Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
|
#2
![]() |
|||
|
|||
![]() how much ya wanna spend is the ? "Mr Winky" wrote in message ... Hi group Im a brand new CDL Truck driver. Over the road and need some info on CB. I currently own a simple cobra 40 channle. Will it be enough ,,, power,watts,ect, For what im doing. Anything more that i need to know? Thanks in advance. |
#3
![]() |
|||
|
|||
![]()
I have to feel sorry for you, because, well those 4/wheelers can't drive, and
give us that can drive a bad name, but that is not really what you asked for, ok ANSWER: A 4 watt CB is not much when you are looking at a recieve meter pegged out with noise, and you have to turn your squelch control almost fully clockwise to get the annoying thing to shut up, in other words 4 watts will not do the job unless you are tailgating "drafting", the trucker ahead of you and you are both on the same channel (frequency), otherwise if you want to be heard by the oncomming truckers, you will be forced to put some: (" Fire in the Wire"). Now I do have to tell you that amplifiying those 4 watts is illegal, by the FCC rules and regs and sometimes the penalties are steep, but you are swimming in a ocean of CB linears keying on you, thats what that scratch growl roar is when you turn the squelch down, and to be heard, you have to x-mit you signal to be more powerful than that for however far you want to talk. Now for the rest of the story as" Paul Harvey", says: As a generl rule the names and numbers labeled on these outlaw CB linears varies, in other word they don't mean much, ( you can't get 300 watts out of a box with 2 pills say MRF 455's which are 60 watt pills under ideal conditions.), Say the average 2 pill linear has a pair of MRF 455's, or SD1446, the 455 will do about 60 watts, and the 1446 about 65, and is about to explode to get that out of it. By the same token, a 2SC2879 will do about 100 watts, although they are rated at 120 watts few will get close to that, and paying double price for matched finals is well brainless,not worth the extra expence. Now we get to the real question, what will meet your needs? You have a choice between single pill, double pill, and quad pill configureations, the numbers stamped on the front of the unit are meaningless, and do not give anything close to what the capacity in output yeilds actually are, and yes you can make some loops of wire on the inside of the unit to make it show more output on a watt meter, but you are being lied too, all that is are harmonics, that fellow tv viewers will scream bloody murder over. There is no actuall need for anything over 4 pills, because the average driver out there does not have over that, so he can't dust skip land's britches to make the trip back to you, so anything bigger than 4 pills is a waste, and for the most part anything but trouble free, stay away from liears with driver transistor to "drive the finals", they drive too much usually, and cook the finals, and there is no warranty either, so its your bill to pay to repair. I would probably run either a two pill or 4 pill most likely a Boomer ( due to the larger relay, and simple and proven design, some of the others are ok, but remeber it is going in a truck, where it will be beat to death on rough roads ). The single pill is not enough usually, and stay away for the stinger board, the garb where they take the speaker out of the radio and put a single pill linear in its place, ( there is no way to get rid of the heat, and it will fry both the stinger and your radio). Another thing is your antenna, a 4 foot fiberglass does ok, anything shorter is well not very effiecent, and usually harder to get the SWR in operational specs. Don't waste your money on dual antennas either the SWR's are too tricky, and you won't know the difference between a singe vs a dual antenna installation, not to mention the cost. Try to use quality coax cable, ( RG-8M) is just fine, they sometimes call it mini-8 coax, just make sure that it doesn't get pinched or otherwise shorted out, bad coax will destroy your linear, and your radio, so a cheap SWR meter is the best money you can spend, check the SWR daily, an ounce of prevention is alot better than an "OPPS", there goes the bank account. You mentioned that you had a Cobra CB, I can't tell you if it will be ok, but I can tell you that compact radios are not a drivers best friend, yes I know they are cheap, and that is ok, the problem is all of the tiny surface mount componets on both sides of the circuit boards, they will not withstand the beating they will get in a truck, and they are not worth repairing either, because they are junk by design. Do yourself an favor, get a back up CB, so if your primary radio quits, put the extra inline, and check to see if antenna or coax is the culprit for the malfunction. If you get tired of the filth and foul language on CB, there is VHF HAM radio ( have to have license for this), there are hundreds of repeaters all over the country, and you are almost never out of range of at least one repeater, and it is perfectly legal, as long as you are licensed, the ALINCO DR-135 does a great job, and there will always be another fellow ham operator who would call help for you at the drop of a hat, if you break down in the middle of no where. Hope this helps, and remeber that CB amplifiers of any kind are illegal, 73's NNN0WAW UNITED STATES NAVY-MARINE CORPS MARS. |
#4
![]() |
|||
|
|||
![]() |
#5
![]() |
|||
|
|||
![]()
NNN0WAH wrote:
Another thing is your antenna, a 4 foot fiberglass does ok, anything shorter is well not very effiecent, This cannot be overemphasized. No antenna shorter in total length is worth having. Also, the antenna's ground side must make good contact with the truck - which means a mag mount about 5" in diameter if you use a mag mount. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BDissident news - plus immigration, gun rights, nationwide weather IA HREF="http://www.alamanceind.com"ALAMANCE INDEPENDENT: official newspaper of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy/A/b/i |
Reply |
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
![]() |
||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Runaway truck causes collapse of radio tower | Broadcasting | |||
Broadband tube driver circuit needed | Homebrew | |||
Broadband tube driver circuit needed | Boatanchors | |||
Broadband tube driver circuit needed | Homebrew | |||
Pink muffin PeePeeHolic cries/swallows truck driver semen | CB |