How much dare I without sizzling something?

[stevedogan]

How high can I turn up the power (mod., carrier, or both) on a Uniden 510 or 520 without sizzling the finals -or any other part for that matter? I had one once and I think the guy I know turned it up from 3 or 4 watts stock to like 5 or 6. (As I mentioned in another thread I THOUGHT I seen what he did, so I wanted to turn it up MORE. I was getting about 10 watts out of it....for about 3 days......then suddenly the needle on my power meter I had hooked up dropped like a stone!)
How high can you turn up a Uniden 510 or 520 without killing the radio?

 

[digitalanalog]

crank it..................................

 

[gewecke]

How high can I turn up the power (mod., carrier, or both) on a Uniden 510 or 520 without sizzling the finals -or any other part for that matter? I had one once and I think the guy I know turned it up from 3 or 4 watts stock to like 5 or 6. (As I mentioned in another thread I THOUGHT I seen what he did, so I wanted to turn it up MORE. I was getting about 10 watts out of it....for about 3 days......then suddenly the needle on my power meter I had hooked up dropped like a stone!)
How high can you turn up a Uniden 510 or 520 without killing the radio?

Crank it up...and blow it up,or leave it alone.
You won't gain a thing by trying to tweak that radio, but shorten it's life cycle.


73,
n9zas

 

[WQFM513]

Replace the stock 2sc2078 final with a mitsubishi 2sc1969 final, there's also a resistor to replace with a less restrictive one. Not sure what one or its value. Just do some research, or switch to a cobra 25 or 29 and replace the final with an erf 2030 mosfet...

 

[stevedogan]

Come on guys. I'm serious. If you don't know then why answer in the first place with some ill attempted humor??? Except for the last comment. I'm not sure I wanna' try to weld anything in place of anything. (I'm scared I'd blow something up again!)
Anywho....all I was wondering is how high can those things go stock as far as power? DOES anyone know?

 

[gewecke]

Come on guys. I'm serious. If you don't know then why answer in the first place with some ill attempted humor??? Except for the last comment. I'm not sure I wanna' try to weld anything in place of anything. (I'm scared I'd blow something up again!)
Anywho....all I was wondering is how high can those things go stock as far as power? DOES anyone know?

I'm serious too.
A few watts at best, Not enough to make a noticeable difference.
I would leave it alone.


73,
n9zas

 

[gewecke]

Replace the stock 2sc2078 final with a mitsubishi 2sc1969 final, there's also a resistor to replace with a less restrictive one. Not sure what one or its value. Just do some research, or switch to a cobra 25 or 29 and replace the final with an erf 2030 mosfet...

Too much work for too little change.

73,
n9zas

 

[LtDoc]

I think you've answered your own question. -Maybe- 50% increase, but an undetermined life span. A 100% increase and a very definite, and unacceptable(?), decrease in life span. So what's the life span of that 50% thingy? Beats me. "Patience Grasshopper!"
And what was the benefit in that 50% increase? Nothing significant.
Suit your self...
And about the 'ways' of going about that increase in power, carrier, applied modulation, or both? Think about that. There's a definite relationship between the two for 'AM'. Change that relationship and you change the 'quality' of the output signal. In extreme cases, it's not strictly 'AM' anymore. Think about that too.
- 'Doc

BTW - I don't advocate you changing anything. Especially since you have to ask about it, which means you don't know exactly what you are doing. That's not 'picking on' you, I'd say the same for anyone. None of this is 'new' by any means, surpressed carrier has been around for quite some time. DSB and SSB has been around a long time too.

 

[stevedogan]

I don't know. Unless it was just dumb luck, but given several other comments on another thread of mine here, it doesn't sound like just luck.....I was getting out better with an untouched 520 a lot better than with a Cobra GTL I had, which I thought was capable of more...? After someone turned it up for me, BOY! did I (and everyone else) notice a difference. I never noticed a decline in function at all, but even if it would shorten the life of the radio, for $20 or $30 what the heck. I mean, it's not like I'd have to buy a new one every other week. The thing I can't understand is that instead of walking on people, everyone told me I blended in under them (kinda' like getting 2 radio stations at once because neither is strong enough to totally be heard over the other). No other CB I ever had was reported to me to have done that. What would cause that on these?
As for the lack of experience, well, there's only 1 way to learn. I certainly wouldn't touch anything in a $100+ radio (I think I spent $135 for the GTL I had years ago) but a cheap radio like this, I'm willing. I mean, if I'm in doubt of anything I'll ask certainly. I think I was told that the 520 I had was only putting out like 3 watts -max. is 5 if I recall right. Some argue 4 watts, but I though tI read it was 5. (Of course with all the rules of FCC Part 95 Subpart D being broke today, who's going to care about 1 or 2 extra watts?) But no really, I *think* the guy I knew turned it up to like 6 or 7 but it was a # of years ago. The amount on the S meter, etc. to me ain't the point. I was getting out SO much better -for whatever reason- with that tiny bit of extra power, the rest doesn't really matter to me. I just wanna' see if it'll work again on another radio. As previously noted, I turned the power up more than what he had on my original 520 to like 9 or 10 watts and a few days later sizzled it, but now I know that 10 is too high. Do you guys think 6 or even 7 is too high? And am I correct in understanding that if you turn the carrier up you have to turn the modulation down by the same amount and vice versa? That's what I really did wrong the first time is not turn one of them DOWN when I turned the other one up.

 

[jimbr1]

I just recently purchased a 520 just for intermittent mobile use...got good reviews on many CB boards, especially the jeep forums as I guess it can take a bit of a beating...and you can't beat the price. It actually hasn't arrived yet, so personally I can't comment on how good or not good it is. After doing a fair bit of research- I'm just going to get a good antenna and a power mic. There seem to be only a couple of mods to it...and lets be real..any internal mods make it illegal- so if you are going that route, you might be better off with an external amplifier. The stock parts on many of these radios cannot take the internal power increases- as you seem to have experienced first hand...good luck!

 

[jassing]

and lets be real..any internal mods make it illegal- so if you are going that route, you might be better off with an external amplifier.

In the USA, external amplifiers for use on 11 meter band is illegal.

 

[jimbr1]

My point.....internal radio modifications to boost power past 4 watts are no less illegal than an amplifier....

 

[gewecke]

I don't know. Unless it was just dumb luck, but given several other comments on another thread of mine here, it doesn't sound like just luck.....I was getting out better with an untouched 520 a lot better than with a Cobra GTL I had, which I thought was capable of more...? After someone turned it up for me, BOY! did I (and everyone else) notice a difference. I never noticed a decline in function at all, but even if it would shorten the life of the radio, for $20 or $30 what the heck. I mean, it's not like I'd have to buy a new one every other week. The thing I can't understand is that instead of walking on people, everyone told me I blended in under them (kinda' like getting 2 radio stations at once because neither is strong enough to totally be heard over the other). No other CB I ever had was reported to me to have done that. What would cause that on these?
As for the lack of experience, well, there's only 1 way to learn. I certainly wouldn't touch anything in a $100+ radio (I think I spent $135 for the GTL I had years ago) but a cheap radio like this, I'm willing. I mean, if I'm in doubt of anything I'll ask certainly. I think I was told that the 520 I had was only putting out like 3 watts -max. is 5 if I recall right. Some argue 4 watts, but I though tI read it was 5. (Of course with all the rules of FCC Part 95 Subpart D being broke today, who's going to care about 1 or 2 extra watts?) But no really, I *think* the guy I knew turned it up to like 6 or 7 but it was a # of years ago. The amount on the S meter, etc. to me ain't the point. I was getting out SO much better -for whatever reason- with that tiny bit of extra power, the rest doesn't really matter to me. I just wanna' see if it'll work again on another radio. As previously noted, I turned the power up more than what he had on my original 520 to like 9 or 10 watts and a few days later sizzled it, but now I know that 10 is too high. Do you guys think 6 or even 7 is too high? And am I correct in understanding that if you turn the carrier up you have to turn the modulation down by the same amount and vice versa? That's what I really did wrong the first time is not turn one of them DOWN when I turned the other one up.

What you were getting was NOT a super whizz signal at all, but you were learning about the "placebo effect".
If gave you two identical cb's but told you that one of them had the mod limiter clipped and it was turned up a few watts, I bet you would be tickled pink about the one I turned up....until I tell you they were both completely stock! You, nor anyone on the other end would notice enough difference to be worth it....hence the placebo effect!
10 watts over 4 watts to the antenna makes only 1db difference, not worth it at all.

73,
n9zas

 

[stevedogan]

I know it won't move the needle much but as I said before, to me that doesn't matter. I'm not sure what the placebo effect was that was mentioned above. Are you saying that the gain in distance was only an illusion? No disrespect intended, but why then were people telling me they could hear me farther away (and I'll admit more people were chewing me out for walking on them (or blending in with them, as the case may be) after the power thingies (whatever they're called -the 2 things with wax always in them for some reason) after they were turned up? It must've been more than skip conditions because people from across the country weren't the ones hearing me better.
I'm still wondering.......if I turn that thing up to say, 7 watts, is that going to sizzle anything right away? The guy never told me how high it was, and given it was about 15 years ago, I can't recall anyway. (I know the guy wasn't playing with me....I knew him since high school ('87-'90) and was 1 of my best informants.)
Is 6 or 7 watts going to hurt anything?

 

[WQFM513]

Putting the mosfet in was pretty easy, took all of 10 mins from cover off to cover back on. Simple parts removal and replace. You can find the instructions here. > http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...4YWMAw&usg=AFQjCNEYlRfCjVro5ov0qCqrVVl0Ysx74A there is also instructions for many other radios. Copper.com sells the parts needed.

 

[majoco]

Spend your money and time on a better antenna and cable. It doesn't matter how much you pump up the transmit talk power, you won't make the receiver any more sensitive so you won't hear any replies. You'll just p**s off a few more people with splatter, distortion and out-of-band noise.

 

[WQFM513]

Not true. A simple google search for your raDio make and model will turn up all sorts of results for receive mods. Easy 2 wire solder to trace side of board, resistor, and reassign a switch that's already on the radio. My rx mod is switched with my talkback control knob.

 

[stevedogan]

That's WAY to intense for me to go trying to weld extra pieces in or perform major surgery on these! I'm just curious how much wattage these things can handle. Nobody's telling me. (Just sounding cute)

 

[jassing]

Spend your money and time on a better antenna and cable. It doesn't matter how much you pump up the transmit talk power, you won't make the receiver any more sensitive so you won't hear any replies. You'll just p**s off a few more people with splatter, distortion and out-of-band noise.

+1 on this -- most people get an antenna, install it; hook up a cb.. "that's it" -- And they ignore the part in the antenna that says "use an swr meter...."... Anything that transmits should have the antenna tuned... cb's gain a lot from having a proper antenna and tune it for a low SWR...

 

[jassing]

That's WAY to intense for me to go trying to weld extra pieces in or perform major surgery on these! I'm just curious how much wattage these things can handle. Nobody's telling me. (Just sounding cute)

If your'e talking a real-cb -- 4 watts. that's what they can handle.

Ask someone in a pinto "What's the best this thing can do" well; 65-70mph, 32sec 1/4 mile? But if you stick a v8 in it; you can do better.... Similarly to swapping and modifying the radio; stick a v8 in the pinto, you will also shorten it's life by overworking the rest of hte car....

CB = 4 watts; that's what they're designed for. If you want to step on people, the cheapest is to get a 10 meter radio, and open up 11 meters... You can range from4 to 175 watts out of a stock 10 meter radio -- but it's a ham license required to operate on 10 meters, and illegal to operate that radio on 11 meters, so you're better off just having fun @ 4 watts.

CB's are not for the "real radio head" -- they're for joe-public to have fun... (was more fun 15-30 years ago before every idiot got a linear & just key up to hear themselves thru the toaster...)