On Mon, 04 Oct 2004 08:02:55 -0400, Alex
wrote:

I just purchased a Cobra 19 DX III and a 36" base loaded magnet mount
antenna. So far I'm picking up pretty good, and transmitting well
also. I don't think I'm getting out there as far as i can. Most likely
this Friday I will be purchasing a Wilson 1000 Magnet Mount to replace
the antenna I have now. Is that going to get me out there a little
more (the wilson 1000) No modifications have been made to this radio
and have not been able to find any either. I purchased it brand new at
a Pilot Truckstop, and am sure it is only putting out 4 watts (fcc
required). Will the Wilson make me receive further or transmit further
or both, or neither? I'm new and feel it all has to do with how much
your getting out ( 4 watts doesn't seem to good )

All domestic CB radios are rated at 4 watts. Unless you are running an
amplifier, no one radio will significantly "put out" any better than
another. What you use for an antenna, though, is a different story.
The antenna will make a much bigger difference in signal than the
radio. Generally speaking, the longer the antenna, the better it
performs. The largest CB mobile antenna, is a 9' whip. If mounted in
the center of a the vehicle, there isn't much that can touch it.


Maybe I don't need a new radio, maybe the wilson 1000 will do what I
want it to do. I get so sick of losing communication once I'm not
close to truckers anymore. What do I need to do? I want to make sure i
am getting out as far as possible.


My other dilemma:

I've been looking here http://www.wilsonantennas.com/cobracb.shtml at
some of the radios and the three that have caught my eye a

Cobra 29 LTD Night Watch Classic

Cobra 25 LTD Classic

Cobra 148 GTL Classic

These are fairly nice radios, although there are continual rumors of
diminished quality due to their place of manufacture. A better
alternative would be the Uniden line of radios. My favorite is the
Grant.



The site also offers two tuning options before shipping. Which one
should I go for? Seems like the Mega Tune. One more question below as
well. The tuning options a

The Mega Tune 29.99

Our Mega Tune is designed to provide you with loud booming audio while
still maintaining a clean and clear signal. If you looking to sound
raspy or bleed over many channels this defiantly isn't the
modification for you. Our techs have worked very hard to perfect this
modification. The mega tune will not void any factory warranties, it
will not damage your radio and it will not make your radio run warmer
than normal. We also do not remove or disable any part of the AMC or
ALC circuit. We do upgrade various parts of the audio circuit with
higher wattage or better quality parts. We also do a few other
modifications that make the radios wave form, when viewed on an
oscilloscope more linear. This means of course you will sound as loud
as possible while still maintaining maximum clarity. If you are
looking for maximum performance from your radio we recommend you have
us perform this modification. We also completely warranty all work
performed by our service department. The mega tune will also increase
your peak power. Dual final radios after being mega tuned typically
put out over 40 watts and single final radios typically put out over
30 watts.

The True Tune 10.00

Our True Tune is like a basic peak and tune. When you receive your
radio that have been True Tuned by Premiere Electronics you can rest
assured that your radio is operating at it's maximum efficiency. We go
through your radio and re-align the transmitter section. The reason
this is necessary is because from the factory most radios just aren't
working at their best. The factories don't have the time to sit down
with every radio and precisely tune it. They generally get it in the
ball park, but if you are interested in performance, you need the true
tune. Every modification we perform is backed up with our unbeatable
warranty! Like always, none of our work will void any factory
warranties.

Run, don't walk away from peak jobs. They do nothing more than remove
your hard earned money and put it into someone else's hands. All that
is usually involved is peaking the power output for maximum, and
removing or reducing the affects of the modulation limiter. I won't go
into the math here but in order to see even 1 "S" (signal) unit
increase on another guy's meter, your radio would have to put out 4
times as much power as it did stock. It is VERY difficult to get 16
watts of dead key power from a 4 watt CB. It cannot be done by
alignment alone. By the time someone "redesigns" the transmitter and
replaces the parts necessary to get up to 16 watts, you are left with
a radio that may very well be less reliable, or may have a dirty or
unstable transmitter.

If you truly want to get a boost in output power, you are better off
with an amplifier. Yes, an amplifier is illegal as heck, but so is a
peak job.




Last question: The one that bugs me.

I purchased a SWR Meter from Radio shack. It was the cheapest one they
had and I am on a budget here, because some they had were way to
expensive. The one I got was
http://www.radioshack.com/product.as...ct%5Fid=21-534
I took it back because nothing seemed to make much difference, or I
wasn't operating it right, seemed to always fall in the red. The
antenna I have the only way to adjust is to move antenna up and down.
Maybe I wasn't in a good location. I finally got it to 2.3, and just
left it. My question is was I operating it right to finally get a 2.3
or is that just a cheap ass SWR Meter?

That meter should do the job. How were you using it? To check SWR, you
need to set it to the "CAL" position. Key the mike on your radio and
adjust the calibrate knob on the meter to the red cal line at the
right of the scale. Then switch to SWR and read the reflected power on
the SWR scale. A good performing antenna will have an SWR less than
2:1 (1.5:1 preferable)

Hope that helps...

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