Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

agent_flounder t1_ja3ogzj wrote

Reply to comment by Occhrome in Been in every car I’ve had since 1986. by 710dabner

Midland 75-822 is the smallest I can think of. Plugs into a cigarette lighter. Never owned one so no idea if it is any good. Quite a few CB handhelds are still big. Lot of big mobile radios too.

For whatever reason a lot of cb radios are stuck in the 70s/80s in terms of design. Maybe because there's no money in redesigning?

The smallest dedicated mobile you can get, as far as I know, is a Uniden 510 or 520. Even those have been around for decades; I got mine in the late 90s (it's still working after years of four wheeling)

7

bquinlan t1_ja40f8k wrote

>Midland 75-822

I've had one for a very long time and it's still working. It will plug into a lighter plug and an external antenna for in-car use or you can attach a small battery case and mobile antenna to have something about the size of a traditional walkie-talkie. It's a good design.

2

luingar2 t1_ja6a6oo wrote

Many of the realities behind radio transmission strongly resist miniaturization. A wire has to be so thick to carry a certain amperage. A transformer requires so many turns of that wire to convert to higher voltage. The more power you use in transmission, the better the range, which causes design conflicts with the above

1

agent_flounder t1_ja6cuvl wrote

All true but CB is limited to 4W and similarly powered 2m handheld radios are much much smaller than their cb counterparts.

1