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[Davidbt]

I did a road test recording to my QT-80 from my QT40 in my jeep. It seems I'm only able to tx about 2 miles. I tried one trip with the rf gain at max and the squelch just above the noise. The 2nd trip I turned the squelch all of the way up and tried the radio power at setting 2 and setting 15. It really didn't seem to make much of a difference either way. I was using channel 14, as it seemed the quietest. After Thanksgiving I will try driving my truck on the same route. If I have more time, I want to try using lsb from my jeep to my truck, and then vice versa. The route has a lot of houses along the way, and relatively flat.

 

[niceguy71]

I did a road test recording to my QT-80 from my QT40 in my jeep. It seems I'm only able to tx about 2 miles. I tried one trip with the rf gain at max and the squelch just above the noise. The 2nd trip I turned the squelch all of the way up and tried the radio power at setting 2 and setting 15. It really didn't seem to make much of a difference either way. I was using channel 14, as it seemed the quietest. After Thanksgiving I will try driving my truck on the same route. If I have more time, I want to try using lsb from my jeep to my truck, and then vice versa. The route has a lot of houses along the way, and relatively flat.

if I remember you have a tail light CB mount and a 4 foot Firestick on the jeep? ..
I'm surprised you could even get the 2 miles...
jeeps are really terrible and as I've said a million times.. I've never had luck with any Firestick.
every firestick I've worked on gives me a GREAT SWR.... very easy to get a great SWR with the FIRESTICK... but they never work... at least for me.
I also don't think the Jeep will receive very well, so doing the opposite test may not work too well either.... but it should be fun and interesting.
I was going to finish my friends Jeep this week but because of Thanksgiving school is getting out at noon all week, so my friend has to be home most of the day.... so hopefully the first week of December and I'll do a video and range test of his Jeep... I may not get anymore range than you, your QT-40 has a lot more power than the CS-47... but I'm going to try every trick in the book... in fact the Jeep exhaust grounding bracket came today.

 

[Davidbt]

Since I mostly use gmrs on the trails, I don't think I'm going to fret over it much. I have a db20-g gmrs radio in my jeep also, and a couple of cheap handhelds for others who don't have comms in their rigs. Like I said, I will be testing the qt80 after Thanksgiving and trying out lsb in qt40 with the qt80.

 

[KI4ZNG]

Since I mostly use gmrs on the trails, I don't think I'm going to fret over it much. I have a db20-g gmrs radio in my jeep also, and a couple of cheap handhelds for others who don't have comms in their rigs. Like I said, I will be testing the qt80 after Thanksgiving and trying out lsb in qt40 with the qt80.

If I was just using your Jeep for trail riding and have Gmrs radios already installed why would you need a CB radio?

 

[niceguy71]

If I was just using your Jeep for trail riding and have Gmrs radios already installed why would you need a CB radio?

I enjoy CB so I always have one in all my vehicles.... If you like radio you might have gmrs .. ham ... 2 meter frs and CB some guys do it all .. nothing like having stuff to play with

 

[Davidbt]

If I was just using your Jeep for trail riding and have Gmrs radios already installed why would you need a CB radio?

I know huh? Mostly just because. If I ever drive further than my local trails, I want the extra comms.

I enjoy CB so I always have one in all my vehicles.... If you like radio you might have gmrs .. ham ... 2 meter frs and CB some guys do it all .. nothing like having stuff to play with

Some of the guys on my tj forum have em stacked on top of each other. Some have all 3, ham, cb, and gmrs. Since most have moved to gmrs, most have been removing their cb's.

 

[KI4ZNG]

I know huh? Mostly just because. If I ever drive further than my local trails, I want the extra comms.

Some of the guys on my tj forum have em stacked on top of each other. Some have all 3, ham, cb, and gmrs. Since most have moved to gmrs, most have been removing their cb's.

I had a 2m and Cb stacked in my old work truck before it bit the dust years back I didn't use the Cb radio much on the 23 mile commute to work in the morning. Because of how early I left for work I saw very few vehicles. Now for the trip home was another story! There were several base stations spewing out hate and discontent in the town I work near. So I did not turn it on for the ride home. So In the work car that I have had for the past 5 years there are no radios.

 

[Davidbt]

I got a call from one of my 4wheeling buddies today that needed some help with a tow. On my way to meet him, I turned the power up all the way on lsb 38 and made a contact up in Northern Idaho. After I got him taken care of and headed home, I made another contact in Washington State. I was shouting out to Massachusetts @niceguy71 but didn't hear anything. Pretty cool when you can break through all of the noise.

 

[niceguy71]

I got a call from one of my 4wheeling buddies today that needed some help with a tow. On my way to meet him, I turned the power up all the way on lsb 38 and made a contact up in Northern Idaho. After I got him taken care of and headed home, I made another contact in Washington State. I was shouting out to Massachusetts @niceguy71 but didn't hear anything. Pretty cool when you can break through all of the noise.

about time you got that thing to work!! glad it's working... and that was on the Firestick... amazing

 

[Davidbt]

about time you got that thing to work!! glad it's working... and that was on the Firestick... amazing

No, I should have been more clear, I was in my truck. I didn't go wheeling with him. I went to rescue him from the side of the road.

 

[niceguy71]

about time you got that thing to work!! glad it's working... and that was on the Firestick... amazing

I am always shocked you and wx2watch can't seem to make any long distant contacts??? is it the area I live in???? at my house I'm 132 feet above sea level.... my old radio is only 25 watts on Side Band and I can make long distant contacts 99 % of the time I try????
in fact I read your post about not being able to make any long distant contacts this fall, I had to go over my brothers house 2 miles away from me and sat in the truck and gave it a try.... I got several in less than 3 minutes???... I'm totally dumbfounded that you two can't do what seems to be so easy for me.... but I totally believe all the RF bonding on my pick-up helps.
I had this sitting on my phone for a few months and just put it on YouTube

 

[Davidbt]

I am always shocked you and wx2watch can't seem to make any long distant contacts??? is it the area I live in???? at my house I'm 132 feet above sea level.... my old radio is only 25 watts on Side Band and I can make long distant contacts 99 % of the time I try????
in fact I read your post about not being able to make any long distant contacts this fall, I had to go over my brothers house 2 miles away from me and sat in the truck and gave it a try.... I got several in less than 3 minutes???... I'm totally dumbfounded that you two can't do what seems to be so easy for me.... but I totally believe all the RF bonding on my pick-up helps.
I had this sitting on my phone for a few months and just put it on YouTube

With my QT-80 in my truck, I've talked to people in Idaho, Washington State, Indiana and a few other states. LSB has worked great so far. AM around here seems to be very quiet, though I have seen some antennas and other vehicles lately, but no contacts on AM.

 

[niceguy71]

With my QT-80 in my truck, I've talked to people in Idaho, Washington State, Indiana and a few other states. LSB has worked great so far. AM around here seems to be very quiet, though I have seen some antennas and other vehicles lately, but no contacts on AM.

well you know if it works on LSB everything is working... so I guess the antenna and CB are good...
guess no one is on AM in your area...
how easy are you able to make contacts on Side Band? ... I see you said it works GREAT on LSB....
for a fact, every time I go on to 37 or 38 and ask for a contact I always get several contacts all across the country.... so I love that Tram 3500.... hope you don't have any regrets about the Tram 3500??
did you ever permanently run the antenna wire? so its in the bed and not hanging down the side of the truck?

 

[Davidbt]

I have the antenna wire running through my sliding window. It usually takes a minute or 2 to get someone to answer my call out while I'm driving around. But yeah, it's pretty cool when you talk to someone in Northern Idaho. I have to go to Tucson on the 29th, so I'll have a opportunity to try and get a trucker to give me a radio check. The last time I tried, I forgot that the power was turned up for LSB while I was on channel 19. Thanks for all of your input and patience, it finally paid off.

 

[Varmonter]

I've been perusing the forum for a couple of weeks now. I'm not entirely new to CB, it's been about 12 years or so when I was a part time truck driver. It's been the early 80's since I had CB in my personal vehicle. I've been using GMRS for about a year while keeping and traveling with family members. I'm now considering getting a mobile unit for my '21 Ram 1500. I've been looking at the Radioddity cs-47 and the QT60. I've always been intrigued by SSB and may consider a tech ham license at some point. I'm retired and always looking for another hobby. As far as the radio, I'm thinking buy once, cry once kinda thinking 🤔. The antenna will be a NMO magnetic mount and there lies my delema. Which one? Thanks

From what I've read nmo mounts can't handle a lot of power..maybe 200w..so if you may add in the future you may want to use a different mount..

 

[Davidbt]

From what I've read nmo mounts can't handle a lot of power..maybe 200w..so if you may add in the future you may want to use a different mount..

Thanks. So far the Tram 3500 is working out great. The QT80 puts out 100 watts across the bands on the highest power setting, and I honestly don't think I'll need any more power than that.

 

[niceguy71]

Thanks. So far the Tram 3500 is working out great. The QT80 puts out 100 watts across the bands on the highest power setting, and I honestly don't think I'll need any more power than that.

I've been thinking about trying a different antenna ( just for fun) I now have a few I want to compare to the Tram 3500....
people always say they love their Wilson 1000 and I have never heard anything bad about it other than the water issue..... (Water goes down the whip and into the base I guess ) so I looked it up and thought "if" it was cheap I'd pick it up for a comparison test..... it looks EXACTLY like the Tram 3500 so I always thought the two were EXACTLY the same.... even though the Wilson has a 62 inch whip compared to the Tram 3500's 57 inch whip
I looked one up on Amazon and it has 82% of 5 stars and 9% of 4 stars.... so almost a 91% rating....and almost no negative reviews... that's pretty unheard of!
but it's $137.50 on amazon..... cheaper on CB shops web sites but the shipping is a lot for them...........
so it's more than the Sirio.... more than a Stryker SAR-10..... more than a predator 10k more than a K-40 and magnetic mount....
I can't believe it... no wonder I don't see anyone with them driving around....
I sure would like to test it.... but not at $137.50!!!!

 

[slowmover]

WILSON 5000 base load is the pilot car king.

My SIRIO Performers weren’t cheap (7’ + in my set-up), so it isn’t a matter of money.

It has not ever occurred to me to bother with AMAZON or CB store online reviews.

The forum we’re on, WWDX or eHam. Where some tech talk can be expected. Then, go to Y-T after searching online written where RADIO guys try to get things across.

The offerings of some shops are a clue. Limited space, so only “winners” of a type.

 

[Davidbt]

I got my dates wrong about Tucson doctor appointment, it was today. After I got on the I-10 heading west towards Tucson, I was able to get a radio check from a truck driver. I was glad I was finally able to get a radio check on channel 19. Other some chatter box out of Atlanta, the radio is pretty quiet up on the big road.

 

[slowmover]

I got my dates wrong about Tucson doctor appointment, it was today. After I got on the I-10 heading west towards Tucson, I was able to get a radio check from a truck driver. I was glad I was finally able to get a radio check on channel 19. Other some chatter box out of Atlanta, the radio is pretty quiet up on the big road.

From Casa Grande eastwards on IH-10 are those returning to the United States from exchanging loads with CA . (Henderson, NV for IH40 & 15).

Outside of dust storms there won’t be much chatter until nearer Las Cruces. No one lives in the desert, per se.

To hear more . . . speak up.

Takes awhile to become (or feel) practiced in getting conversation rolling. Most drivers do it re The Job. Locals might talk farming.

Weather & Work

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