Customer Reviews

Midland 75-785 40-Channel CB Radio

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

This is an excellent handheld CB for the money. It is perfect for taking on road trips. Having a CB along when travelling on interstates is very nice. You can hear the truckers chat about what is going on in front and behind you. It is a great way to keep aware of the road conditions. This radio comes with a cigarrette lighter adapter so it is real easy to just take it in whatever car you want and not have to worry about batteries. a cb is a must for any vehicle and this one is so affordable that you should not pass it up. Another really cool thing is that it will fit perfectly in a cup holder!

I think you're missing a fundamental fact about handheld radios. They don't work well inside of a car. For people who are used to mobile CB's with an external antenna, of much greater length, sitting out on top of the car and using the body of the car as a ground plane... you just can't compare that to a handheld. You're going to hate it. If you're inside of the car, the metal body of the car is destroying most of your transmission. You need to get the antenna outside of the car. If that means getting the necessary adapters and wiring your handheld to a magnetic mount antenna on your roof, then so be it. You will find you radio is getting out MUCH farther with that external antenna.

To me this radio works better than the small two way radios, thats why I bought it. Yes it's a little bigger than the 2 way radios, but what I really wanted was more clearly transmission and a longer range which is what I got.

This is a reasonable product for the price. I liked that I could power it with the included car adapter without any batteries required. With the small attached antenna, it seems the range from inside a car is probably only a few hundred yards. So I bought a magnetic roof mounted antenna at Radio Shack for $35 (I later saw one at a truck stop for $20), plus a $5 adapter to convert the normal CB antenna plug to the smaller plug on the Midland. This improved reception, I'm estimating to about a mile radius (my estimate is based on conversations I hear from truckers in the opposite direction on the freeway; at 60 mph (so about 120 mph differential speed), a conversation comes in and then fades out in about 1 minute total. But a 1 mile radius is still pretty pitiful for a CB, you really don't hear much of the chatter even on a busy truck freeway like the I-10 between California and Arizona. And transmission seemed even weaker; I couldn't get anybody from the opposite direction to hear me, but rather only people a few hundred yards in the same direction. So in short, if you want something to chat with a caravan buddy, two of these would likely work fine and are a great price (and you don't have to mess with batteries like with many newer handheld two-way radios). Add an antenna if you want the bare minimum ability to communicate with truckers. For anything more, you have to lay down more bucks for a much more powerful CB radio that can blast a signal and can pick up signals much farther away.

For those who buy a CB for their kids to have fun on family road trips, be aware that some truckers have really really foul mouths (I have a very high tolerance for those things, and even I think some of the things a few drivers say are just downright gross). It can still be fun, but be ready to turn down the volume!

I purchased the Midland radio for motorcycle use, with a headset mounted helmet. I am very pleased with the performance of the Midland radio. Recommend it to anyone who needs a compact CB.

I've bought 2 of these. Outdoor reception is great. Sound clarity is better than the FRS radios a friend has. The only drawback has been poor reception from inside a vehical. They do have the standard jack for an external antenna which can be picked up for around $20. Mag mount to your car and reception is great.

CB radios are out of style with the FRS/GMRS radio popularity.

However, they have their place. On the road, in emergencies and for general communications. I'm going back to Alaska in 2008 via the AlCan highway. CBs are still needed up there and this handheld supplements an older CB handheld that I bought from Midland years ago.

Today, the 40 CB channels are fairly quiet compared to a few decades ago. This is good for communications.

This Midland CB handheld uses AA batteries and is more energy efficent than the ones I had years ago. Not much else has changed in the overall design and function either over the years. This is good, since you have a proven, solid product.

John R. Carpenter

This Midland CB radio is a godsend. We can now receive and send to insure that we do not have to "sit in a parking lot on the freeway". We will get a warning and can find another route. Thanks for the radio.

I seem to receive ok in the car, but other drivers tell me to get my radio fixed anytime I transmit something. My transmission actually comes over my radio speakers and squeals. Maybe if I get an external antenna, it will improve. It is nice and compact. Odd that the channel display disappears when you adjust the squelch. It says it's supposed to do that in the manual, so it's a proper function, just odd. It gets me the info I need, but if you want to transmit in a car, get an external antenna.

This is a very good CB handheld. Long range even in a dense urban environment (at 4 watt power TX). Much better than FRS radios that I have already used. Taxi drivers and truckers could pick up my signal as far as 4 miles away. A signal meter could be a good improvement.