- Location
- NE Texas
well we clearly can tell a difference with his CB. I dont doubt you. but i can tell they did tweak his radio.Los Lobos said:
he actually gets distance now, you can hear him clearly, he can hear me clearly. before you could not.
CB Not Working Right?
- Thread starter BigBlueHO
- Start date
he actually gets distance now, you can hear him clearly, he can hear me clearly. before you could not.
vortex
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Chehalis, Wa
i got a killer deal on a k40 and 5 foot whip....i also picked up a linear amp that pushes 2000 watts!!!! im kind of afraid to use it for fear of blowing my cb radio.....im sure i could talk cross country with that lil set up..
-PJ
-PJ
LOLZ............... 2k???? Is that RMS or PEP??? High drive or low drive?? Ha ha ha. Ok dude I will put it like this. Doubtful your "linear" pushes anywhere near 2k. A (X-Force) 1200 is a 12 pill, with no need for a driver or pre amp. With a price tag over $1000. These things dont just get tossed around to any Joe who has no clue what it is nor how to use it. But anything happens but really doubtful. If so, plug it in, get friend to key up the mic while you hold on to antenna. Come back and tell me what happens.vortex said:
As to scotts question........ full wave is pretty much the "spectrum" the ant. is capable of. Really means nothing to you. As i did state go "waste" 20 bucks on the Francis and test both the ant. for distance......... your wasted money will be put out on the Firestik. The diffrence is in what you are buying the ant. for. The firestik is not for what you are thinking. Its really not intended for the "every day" person who is running a stock box on 4watts....... that ant. is capable up to 1k watts when you radio is only pushing 4 watts. Its not intended to get you a good Tx or Rx its intended to handle the power of 1k watts without melting the coax and the ant itself. In basic terms its really of the effect of putting 6in diameter exhaust on your jeep. Looks cool, dosent fit under the truck well, and gives you about ZERO gains and actually hurts your rigs performance. The francis is like putting in a good high flow cat and a 3in tip on 2 1/2in exhaust and only paying 2/3 the price than the large turd exhaust.
Or its like using a log as an antenna. dosent bend well either. Getting it yet? Just trying to help you gain more out of your box. Instead of being held back by an antenna that is really stiff,will not fair well on the trail and hinders Tx and Rx. Its nice that the Firestik is "tuneable" but francis tunes each whip from the factory to be used with a 4in spring. All you have to do is install and just "check" the match. Firestick is tunable for the fact of running large legnths of cable through linears to get the SWR back. Still lost??
Oh and Cal will be here soon to shut this thread down due to us being "illegal"
Mudderoy
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Katy, Texas
I had really good luck with my K40.
The 102" whip is the best option as it is a full quarter wave for 11 meters, but best may not be the "best" for your situation.
Your 20 feet transmission limit could have been a problem with the radio (low power output - bad radio). A problem with your friends radio. Hell you could have even been on different channels.
More than likely it would be an antenna problem. You should never transmit on an antenna without first checking the forward and reflected power output, commonly known as SWR :looney:
Take the time to run the power connection directly to the battery. It isn't mandatory, but it will always be better in the long run.
The 102" whip is the best option as it is a full quarter wave for 11 meters, but best may not be the "best" for your situation.
Your 20 feet transmission limit could have been a problem with the radio (low power output - bad radio). A problem with your friends radio. Hell you could have even been on different channels.
More than likely it would be an antenna problem. You should never transmit on an antenna without first checking the forward and reflected power output, commonly known as SWR :looney:
Take the time to run the power connection directly to the battery. It isn't mandatory, but it will always be better in the long run.
vortex
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Chehalis, Wa
see the linear amp i bought from some weird ass dude at a swap meet he says "hey man i heard your lookin fer a linear maybe i can help you" and then he goes on to say...."this thing is illegal so don't get caught with it...." well it turns out that it was peaked and tweaked from like 120 watts to some where 1500 watts plus (P.S. its an older linear amp) but our buddy tracy hooked it up to his big meter thing and it burried the needle to the max....so i could possibly have a short or it may just be very powerful....
Last edited:
wow, not the conversation one would expect here. more like nwcbradio.com. first off i would like to point out that the 102" ss wip is 6" short of beeing a full quarter wave antenna. it is acctualy a 10 meter antenna. just stick a heavy duty 6" spring under it and it will be the best antenna around. i run a preditor 10k round town, and on the trail i use a wilson 2000. power handaling if the wilson is 2000 watts PEP, and the 10k is 10,000 RMS.
vortex
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Chehalis, Wa
very nice.......
Mudderoy
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Katy, Texas
juniorXJ said:
102 * 2 = 204 inches. (1/2 wave) 204 / 12 = 17 feet. 468 / 17 = 27.5294 Mhz (This is above the channel 1 to 40 CB band)
108 * 2 = 216 inches, 216 /12 = 18 feet. 468 / 18 = 26.000 Mhz (This is below the channel 1 to 40 CB band)
Neither of these antennas are in what would be called the 10 meter band.
468 / 28.400 (10 meter calling freq.) = 16.478 feet (1/2 wave) 8.2394 feet (1/4 wave) or 98 and 3/4 inches.
Just use the 468 / the desired operating frequency to get the length of a 1/2 wave antenna. If you want a 1/4 wave, like for mobile use, just divide the answer in half.
A quarter wave antenna (no loading coils like the K40, Wilson 2000, etc...) would be 98 and 1/2 inchs for 27.205 which is either channel 20 or pretty damn close. :spin1:
GlueNTape
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Tualatin, OR
Re: CB No Working Right?
I got the meter, picked up a couple cables for it. Ready to go when you are. Except tomorrow, unless you are going out to TSf.
nw-xj-scott said:
I got the meter, picked up a couple cables for it. Ready to go when you are. Except tomorrow, unless you are going out to TSf.
Cndlpwr
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Bonney Lake, WA
I haven't seen this mentioned here yet...The most important thing in the whole mobile radio equation is the antenna SYSTEM! Meaning you can't stick an expensive antenna in a crappy location and expect it to perform well.
The best performing antenna system, bar none, is a full 102 in the very center of your roof above all other metal objects. Size matters here, folks, and while a larger firestik (5+ feet) can perform quite well, a 102 will generally work best. I say generally here cause mobile antenna systems are a kind of a dark science.
Remember these key things: Higher is better. Longer is better. Solid grounding is a must. A 4 foot firestik in the center of your roof will likely outperform a 102 on a bumper. It will certainly have a better radiation pattern. This is also important.
SWR is important, but not everything. You can transmit 1000 watts into a dummy load all day and not get out, yet your match will be ruler flat! Just cause your antenna matches doesn't mean you're being heard. It's like trying to get bass from a silk dome tweeter; Your amp likes the 4 ohm load but you won't hear much boom.
If I could give one piece of experiential advise, it is this. Whatever type of antenna you use, make sure you install it as solid as possible. Get it up as high as you feel comfortable with and unless you want to talk to Yakima from Tahuya, you should be just fine.
The best performing antenna system, bar none, is a full 102 in the very center of your roof above all other metal objects. Size matters here, folks, and while a larger firestik (5+ feet) can perform quite well, a 102 will generally work best. I say generally here cause mobile antenna systems are a kind of a dark science.
Remember these key things: Higher is better. Longer is better. Solid grounding is a must. A 4 foot firestik in the center of your roof will likely outperform a 102 on a bumper. It will certainly have a better radiation pattern. This is also important.
SWR is important, but not everything. You can transmit 1000 watts into a dummy load all day and not get out, yet your match will be ruler flat! Just cause your antenna matches doesn't mean you're being heard. It's like trying to get bass from a silk dome tweeter; Your amp likes the 4 ohm load but you won't hear much boom.
If I could give one piece of experiential advise, it is this. Whatever type of antenna you use, make sure you install it as solid as possible. Get it up as high as you feel comfortable with and unless you want to talk to Yakima from Tahuya, you should be just fine.
Ha ha ha ha I didnt even think of the possibility of Sam breaking in on this one!! The Master 2meter! LOL.
Like stated the ability of height and lack of interfering objects will make your rig perform at its peak but finding the middle mark for what has the least resistance VS abiltiy to be mounted to a moving rig through the woods is the task he who is using would have to choose. I have found on my rig the drivers fender works out great. I can watch it to keep trees and stumps from ripping my bracket off, and it puts me quite a ways above my roof line. Some like the rear quarter panels but due to not being able to see it at all times and, well the dents in my quarter panels I figured that was not a wise place.
But you would be proud when I crack the whip on my 25 LTD to bounce its way from I-5 and 512 up to covington. I did however pick up a RCI- 2950 the other day that will be retiring the LTD. woot
Like stated the ability of height and lack of interfering objects will make your rig perform at its peak but finding the middle mark for what has the least resistance VS abiltiy to be mounted to a moving rig through the woods is the task he who is using would have to choose. I have found on my rig the drivers fender works out great. I can watch it to keep trees and stumps from ripping my bracket off, and it puts me quite a ways above my roof line. Some like the rear quarter panels but due to not being able to see it at all times and, well the dents in my quarter panels I figured that was not a wise place.
But you would be proud when I crack the whip on my 25 LTD to bounce its way from I-5 and 512 up to covington. I did however pick up a RCI- 2950 the other day that will be retiring the LTD. woot
Cndlpwr
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Bonney Lake, WA
PornstaR said:
Sorry couldn't help it.. Been CBing and hamming since elementary school.
Can't resist a good tech talk.
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