On Thu, 27 May 2004 23:16:03 -0700, Frank Gilliland
wrote:

In , Dave Hall
wrote:

On Wed, 26 May 2004 15:54:34 -0700, Frank Gilliland
wrote:
snip
There have been CBs in the past that have had power switches.

I haven't seen them since the 60's when Lafayette used to have a 100
mW position, which was done supposedly so that you could "legally"
operate your radio while waiting for your license application to be
processed. The FCC later clarified that in order to qualify for part
15 no license status that not only did the power need to be 100 mW or
less, that the antenna must also be self contained. The power switch
soon vanished shortly afterward.


I don't think the FCC requires the power to be 'fixed', but rather
that it cannot exceed the prescribed maximum.

You may be right. If so, I'm curious why CB radios didn't avail
themselves of "Hi/Low" switches or variable power. Not that today's
CBer is interested in reducing their power, but it does reduce
interference when you are only talking to local people. And it is
another knob to "feature".


Some of
the handhelds have a low-power switch to save battery power.

Yes! But I have not seen selectable or variable power on a base or
mobile "CB".


I have an old Utac on the shelf that has a 1/5 watt power switch. I
have seen a similar switch on a couple other radios but I couldn't
tell you what they were.


But the
variable-power feature on Galaxys/Rangers is obviously intended to
trim the power fed to an amplifier, and I'm sure that is one reason
why the FCC doesn't like them.

I'm sure that is the intended use. But if the FCC allows switchable
power on walkie-talkies, then I don't understand why this feature has
not been used on standard radios. I'll have to peruse the updated
technical specs again. Sometimes the FCC can be less than crystal
clear.


Well, my first guess why power-pots are not standard features on most
CB radios is probably because the 4 watt max isn't much power to begin
with.

Good point. You'd have to drop the power down to .5 watts or less to
make a significant difference.


Or maybe because the radios were designed to load antennas
instead of splatter-boxes. Either way, not all CBers have a craving
for radios loaded with knobs, buttons, switches, lights, meters, and a
host of redundant and generally useless features -- those radios are
for artless ham-wannabe's who want to impress others of their kind.

We don't know anyone who fits that description do we? ;-)

Dave
"Sandbagger"
http://home.ptd.net/~n3cvj