Anything I could use around the house to power my cb other than a battery? Sorry If this has been discussed before, as I have already searched for my related issue to no avail. I'm setting up a mobile cb (uniden 510xl) to us as a base station.... I needed a power supply so I went looking all over the house for any adapter that puts out 12volts dc. Yes.. your probably thinking: "this dude just hooked up a cb with a dang printer/router power supply" Correct thats what I did... one of those small little black boxes you plug into the outlet.. i cut off the plug and wired it up... cb came on and stayed on... great right?.. here is my base setup... uniden 510 with cheap printer power supply, a cheap 12 dollar antenna bought from walmart which was defective but I rigged it up to work.. (tuned best I could get at about 2 on chan 1 and about 2.5 on chan 40) with antenna sitting inside the house on a toolbox. I took off on my atv (radio equipped with a cobra 19 IV and lil wilson).. at 1/8 mile she pegged my radio.... 1/4 miles she lit up 3 lights and at about 1 mile, she still gave me two lights... thing is---I couldn't hear a word she said... was all garbled, scratchy, and over all the place. Through all the raido checks and comebacks (probably 10 in all) I only understood 1 word at 1/8 mile away.."yes" but i could hardly make it out... I know its not smart to use these cheap power supplies.. it was pretty warm when I got home (15min later).. radio was kinda warm to the touch too.....I know I need to get a decent power-supply... is that why she sounded so bad? (dirty dc power) or was the scratchy comebacks due to the crappy antenna or crappy power supply?........or both... again.. what could I use as a good 12v dc power supply without spending cash? Computer power supply? Anyone out there use something other than the expensive power supply's built for my application? Tons of junk laying around I could get parts from.. what can I get to work on the cheap?
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Cb power supply options
- Thread starter greusome1
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mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
You need a 12 volt DC power supply capable of putting out at least a few amps. Not sure your printer power supply was up to the task. It may not have been able to supply enough current for the radio, and more than likely, it was noisy.
Having an antenna mounted inside your home isn't going to help either.
Get the antenna outside on a proper ground plane. With a proper ground plane under it, then adjust the length for proper SWR.
An old PC power supply MIGHT work. I do believe most of them had a 12 volt output, as well as 5 volts. You'd need to be sure the power supply was capable of putting out a few amps on the 12 volt side.
The real issue, I bet, was the ignition system on the ATV. I know from riding ATV's before, we'd get some noise even on our VHF portable radios. They weren't wired into the ATV power, and were not attached to the ATV in any way, but they'd still pick up the noise.
You might be able to try moving the antenna around on the ATV. Make sure the radio is properly grounded, not just relying on the negative power lead for ground.
Having an antenna mounted inside your home isn't going to help either.
Get the antenna outside on a proper ground plane. With a proper ground plane under it, then adjust the length for proper SWR.
An old PC power supply MIGHT work. I do believe most of them had a 12 volt output, as well as 5 volts. You'd need to be sure the power supply was capable of putting out a few amps on the 12 volt side.
The real issue, I bet, was the ignition system on the ATV. I know from riding ATV's before, we'd get some noise even on our VHF portable radios. They weren't wired into the ATV power, and were not attached to the ATV in any way, but they'd still pick up the noise.
You might be able to try moving the antenna around on the ATV. Make sure the radio is properly grounded, not just relying on the negative power lead for ground.
Nah.....
Radio checks from my atv are loud and clear to others.... and my wife said I sounded great... although she can hear a slight ticking sound (atv ignition i suppose).. I turned off my atv and sat in the dark and no change from her... still static.. good strength.. just her modulation sounded horrible....well im trading the bad antenna from walmart soon for another.... but think I need a better power supply.. and I know I need a better antenna for both home and atv..love to have a starduster or something exotic in my yard say 40feet up....
Radio checks from my atv are loud and clear to others.... and my wife said I sounded great... although she can hear a slight ticking sound (atv ignition i suppose).. I turned off my atv and sat in the dark and no change from her... still static.. good strength.. just her modulation sounded horrible....well im trading the bad antenna from walmart soon for another.... but think I need a better power supply.. and I know I need a better antenna for both home and atv..love to have a starduster or something exotic in my yard say 40feet up....
kf4eyr
Member
supply not enough current would make it sound garbled,,, need to get ya a 3 plus amp 12 volt regulated supply to run that radio,, and a better antenna set out side and above roof would be more effective,,,
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
Research making your own base antenna. It isn't hard.
As for a power supply, there is something to be said for having a good 12 volt regulated power supply designed for what you are doing. I understand trying to find cheaper alternatives, though.
As for a power supply, there is something to be said for having a good 12 volt regulated power supply designed for what you are doing. I understand trying to find cheaper alternatives, though.
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