quality of some of these new 2021 sets.

Range-Its a handheld for point to point comms-user should not expect it to perform like a car\base set period-user expectations can be too high sometimes with a stock short antenna.
This can be improved by using a trailing 2.2 metre long wire radial attached to the gnd\chassis of the HT,usually increasing TX\RX by 3 S points using a factory stock short helical cb Ariel,and further improved by using a CL-27 TNC or BNC longer whip antenna on HT or the new President Blade Tape antenna TNC

Most mfr'snow include a vehicle adaptor so can connect a base or vehicle antenna system to a HT,or via an RF adaptor.

27mhz low vhf will perform best in outdoors,UHF due to its nature works well in buildings,so supply and demand a lot greater,that reflects in prices including commercial users buying too,where cb is mainly personal user and some commercial users of kit and has lower sales point.

Its NOT all doom & gloom out there in CB HT land,can buy second hand plenty out now
or invest in New at a cost,just the way it is nowadays.

Check out the new President Randy 3 with CTCSS\DCS,repeater shift ,scan ,all sorts fully loaded and includes the vehicle adaptor\charge kit,not cheap but good investment if want up to date cb HT.

At least we still have New CB handhelds available in 2021!

73's rob p
wt-27

[scanhermit]

Come on ! You won't have issues as long as you get the weight distribution right

Hahahahah! Brilliant!

[scanhermit]

Anyone had experience of this one?

https://rugbyradiosuk.com/collections/c ... 4w-4100mah