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CB radio, How to!

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grogan

Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2006
Messages
85
Most readers of this thread won't like this But if you want to get out LOUD,...............
1 Get a cobra 29Ltd from a CB shop who tunes them And
A) tell them dont clip the limiter
B) Have variable power installed
C) have modulatiuon turned up to 100%
2 Buy a good Base antenna Imax 2000 best not to get a beam for local talking or skip for the new guy just starting out.
3 Buy a 2 transistor amp I like them with 2---2879 transistors TexasStar DX350HDV
Buy a powersupply large enough to run both The bigger the better say 50 amp contineous.
The best coax you can get after all you want to run the amp.
A good meter to measure SWR Watts and modulation.
A power Mic. Astatic D104M6B hand held etc.


Set it up and check SWR, Get a radio check from a local and adjust the mic setting to 7 and mic gain on the radio so you are loud but also clear. and then leave it alone.

Set the variable out-put on the radio for 4 watts local and this is important 1 1/2 to 2 watts when useing the amp or you will burn it Up




and last but not least Hope the neighbors don't complain and hope the FCC doesn't show up at your door to fine you and remove all your gear Because yes this is all Illegal
 

AC9BX

Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2011
Messages
333
Location
Lockport, IL
Oh how little most CBers (including tuning shops) know about how AM modulation works and how pointless some accessories like a "power mic" are.
 

gewecke

Completely Banned for the Greater Good
Banned
Joined
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Messages
7,452
Location
Illinois
Oh how little most CBers (including tuning shops) know about how AM modulation works and how pointless some accessories like a "power mic" are.

This is probably because all they need to know is how to squeeze the ptt and they can care less what else happens afterwards.
The a.m. mode is not even needed in most services.

73,
n9zas
 

grogan

Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2006
Messages
85
Most microphones that come with radios today are made on a budget. I should have said buy a good quality Mic. I just like Astatic mic's for quality and price. Most CB shops can handle a simple adjustment with an O-scope to adjust modulation.and installing for variable Wattage is simple to do.As fo The Teck at the local shop you just never know what he knows. AM not needed well CB and Ham radio is not needed. and the worlds communications would not stop without either one.
Take a look at your local ham club and their EM communications. I see a 1968 ford bell telephone truck with the origional yellow light Ten antennas complete with Steel civil defence hard hat. Yes they have their place, But needed? I don't think so.
 

WouffHong

Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2005
Messages
306
Location
Jawjuh :)
Overdriving..

The result will be more DISTORTION and BLEEDING over to others. Don't do it.. The gains won't help THAT much, but the people that want to "pin" your coax will arise. :evil:
 

grogan

Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2006
Messages
85
You will talk all over the U.S.A and with a nice clean signal Provideing you set it up corectly.. Sorry to say this. Yes the best way to do this is Get your ticket a nice antenna and coax and a Ham radioand be legal.
 

stevedogan

Completely Banned for the Greater Good
Banned
Joined
Apr 20, 2011
Messages
86
Most readers of this thread won't like this But if you want to get out LOUD,...............
1 Get a cobra 29Ltd from a CB shop who tunes them And
A) tell them dont clip the limiter
B) Have variable power installed
C) have modulatiuon turned up to 100%
2 Buy a good Base antenna Imax 2000 best not to get a beam for local talking or skip for the new guy just starting out.
3 Buy a 2 transistor amp I like them with 2---2879 transistors TexasStar DX350HDV
Buy a powersupply large enough to run both The bigger the better say 50 amp contineous.
The best coax you can get after all you want to run the amp.
A good meter to measure SWR Watts and modulation.
A power Mic. Astatic D104M6B hand held etc.


Set it up and check SWR, Get a radio check from a local and adjust the mic setting to 7 and mic gain on the radio so you are loud but also clear. and then leave it alone.

Set the variable out-put on the radio for 4 watts local and this is important 1 1/2 to 2 watts when useing the amp or you will burn it Up




and last but not least Hope the neighbors don't complain and hope the FCC doesn't show up at your door to fine you and remove all your gear Because yes this is all Illegal

YYYYYYES! YES! YES! YES! Just what I've been looking for the last week or so! :) :) :)
Heck, don't worry about Uncle Charlie! They don't give a darn about CB anymore. I've written and called a handful of times and they always tell me don't hope for anything anytime soon, in not so many words. The only thing they'd take action on is if it's causing problems for more serious matters such as bleeding over on EMS towers, or onto commercial radio staions (both of which I've heard of), or obviously if you're using it for major felony activity...terrorism, drug trafficking, classified military intercepting, etc.

Will a GTL 148, or a Uniden 510 or 520 work too?

*ANYTHING IS LEGAL UNLESS YOU GET CAUGHT!* (JUST KIDDING!)
 

burner50

The Third Variable
Database Admin
Joined
Dec 24, 2004
Messages
2,231
Location
NC Iowa
I just cleaned up 25 off topic posts.


This is NOT the place to debate which is better. Ham or CB, Vanilla or Rocky Road, Ford or Chevy...


Keep it on topic or go some place else.
 

stevedogan

Completely Banned for the Greater Good
Banned
Joined
Apr 20, 2011
Messages
86
Most readers of this thread won't like this But if you want to get out LOUD,...............
1 Get a cobra 29Ltd from a CB shop who tunes them And
A) tell them dont clip the limiter
B) Have variable power installed
C) have modulatiuon turned up to 100%
2 Buy a good Base antenna Imax 2000 best not to get a beam for local talking or skip for the new guy just starting out.
3 Buy a 2 transistor amp I like them with 2---2879 transistors TexasStar DX350HDV
Buy a powersupply large enough to run both The bigger the better say 50 amp contineous.
The best coax you can get after all you want to run the amp.
A good meter to measure SWR Watts and modulation.
A power Mic. Astatic D104M6B hand held etc.

Question is, how do you DO half this stuff? What all fancy equipment is all needed?
 

zz0468

QRT
Banned
Joined
Feb 6, 2007
Messages
6,034
Question is, how do you DO half this stuff? What all fancy equipment is all needed?

Most of those items don't require fancy equipment or knowledge. It takes no equipment to not eliminate a limiter, it's unnecessary to add variable power, and modulation comes set as close as necessary to 100% from the factory.

A power and modulation meter is available on Craigslist or eBay. Most illegal amplifiers are designed for about a 4 watt input, and power supplies are readily available at the same sources as mentioned above.

Do a little reading about how amplitude modulation works, so you understand why exceeding 100% modulation serves ONLY to make your signal unintelligible. Adding a 'power mike' will only serve to amplify the background noise so that it competes with your voice for the available transmitter power.

A "good" antenna is usually pretty simple, and its hard to beat a 1/4 wave or 5/8 wave ground plane. Use the best quality of coax you can afford, but unless the run is over 100' or so, RG8 or RG213 is usually just fine at 27 MHz.

None of this stuff is rocket science. There is no magic formula for getting a stock CB to talk louder, it's ALL snake oil, and what performance enhancing techniques that DO work generally involve quality of the installation, not turning screws in the radio or cutting diodes or any of that crap.
 

reedeb

Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2006
Messages
849
Location
Dallas Texas
What really gets me is I talked on plain jane radios since the 70's and never had trouble getting out. BUT it seems everyone wants to sit in a hole and be able to blast out to someone 50 miles away. IF they can hear you on a plain radio then you are doing very good. All I used was either plain simple AM/SSB or a plain simple AM rig, regular power, good coax, and a 102 steel whip antenna.
 

gewecke

Completely Banned for the Greater Good
Banned
Joined
Jan 29, 2006
Messages
7,452
Location
Illinois
What really gets me is I talked on plain jane radios since the 70's and never had trouble getting out. BUT it seems everyone wants to sit in a hole and be able to blast out to someone 50 miles away. IF they can hear you on a plain radio then you are doing very good. All I used was either plain simple AM/SSB or a plain simple AM rig, regular power, good coax, and a 102 steel whip antenna.


Have you noticed that no one believes in the K.I.S.S. principle anymore?
(keep it simple stupid)


73,
n9zas
 

k3cfc

Silent Key
Joined
Feb 27, 2011
Messages
715
Location
Beavertown Pa.
It is not all the fancy equipment that you will need. it the knowledge to use this equipment.

CB moto is all knobs to the right.
 

kb2vxa

Completely Banned for the Greater Good
Banned
Joined
Mar 22, 2005
Messages
6,100
Location
Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.
"Have you noticed that no one believes in the K.I.S.S. principle anymore?"

Hey, you're right! I haven't seen a CBer turning knobs with his tongue in a LONG time.

Seriously, I found my old Rat Shack mobile barefoot quite satisfactory after changing out the stock mic with a Shure 404B plain old dynamic, no preamp drowning voice in ambient noise. No flimsy crap here, you can run it over with a truck and it'll sit there grinning at you. The key is how well you're heard and the key to good audio is a good mic. Sounding muffled or tinny doesn't cut the muster, using a cheese grater as an audio processor gives them ear bleed reaching for the controls to shut you off.

I could always tell a "leenyar" by the muddy sound but they soon fixed the problem with predistortion, that's a power mic cranked to the max. Adding mud to grated cheese doesn't change the sound of it much, only spreads it all across the band so no matter what channel you're on you get pizza delivered and you don't even have to call in the order.

"CB motto is all knobs to the right."
Yeah, and when it won't go any farther grab it with pliers and crank the hell out of it!
 
Last edited:

DcotorWu

Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2012
Messages
24
Grogan posted "Most CB shops can handle a simple adjustment with an O-scope to adjust modulation.and installing for variable Wattage is simple to do."

I have been all over the country and have never seen a CB shop with a scope or anyone who even looked like they knew how to use one. I had to chuckle over that one. I was in one shop in Illinois and heard a "technician" complaining that the new radios they were carrying, with FM mode, wouldn't "swing" on FM no matter how low he turned the dead key down. That's the typical CB "technician" for ya.
 
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