how much would "big finals" run?

 

Hello, a while ago i picked up 2 CBs cheap on ebay, and eventually got a 3 foot antennea for each. Neither seems to work though. They are the magnetic type, and when (either) the CB is turned on there is only static. I have played around with the squelch and volume and channels and at most got a faint noise of people talking behind the noise.

Any ideas? and sorry for hijacking..

Thanks, Craig

 

The price can vary from shop to shop. Take it over to the guy by you and have him check it out.

Toyman

 

First you need to find out whether the radio is working properly. It would be best to take it to a CB shop and have them check out your set up. It could be a bad antenna, but just don't throw money at that you may have a deaper problem.

Sorry I could not help better then that.

Toyman

 

Alright thanks, I just gotta find a CB shop to test it at.

Thanks, Craig

 

A Cobra 29 has an SWR meter BUILT IN. You don't need to buy another.

By "reception," do you mean how far you can transmit, or how far away the bozo is that you're trying to hear?

My Galaxy 959 (in the freightliner)has been known to pull in un-boosted transmissions from 5-10 miles away, and boosted transmissions from well over 1000.

My normal transmit range is around 1 mile or so. VERY frustrating when I can hear the person I'm trying to talk to for 5 miles. My SWR's are nearly perfect.

Two things of note WRT transmitting: CB frequencies (27 MHz) were originally intended for SHORT RANGE transmission, no more than a mile or two. If you can talk more than about 3 miles, either you're running power, or are in a random area of high radio reflectivity.

27 MHz is HIGHLY (or badly, depending on your point of view) affected by the sunspot cycle. We're just coming off a Solar Minimum, so even boosted transmissions don't get very far. Transmissions in 27 MHz will slowly get longer-range as the next 5 years go by.

I'd say ditch the "custom" antennas that were given to you, and go with a pair of quality fiberglass ones. You don't know what's been done to the ones you were given (or how many trees they hit). You can buy a good set of Francis fiberglass antennas at Rip Griffins for about $15 each. They shouldn't need tuning as long as you're running "normal" power. Also, don't coil up the antenna leads. that forms a loading coil (believe it or not) and it'll mess up the signal. Instead, just wad it up and shove it somewhere out of sight.

If you're running a dual coax that's SUPPOSED to be running 2 antennas, then you need to run both of antennas. If you don't, it'll mess up the readings, and your radio. If you only want to run one antenna, re-run a single line of coax from radio to antenna.

While I've been told running duals on a pickup bed is a bad way to run, I've had better luck with that than running a single mag-mount on the roof (SWR's of 1.4:1 or less, versus 3:1). You might consider picking up a single mag-mount for the roof, also at R-G's. Wilson makes mag mount, and they're supposed to be pretty good. I may swap to that soon, from my K30.

-blaine

 

I have never trusted those built in SWR meters, not sure why, just never did. Frankenbiker it sounds like your output is messed up on your radio, I would get it checked. That Galaxy should talk good I know a few guy that run those~nice radio.

Toyman

 

yes my talking range is very short max 300 yards, so something is way out of wack here. I like the look of my antenna's, Would i be able to find a set similar?

 

http://www.gijoesradioelectronics.co...idCategory=109

sorta look like this one, but theres a block on top and bottom of the spiral that the spiral runs in and out of. Then theres a thin rod coming out the top. says there 80 dollars a piece.

 

A Galaxy 959 is not a 10-meter radio that can run 300 watts out of the box. A 959 is a CB-only radio, limited by law to just 4 watts deadkey power. 4 watts on 11-meter (27MHz) can only get out a mile or two, BY DESIGN. Even when "peaked & tuned" to 10-11 watts deadkey, it's not gonna get very far.

Class-D (i.e. Citizens Band) was never designed nor regulated for long distance transmission. When they were still issuing licences for CB, they were very harsh with folks who were trying to "get out" because 11-meter interferes with not only TV channel 6, but also important fire/police bands when "pushed." Back when the "rules" were written, if you wanted to talk further than a mile or so away, you took the tests and got your ham licence, so that you could do it properly, in a radio band that wouldn't bother local agencies (or your neighbors).

"Getting out" with 11-meter takes money and power. Radio propagagion is a logarithmic process; in other words, in order to double your range, you gotta have a 10x increase in power, according to theory. In practice, doubling your transmit range takes about a 5x increase in power (which means my math and memory is a little off). Which is why a 100watt linear (pronounced lin-e-ar, not leaner), or "big finals", or other halfway meaures, are all a waste of money. It's not enough power to really do any good. You have to run 300-500 watts (or more) which requires big $$$ for the amp itself, and then run a dedicated power supply for that hot amp (like 0-gauge wire, to support the 200 amp load).

The overriding concern, though, is that 11-meter *IS* effected by the sunspot cycle, and there's not diddly that either of us can do about that. It's poorly understood by most folks and probably mis-understood by the most of the rest. The "easy" way of saying it is that during a sunspot "minimum" the atmosphere completely absorbs 11-meter transmissions. No sunspots = no range. On the other hand, during a sunspot "maximum" (i.e. lots of spots) the atmosphere completely reflects 11-meter transmissions. You CAN get good range (if you've got power), but normal power is so drowned out by all the OTHER reflected transmissions that range isn't very good either.

It's a natural phenomenon that you can't do anything about, except get a ham licence and use a radio that doesn't use 11-meter. It's a consequence of a bad decision process promulgated by people who didn't know anything, who were advised by people who didn't understand a natural phenomenon well enough.

(enough science/law/politics for ya? )

Take home point: spend the money on getting the best antenna you can afford, and making sure it's properly tuned. You can do this for $100 or less. Any more is just marketing fluff, or designed to be run with 1000-watt linears. If you want to talk further than a mile or three, spend the money to get a no-code tech licence, then buy a 10-meter radio, where you can talk for hundreds of miles w/o problems. Or buy a cell-phone.

-blaine

 

but is a 10 meter radio goint to communicate with a cb radio?

 

Not officially. Some folks "modify" 10-meter radios to run 11-meters, but officially they cannot crosstalk. In recent years there has been enough "bootleg" crosstalk to get the real 10-meter guys to talk about the "ruining" of 10-meters.

Most of the folks who are running Galaxy radios and "getting out" more than a couple of miles are running modified 10-meter Galaxy radios. I've been told that the Galaxy 10-meter units require only about 2 minutes of work to get their transmitting range to cover 11-meters as well. But the 10-meter radios can have as much as 300 watts right out of the box.

My understanding is that there are plenty of people to talk to on 10-meter, and there are a number of truckers who are going to 10-meter to get away from the crap and trash-talk on 11-meters. Word is that many are also going to 2-meter. I have no direct experience with either.

-blaine

 

alright, so a 10 meter can be modded to cross talk with 11 meter radios, can i still talk to 10 meter radios also? I dont really need lots of mile of reach maybe like 5 or 6 at the max. But i do know that i need better than 100 yards. As that is kinda useless!