Customer Reviews

Cobra HH 38 WX ST 4-Mile 40-Channel CB Radio

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Handheld CBs are the most useful of all two way radios. Although a CB handheld's range is not equal to a GMRS radio, but greater than an FRS unit, more people use CB than GMRS and FRS combined, especially while on the road, so assistance is within easy reach. And no license is required like a GMRS. To boost your range while in a car, use an external antenna. This will make your range equal to a mobile CB, plus make recieving signals far easier; making this radio a viable alternative to a permenant mount mobile that is difficult to move from car-to-car. The NOAA weather reciever is a great feature. With 7 NOAA and 3 International (Canadian) channels, weather info can be had anywhere with this radio. I recommend this radio to all CB'ers, especially hunters and fisherman who communicate with buddies while outdoors.

We have two of these, we keep one in my wife's car and the other in mine. Our main use is to monitor traffic back-ups (delays) on the Interstate. For this purpose, it works great.

For more regular use, I would recommend getting the external (magnet-base) antennae. This significantly boosts both the reception and transmission. I carry one of these antennaes in my trunk for longer trips. There are not many choices out there for hand-held CBs -- Based on what's out there, this seems like a good choice.

We had to take a long roadtrip during some questionable weather. I wanted to have a CB in the minivan so I could listen to truckers, learn about traffic problems, and hear about road conditions. Also, I wanted a weather radio. This unit had the features I desired. It was quickly delivered and worked fine out-of-the-box. I used the included 12v adapter and kept it powered up during the whole trip. I used a roof mounted Cobra antenna (A1500) coupled to this radio via a BNC-to-Standard adapter. Because I didn't know what language I'd hear over the CB, I also got a earphone/microphone combination that plugs into this handheld. This setup worked great on the trip. Range wasn't wonderful - probably about a mile or so. But I did not have the equipment to set the SWR of the antenna so I wasn't too surprised. (An internal SWR meter would have earned this 5 stars.) Would I get it again? Yes, the setup worked out fine for us. Truckers could hear me fine (if within range) and I could hear them. It was nice listening to weather radio also.

This CB Radio is identical to the model sold as the "HH Road Trip". For a dollar more, the latter model also includes a magnetic rooftop antenna with coax cable. The radios are the same, down to the model number inside the package, the manual, and the FCC type certification.

I think Amazon should tell users that the HH Road Trip includes an antenna for the same cost, and is the same product. Otherwise, they should reduce the price of this package to account for the lack of a magnetic mount antenna.

Got the radio as an emergency item. The WX stations pickup and sound very clear with the included antenna. Glad that the device uses AA. Readily available, many recharging options for AA. Also works off 12v, tested that. Reception with the CB seemed to work fine as well and it does scan. As another reviewer said ( I'm an ex HAM radio technician), the antenna is the key for a radio. If you're worried about reception or transmitting, get something like a roof mounted magnetic antenna for your car. You don't have to mount it until you need it. If you're clever, you can use a spool of wire for this ( I did that for my previous CB and it worked fairly well, but had to tune the antenna first by progressively cutting small amounts off until it worked like I wanted). Haven't tested transmitting with it, but I'm sure it works. If I have problems, I'll head for higher ground and try to retransmit. Cheers!

The Cobra HH38WXST Handheld CB Radio is an excellent radio for anyone looking for something portable and well-built. This radio claims to have a 4-mile range, but it seems to be closer to 2 miles in the woods, and 5 miles in an open city. I also purchased the extension antenna from Cobra, which extends to 27". This will increase your range dramatically. In the woods, near the lake, I can talk to truckers over 15 miles away. I can easily hear the drivers 8 miles away, and you can quietly hear the drivers approximatly 15 miles away. The only problem is that you may be able to hear that far, but you must be within 4 miles of that radio to talk to them. It is all in the reception.

If I had the option to recommend this product, I will tell everyone in the market for a Portable CB Radio. If you are planning on using it for a base unit, though, look for one with an external antenna and mountable. This radio does not pick up well in vehicles without the optional Car-Mounted Antenna, which I have not tried as of yet.

The CB works great.
I do however suggest having an external whip antenna if you want better performance, you do not NEED it though.

It has good receive and limited range with the stock antenna. I bought the extension antenna for it and it does a little better. If you want to be heard farther than 1/2 mile you should go with a mag mount type antenna for your car. To be clear, I'm happy with this radio and i expected the range that it gets..
I do have 1 NEGATIVE thing to say about this radio. The weather is hard to pull in on it. When my other weather radios are getting the weather channel clearly, this one just got static. It does get the weather if you're close enough to the tower but, a real weather radio does much better.

I was looking for a cb I could use on car club road trips to communicate with others in the group. I wanted a hand held because I didn't want to have anything installed on a permanent basis. That said I used it without an antenna on a trip to Northern California with 7 other cars. In order to hear instructions from the lead car I had to be in the second or third slot. I could hear the conversations from cars in the rear but they could not hear me. It suits my needs as long as I'm in second slot which is where I prefer to be anyway. A cross country road trip is being planned for 2009 with many more cars. I will either upgrade by then or have an antenna installed.

I am finding this CB to be quite adequate for limited range which I require. The weather channels are quite handy and the scanner is an added plus.