Radio Review - Anytone AT-500M 10-Meter Radio

[JohnyMac]

Okay, what is the best intel you can gather when the SHTF hammer falls? Truck drivers of course. Truck drivers ala CB (11-meters) radio that is.

In my shack I not only have 11-meters available on my HF radio thanks to having it MARS modified but I have a small AnyTone AT-500M 10-meter ($80-) radio that I converted to CB with a few selected buttons pressed simultaneously when I turn the radio on. Keep in mind that if you were to buy a CB radio, the maximum power is 4W well when you convert the AT-500 to CB, maximum power is 15W.

I have the AT-500 hooked up to a vertical mounted home brew antenna resonate on 27.205 Mhz. I am situated at about 1,400 feet above sea level and have no problems RXing trucker traffic 60+ miles away during the day and much farther at night. I have ragchewed with truckers 40-miles away during the day and much farther at night with no problems. That is on 15W with this little AnyTone radio.

I am in the market for a new vehicle and after I buy it not only will I have a 2/440-Meter radio in the vehicle but I will also have this little powerhouse.

It is a old JohnyMac buy for sure. 

[Jackalope]

       I run a 10/11 meter radio in one of my mobiles, along with a dual band vhf/uhf radio.  It does come in handy when traveling. Most of my hf radios have 11 meter capability.  It?s useful for signals intelligence.

[JohnyMac]

Yupper Jackalope. 

The last time I went to NC, along with my 2-meter radio in the Exploder, I had this reviewed AT-500. When I ran into a backup along I-81 I would turn it on and listen to find out what the backup was all about. In some cases, I exited and hit secondary roads to get around it. 

[Searchboss]

I have two OLD standard CB radios in a box in the garage. I used to have one set up at home and the other in my truck back in the 1900?s. They worked reasonably well then and I had many interesting conversations as I drove around the southeast.

I have not listened to CB in a long time. I did buy a handheld CB radio (Cobra 50WXST) last year so I would have a way of communicating with others that may use CB, particularly if I was mobile. It came with an external mag-mount antenna. I took it on one cross state trip (approximately 180 miles one-way) that did not involve interstates, and the results were disappointing. There was almost no traffic the entire trip, and what I did hear was almost unreadable. No one responded to my sporadic calls during the trip. I monitored from my home for a week and heard no traffic. My house is about 7 miles straight line distance from the nearest interstate.

The reason I write this is to ask the question why those of you who have/use CB radios choose the manufacturer/type/model that you use. Specifically, I was looking into buying a new mobile CB radio that has SSB capability along with a few other bells and whistles. After the trip described above I paused my search and moved on to other priorities.

What say you? Is it worth my time, effort, and money to buy a SSB capable CB? If so, do you have any specific recommendations?

[pkveazey]

Searchboss: I had a friend who was a Ham and a Doctor and not long before he passed away, he called me and asked me to come to his house. He gave me an ICOM R-7000 Receiver (25Mhz to 1 Ghz) AM, SSB, and FM. He also gave me an old 23 channel Cobra SSB CB. Then he gave me a Variac (Variable transformer). Now that I got all the stuff he gave out of the way, I'll tell you about the items. I always wanted a VARIAC but never really had need of one. I've connected the ICOM R-7000 to an outside antenna and have monitored all sorts of stuff including 27 Mhz CB. I played around with the 23 channel COBRA CB a bit and the only thing I heard was a few loudmouth stations that only wanted to show off how much power they were running. So, as for me, I have CB capability but believe it will be next to useless when the SHTF. If I'm wrong, it's OK because I do have the capability to use CB if needed. Here's the problem with modern, latest and greatest CB's. They now can operate AM, SSB, and FM. Most of the new ones only do AM and FM and the word on the street is that the Upper channels around 30 to 40 is where the FMer's will be and the AMer's will be below channel 30. The SSBer's pretty much were stuck at Channel 16 upper side band. I didn't need the radios that my friend gave me because my old ICOM IC-718 is opened up and can operate AM and SSB on pretty much anywhere that it can hear. The only good thing about CB radios is that they are built to operate in that narrow band and so their receivers are far superior to radios that can operate on multiple bands. If I find than I need CB during a SHTF situation, I'll probably hook up the COBRA first to see if it operates superior to my ICOM 718. It all goes back to the old saying, "It's better to have it and not need it that to need it and not have it." I live about 2 miles from a huge truckstop and they sell CB's there. So far, I've mostly seen COBRA's and PRESIDENT's for sale there. 99% of them are AM only. When folks start needing COMS, they'll probably just dig out there old AM only CB's and that's where the bulk of radio traffic will be.

[JohnyMac]

As already stated, all my HF radios are MARS Modified (Open). With that written I hear a lot on CB Am when i go there with the AT-500 or my HF radios.

The HF radios are using a horizontal antenna (Multiband Dipole) at 1,400 feet above sea level and 40-feet over tera fermi. which does a better job for distance than the vertical resonate for 27.205 Mhz. The vertical seems to do better for local comms.

Using the vertical, I pick up a lot of tfc from local gas company and general business tfc.

Like NOG's it is just another tool in your quiver. Like NOG's, it could be a multiplier during a frosty situation.