RadioBanter - View Single Post

April 24th 04, 12:34 AM

From: (Jess=A0LaFleur)
Hello, my name is Jess LaFleur and I have been experimenting with CB
radio for the past few weeks now.
Ive owned a radio for a couple of years but I never got around to
actually using it until recently.
My little set up is as follows:
a firestik antenna with magnetmount (on a little red wagon on my roof) a
Radio Shack TRC-439 radio being powered by a computer powersupply
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0using stock microphone (I plan on buying a
power-mic)
I have a range of about 10km during the day (I did this earlier today)
I have some questions and such though,
I am rarely able to pick up anyone but people in mexico, and my spanish
ends at "Hola, como esta"
now, I'm not saying it's a problem, its sort of nice to be able to pick
up people so far away
(once I got someone from jamaica)
I rarely will get someone from the United States or Canada (where I
live) so is this normal?

At this time of year and with the current solar

"skip" cycle in decline..yes. From which state

are you transmitting?

I know that signals can bounce off the
ionosphere but its still odd that I only get
people in mexico.
and another question, on the RX/TX display there is 4 LED's now, should
I ever see any leds on
when I am only hearing static (no transmission) or should it be
completely blank.

Nah,,this is your ground noise level and what

you are experiencing is normal. The higher

the noise level, the more bars will be lit.

And another question, how do I tune an antenna and how much do SWR
meters cost?

You answered your own question,,sort of.

An SWR meter is necessary, and instructions
come with each. The cost can begin

releatively cheap such as can be had at Rat

Shack. My personal fave, which I was turned

on to by a fellow rec.radio.cber, is the Autek

Im not entirely a newbie to radios, I do have an aeronautical radio
licence from my days at the airport.
Thanks a bunch,
~Jesse

The better (and bigger, when applying to cb) the antenna, the further
you will receive and transmit.