PRO505XL

This thing was pretty great, it works with a pa horn and long distance but you do need an antenna

I've been in CB radio for nearly twenty years, and a ham operator for fifteen years. In my time I've owned many CB's ranging from $10 yard sale cheapies, to $600 base stations. I've also done my fair share of modifying, repair, peak & tune work to various CB's. In my honest opinion, this is what I feel, "The best" small CB for under $50. If you have the need for a small CB for casual communication, you won't go wrong here. Out of the box, stock, this little radio will transmit about a 3.5W carrier (FCC limit is 4W) and will modulate (audio forward swing) about 10W. Please note that FCC regulation is a maximum of 4 watts CARRIER, and not 4 watts peak power. There's a difference, and out of the box, this radio is completely 100% within FCC spec. With that being said, in the hands of a competent technician, by adusting the AMC modulation, you'll see about 20 watts PEP with a nice little boost in audio loudness. DO NOT try this yourself - you can royally destroy your radio if you try it yourself. There's absolutely nothing wrong with how it operates out of the box! Moving on. This radio comes with everything in the box you need to install it. A mounting bracket, microphone clip, screws and hardware, and the power cord. Installation is easy and because the unit doesn't take up a lot of room, can be installed about anywhere - even hidden in your glovebox. I just leave mine laying in the back seat, not mounted to anything. You can't go wrong with this CB radio!

UNIDEN PRO505XL BEARCAT CB RADIO PROS: 1) Both the volume and squelch knobs work. 2) The mic is a standard mic connection. When will they go wireless on mics? 3) The signal and sound are loud and clear up to 2.5 miles with an non-tuned antenna. CONS: 1) The size is a bit larger (deeper) than what my available space will allow. 2) The power leads are terminated with bare wire instead of a plug to allow easy power connection to the cigarette lighter power port with a similarly modified cigarette power plug adapter. Some additional hardware and modification is needed to prepare the power leads to get this radio up and running if you only want to power through the cigarette lighter port. 3) The instructions indicate that a schedule must be established to measure and adjust the SWR antenna value and this seems overly complicated. I never had to gauge and adjust SWR on my cb radios decades ago and my radios were not harmed by not adjusting the SWR. 4) The reach of this radio was tested by me to be less than 3 miles in a flat stretch of highway. I drove to a truck stop and made contact with a truck driver who agreed to communicate with me as I drove away on a flat road to see how far the radio would reach. At 2 miles the signal was loud and clear. As I approached 3 miles static began to rise and at 3 miles the signal was lost. Again, this was using a non-tuned cobra antenna. SUGGESTIONS TO UNIDEN 1) Power lead: Replace the built in/hardwired power lead coming out of the back with a power port. Offer two power up options. Option 1 would bundle a power adapter that can be simply plugged into the back of the radio and then plugged into the cigarette lighter port. Option 2 would bundle a power lead that can be simply plugged into the back of the radio and then strung to the fuse box and/or battery. Buyer's choice. I would say that most people wanting a radio of this grade will want to plug into the cigarette lighter. Make it simple and quick to get this radio up and running. Replacing the hardwired lead out of the back with a plug will also make stowing the radio much more convenient. 2) Clarify the need to constantly be testing the SWR. Is this going to harm the radio if it isn't done? What type of harm will it do? As an option, offer the radio with an magnetic base-loaded antenna that can be easily adjusted to meet the SWR 1:1 requirement.

Simply put, for the size, this is the best CB Radio your money can buy. It is very well built, the device is encased in a very thick, and durable hard plastic shell and feels very very sturdy, the mic is very ergonomical, fits in the hand really nicely, doesn't look like some funky toy that half the other mics out there look like, and is also made of a very thick and quality plastic. This device is a little softer on output power though, so make sure you buy a good antenna. The dead key is only ~2.5 watts and the swing barely reaches over ~8 watts, but for the size, I understand why they may have had to lower these. The device will get a tad bit warm on the left side if you do a lot of transmitting (SWR of 1.3) and I would make sure you keep a good eye on your SWR for this reason, as I'm sure a higher SWR would burn this unit up as it does not have a SWR danger indicator, and seeing as how it gets a little warm even using a good antenna properly tuned. But I have heard of some users running these on SWR of 2.0 and higher and having no issues at all. Very well made internal components as well. All in all, I've been able to talk to some guys 10 miles away from me, and they report very good audio quality and decent signal strength. Perfect size and fits just about anywhere, very durable, easy to use. I couldn't imagine a better CB radio for the money. I'd get one while they're still dirt cheap. Best radio I ever bought for the price. OUTPUT POWER: Dead key: ~2.5 watts MAX Swing: ~8 watts MAX RECEIVE SENSITIVITY: 0.8microVolts per 10dB audio sound increase (most radios are between 0.5-1.0 microVolts) AUDIO DISTORTION: ~10% MAX MODIFICATIONS: None, there are NO adjustable pots inside, if you do adjust something, you WILL fry this unit. DO NOT tamper with the internals of this excellent product just to get more watts. It will NEVER be worth it. This unit does NOT have the same circuit board as the 510XL which does have adjustable pots.

Small and cheap. Bought for cousin just got his license and pickup. Always need CB in truck! He's happy with it and works as shood. Not in way of anything as small radio. Cant beat it for the price.

For how expensive other radios can be these work Great ... only used for jobsite truck to truck coms and quarry/ plant coms.

This radio is okay, and I have had conversations with other truck drivers via the radio, but they were always so close to me that I could see them. Even on the highway. With an SWR of 1.0 to 1.1 on channels 1 through 40, the radio reads 2 Watts on my SWR meter. Half the power it is supposed to read, and I cannot find any instructions online on how to increase the output power. I am disappointed by this. Also, the display screen is set up so that it is almost impossible to see the screen from below. With the radio mounted above the windshield in the truck that I drive, you can't see what the screen says, you can only see a yellow light up Square. The speaker is extremely small, but is actually loud and clear, that was a nice surprise. The microphone Jack is in the wrong place, it should be on the side of the radio, especially a radio this small. A radio like a Cobra 29, I understand why they put the mic Jack on the front, even though they shouldn't. But this radio having the mic Jack on the front just makes it be in the way. Also, the mic Jack should be on the upper right, not the lower left, and that is true for all CB radios.

I bought the Pro505XL in December 2016. It's a nice, compact unit with some decent features. It does NOT have a built-in SWR meter. Saw a couple of reviews where people said that, but it isn't true. It has a signal-strength meter, those bars on the left side of the display, but that's not a SWR meter. Some advice on this radio. First, get a real good antenna for it. I mean a LONG one, high quality. Second, get an external speaker for it and hook that up, rather than using the built-in speaker. Sound will be much better. And yeah...the good old bullhorn speaker under the hood of your vehicle up near the front grille of your vehicle is always fun. I like the silent controls on this one, too. No click-click-click stuff when changing channels. Since the radio is rated at the legal 4 watt limit, your antenna is EVERYTHING. Go for big, go bold, or don't go at all. If you decide later to upgrade to a CB with more functions or something, you won't be sorry. Besides, who wants a cheap antenna that doesn't get out very far, anyway? I mounted this one on the top of the dash in my (restored) 1987 Nissan Hardbody truck. I attached the mounting bracket and then used velcro strips on the bracket, and on the dashboard. Makes it easy to disconnect and store if you want to. Stick it IN the truck, rip it out if you wish. Doing this also keeps the bottom-mounted speaker UP off the dash, so you can hear it. But like I said, an external speaker really is better. And no matter what you do...make sure you take the time and patience to get that antenna matched properly. You want an average of 1.2 or less on your SWR meter on all channels. (That will give you 95% of your potential output. 1.0 is the ideal, and gives you 100%) There are many good videos on YouTube on how to match a CB antenna. A single millimeter difference in the proper length can be the difference between getting out long range, or only a couple of miles. And if your SWR reading goes much above 2.0, not only will your signal not reach far, but you can easily fry your radio.

no conozco mucho sobre estos equipos, pero se me izo de buena calidad y me dicen que funciona muy bien y tiene muy buena potencia con la antena correcta me lo digo quien me lo instalo

This is just as good as my old cobra! Works great! Would order again

No te dejes engañar ni por el precio ni por el tamaño. Tengo 25 años de no usar un radio de banda civil y en esa epoca usaba un GE 14b muy bueno. Me compre este radio para regresar al hobby sin tener que invertir mucho y tambien tratar de hacer mi equipo un poco portatil para poder viajar con el. La calidad del UNIDEN PRO 505xl es de primera, se siente solido los plasticos son gruesos, el microfono es pesadito y de buena calidad. Este radio no pienso modificarlo, quiero operarlo 100% reglamentado y hacer contactos con esas condiciones. Tambien me compre un Baofeng uv5ra para operarlo aqui en mexico en las bandas libres de UHV, VHF alrededor de los 150 khz + (busquen la info precisa si lo requieren) Le doy cinco estrellas por el valor precio calidad.

Parfait petit CB, il s'installe parfaitement dans les petits espace de votre véhicule et la réception est bonne si vous avez une bonne antenne

Fantastic radio. 100% legal in uk. (The old AM is legal in uk since 2012) good clear display and is easy to use. Rugged construction and clear modulation. It’s a mid-block AM 11 meter radio so you don’t have to listen to all the UK channel 19 wallys. AM is where we started and really should go back to. Thanks Uniden!