President Electronics Bill II FCC Ultra-Compact AM/FM CB Radio, Black, TXUS101

When I first saw how tiny it was I was concerned about the performance. Once I used it, I was so glad that I chose this one.

Ive been kicking around the idea of putting a CB back in my travel vehicle (Ford Explorer) for a while now to accompany my dual band rig. Limited space meant the Cobra 25 chassis was too big, and I didnt care for the Cobra 75. SSB wasnt needed and FM would be nice, I just wanted a decent monitor channel 19 radio. Enter the President Bill II after some research and I decided to pull the trigger and I can say for my requirements it fit the bill. I paired this up at first with a commercial MLB2700 antenna, but later swapped it out to a Road Pro RP-550 (see my review) due to height restraints. Do yourself a favor and use an external speaker as unless this is mounted up above its gonna struggle getting volume out of its little speaker (hey, its a small radio!) especially in a loud environment. It has a nice NB and ANL feature that really filter out ignition noise. ASC seems nice, but overwhelming signals tend to blast right past it, wish it had an RF gain setting! It does not have the built in SWR function like other Presidents do but I always use an external meter for this work anyways. Mic is flimsy feeling, but it works good ( good audio reports) and has nice channel up and down buttons and the cord is far better than most stock mic cords (not super stiff when cold). Nice sold chassis and the display doubles as the channel up and down selector by rocking it the corresponding direction you want to go. Does have WX and WX alert if you so choose. Two emergency channels that can be assigned to what ever you want besides the normal 9 and 19. Comes with two brackets, a standard basic CB type with side knobs and a slick little quick release mount if you want to remove the radio from the vehicle quickly. Havent used FM yet. Does have a channel scan feature abet kind of slow though. Solid 4 watts deadkey into my Telewave 44a, peaks out at 12 watts swing after doing a little adjustment in the secret service menu. I know you can do some soldering and cutting inside and these have the potential to do 20 watts+. I dont need that and frankly it sounds like a good way to cook the finals in a tiny radio like this. I havent put it on a service monitor yet but so far it gives me no reason to check it over. For the size of this thing you really cant beat it if you want CB and have limited room. I dare say its the best buy for a compact, non SSB radio. So long Pro510/Cobra 19, your days are over.

Great range and nice and compact

Have not installed yet. Purchased for its small size.

This compact radio is full of features and seems to be well made. It is easy to use and I am very happy I chose this model.

I love all the features in this tiny unit from President. Everything they make is well-engineered: Solid performance and durability.

I wasnt sure about the speaker being its so small but it works great. I use the cb at work in a caterpillar rock truck it worked really well I would recommend it to anyone looking for a compact radio with good features

I’m a ham operator. Just put this President Bill II AM/FM radio in my Subaru Outback (this thing is tiny). I’ve got nice 2m/440 gear but wanted a CB for better situational awareness when traveling the interstates. This thing is smaller than two packs of cigarettes, but works great! The Automatic Squelch is a nice feature. I haven’t tried the FM yet. Channel 19 seems pretty quiet here, but the truckers are still there. Seems they listen more than talk compared to 40 years ago when I was a kid (my last time on CB). I got a few receptions reports using a temporary $20 Rubber Ducky magnetic-mount antenna and everyone reported great audio. I’ve got a Wilson 1000 coming later today for road trips. I’ll update this later with a photo. Btw, someone left a review here a month or two ago saying they are actually shipping the older model and that concerned me; almost didn’t place an order. That must have been a shipping error because I received the latest Bill II model.

This is my first CB product so I dont have a comparison, but this little guy does a great job for the value and the small form factor makes it easy to install in an out of the way place. Would definitely recommend to anyone who needs a CB.

Like how small it is.. Very compact..