Cb Radio Yeeeeehaaaa!

[viperrgh2 10+ year member]

how do you tweak the cb to get more watts? Ive dealt with mag mounts n they stink buddy has a basic uniden and 102" whip and gets like 10-20 miles probably my cobra 24 and wilson 400 which is even a good mag mount gets like 5miles ...

 

[1badimport 10+ year member]

First, the reason the 102" whip works is because that is the perfect length antenna for 11 meter use. No tuning required, every other antenna in the world has to have the standing wave set. This is the ground plain relationship of the antenna and the vehicle matched. If you have a crappy standing wave and the best radio in the world you won't talk 1/2 mile. Also you can't just mount an antenna anywhere you want just for a certain look. Location and ground factor alot into it.

Second, on the CB wattage thing. Most radios have diodes, transistors, resistors and what-not in line on the output (like a car audio amp) to meet FCC regulations.

The FCC limits power on the 11 meter band to something like 11 watts or so. After mods, and removal of certain parts and "alignment" radios will work to their manufactured ability.

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

Just a minor nit to pick...CB is 11 meters, 2 meters is a really common amateur band up around 144MHz //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

The only problem I see with modifying purpose-built CB rigs is that their RF circuits might not like running with closer tolerances, once you start tweaking coils and biasing transistors higher you're asking for more spurious emissions and splatter across channels. If you have an RF spectrum analyzer this isn't a problem as you can see the transmitter's output, but if you're going blind it could be an issue...

Having a good antenna is more important than having a lot of power. You can't talk to someone if you can't hear them in the first place //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[1badimport 10+ year member]

Yeah my bad. I just realized I put that as I read your post. Thanks...

Yeah the antenna is the more important of the 2 for distance/performance. A Pro510 on a great antenna, will outtalk a Connex on an untuned top of the line antenna.

 

[Max_Power 10+ year member]

my brother had a galaxy big rig series with a wilson 2000. he talked to evrything within a 5-8mi range (depending on place and weather). They are a little expensive, but have awesome performance.