Should We Put A CB Radio In Our RV?

by Ursula Malvasio
(Big Pine Key)

We are newbees on the road with our 5th wheel. What do other RVers use to communicate? We wonder about a CB unit.

ANSWER Greetings Ursula thanks for submitting your question on our Ask An RV Question Page.

A lot of RVers use their cell phones for communication while on the road. But believe it or not the CB radio still has its place in the RVing and trucking world. By listening to channel 19 (this is the CB radio's "unofficial trucker’s channel") on a CB radio you can get updated information on road conditions by listening to a trucker 10 miles ahead of you traveling on the same road. You cannot do this with a cell phone, unless you happen to have that trucker’s cell phone number.

There are still rural areas in the US where your cell phone may not work. The CB radio can still transmit in those areas and makes a great communication backup in case of an emergency. CB radio channel 9 is designated by the FCC as an emergency only channel. Many law enforcement and emergency services agencies monitor this channel 24/7, so if you call for help on channel 9, you have a pretty good chance that someone will hear you.

CBs are also a great way to communicate when traveling with a group of other RVers. Before your group takes off just choose a channel and have all the RVers in the group use that channel to communicate with each other. Just so you know CB channel 13 is the "unofficial RVers channel"; unfortunately not many RVers know that and do not use it, but it would be an ideal channel to use when traveling with other RVers. It appears that most RVers stay tuned in to the trucker channel 19. Being that channel 19 is so popular, it would not be a channel I would want to use to stay in touch with other RVers you are traveling with as you may not be get a word in edgewise with all the traffic it has.

What Types Of CB Radios Are Available And How Much Do They Cost?

There are all types of CB Radios available in all price ranges. For example for around $50.00 you can get a basic 40 channel CB radio such as the Cobra 19DXIII 40-Channel Mobile Compact CB Radio (see picture upper left side of this page). If you want a CB Radio with a lot of bells and whistles for about $145.00 you can get one like the Cobra 29 LTD BT 29 LTD CB Radio with Bluetooth Technology (pictured at left) which has Bluetooth Technology which allows you to use your cell phone hands-free through the CB Radio. There are also CB Radios that have weather radios built into them, etc.

You will also need a CB Antenna so you can send and receive on your CB Radio and you do not need to install one of those 12 foot tall whip antennas (unless you want to) on your tow vehicle or motorhome. The type of vehicle you have will determine what type of CB antenna you actually need. If you are planning to install the antenna on a fiberglass RV you will need a No Ground Plane CB Antenna. For a non-fiberglass RV or towing vehicle there are all types of CB Antennas you can choose from.

Hopefully this information has been helpful to you. If any of our visitors have suggestions or tips for you they can add them to this page by clicking on the add a comment link located near the bottom of this page.

Happy RVing

RVing Al