• To anyone looking to acquire commercial radio programming software:

    Please do not make requests for copies of radio programming software which is sold (or was sold) by the manufacturer for any monetary value. All requests will be deleted and a forum infraction issued. Making a request such as this is attempting to engage in software piracy and this forum cannot be involved or associated with this activity. The same goes for any private transaction via Private Message. Even if you attempt to engage in this activity in PM's we will still enforce the forum rules. Your PM's are not private and the administration has the right to read them if there's a hint to criminal activity.

    If you are having trouble legally obtaining software please state so. We do not want any hurt feelings when your vague post is mistaken for a free request. It is YOUR responsibility to properly word your request.

    To obtain Motorola software see the Sticky in the Motorola forum.

    The various other vendors often permit their dealers to sell the software online (i.e., Kenwood). Please use Google or some other search engine to find a dealer that sells the software. Typically each series or individual radio requires its own software package. Often the Kenwood software is less than $100 so don't be a cheapskate; just purchase it.

    For M/A Com/Harris/GE, etc: there are two software packages that program all current and past radios. One package is for conventional programming and the other for trunked programming. The trunked package is in upwards of $2,500. The conventional package is more reasonable though is still several hundred dollars. The benefit is you do not need multiple versions for each radio (unlike Motorola).

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New to the Hobby. Looking for advice.

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garyscot

Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2006
Messages
4
Without a good antenna and coax you are wasting your time trying to talk 10 miles. That old JC Penney put out 3 or 4 watts on a good day (before the electrolytic capacitors dried up from old age). It is a vintage piece of work that will not talk very far to begin with. It will receive ok on TV coax, maybe 5 miles on a good day, but don't even think about transmitting into it.

If you really want CB to get out 10 miles put up a decent 1/4 wave "droopy drawers" ground plane, or a 5/8 wave base antenna, or better yet a 2 or 3 element beam and at least RG58 (not the Ebay Chines knock-off crap) or better coax with properly attached connectors. The problem with home made antenna rigs is without proper test (SWR, return loss bridge etc.) equipment you have no idea if it is correct for the frequency.

Shine up that old JC Penney as an antique, and then throw $30.00 at Amazon for a new Uniden PRO505XL 40-Channel CB Radio and start playing with antennas (as high up in the air as you can manage).

PS: Check if your 12 volt power supply is a decent "regulated" power supply. If not it will terrorize your 27 Mhz AM receiver with junk noise.
 
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DavidZak

Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2020
Messages
35
Location
Bunnlevel NC
Without a good antenna and coax you are wasting your time trying to talk 10 miles. That old JC Penney put out 3 or 4 watts on a good day (before the electrolytic capacitors dried up from old age). It is a vintage piece of work that will not talk very far to begin with. It will receive ok on TV coax, maybe 5 miles on a good day, but don't even think about transmitting into it.

If you really want CB to get out 10 miles put up a decent 1/4 wave "droopy drawers" ground plane, or a 5/8 wave base antenna, or better yet a 2 or 3 element beam and at least RG58 (not the Ebay Chines knock-off crap) or better coax with properly attached connectors. The problem with home made antenna rigs is without proper test (SWR, return loss bridge etc.) equipment you have no idea if it is correct for the frequency.

Shine up that old JC Penney as an antique, and then throw $30.00 at Amazon for a new Uniden PRO505XL 40-Channel CB Radio and start playing with antennas (as high up in the air as you can manage).

PS: Check if your 12 volt power supply is a decent "regulated" power supply. If not it will terrorize your 27 Mhz AM receiver with junk noise.
I don't know if you read my last comment but I'm putting up a antron A99 antenna with quality cable. It should be a good 35-40 ft up. A fellow cb local guy will be tuning my set up with swr and watt meter. We'll find out what she can do shortly. I found several PRO510XL's on e-bay with microphones for $25 shipping included. Is there a difference between them and the 505's?
 

DavidZak

Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2020
Messages
35
Location
Bunnlevel NC
I put my A99 up about 35 ft and my SWR checks perfect. My signal is pretty strong. I need to bump up the Modulation and tune her up and she'll be a pretty good set up for 20 miles or so. I met lots of Locals giving me some good advise. Thanks again for all the help and suggestions. I think I'm gonna like this.

Screenshot_2020-03-24-22-25-15.pngScreenshot_2020-03-24-22-25-47.png
 
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KC5AKB

Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2010
Messages
406
Location
North Texas
Ham radio is some what busy when the hurricanes are coming in and during bad weather . With Skywarn . I think the more stuff to listen to the better.
 

522

Active Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 8, 2007
Messages
520
Location
Murray, Utah
Been watching this one.... Super happy to hear you had some locals come in and help. That seems few and far in between these days.

Once you upgrade your radio.. you're gonna be very happy with your set up
 

mmckenna

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Joined
Jul 27, 2005
Messages
23,618
Location
Hiding in a coffee shop.
I need to bump up the Modulation and tune her up and she'll be a pretty good set up for 20 miles or so.

Be cautious about who you let mess with your radio.
There are FCC rules against making adjustments to these radios. It can be done, but the correct test equipment is needed.
Be vary wary if the "tech" doing it only has a watt meter. Often they'll mess with the settings to get the most "swing" on the watt meter, and assume that more power output is better. It usually causes a lot of issues with audio quality and signals splattering all over adjacent channels. These types of guys are known as "Golden Screwdrivers". Beware the golden screwdriver.

Good antennas and cable are going to make a bigger difference. Jacking up modulation levels and power output won't do anything for your receiver. Remember, you can only communicate with those that you can hear.
 
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