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

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 )

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.


The most important part of any radio system is NOT the radio -- it's
the antenna. It's the antenna that converts signals to and from the
ether. If your antenna sucks, so will your communication REGARDLESS of
what kind of radio you have. That being said.....

The best mobile CB antenna you can buy is the 102" whip (it's also one
of the cheapest antennas). Shorter antennas are a compromise between
length vs. performance. The longer the better.

And if you want your antenna to do the job it's capable of doing you
have to mount it properly. Generally, the higher you mount it on your
vehicle the better, but it's much more important that your mount is
well grounded. Mag-mounts are mediocre at best. No-Ground-Plane (NGP)
antennas are worse, and thru-glass antennas are junk.


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


There are two things you can do to make even a cheap radio talk much
better: Get an external speaker and a better microphone.


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

snip


Like Dave said, avoid the peak jobs. Especially one's where they claim
to get 30 watts out of your radio and not void the warranty -- any
warranty is voided when your radio is modified to exceed the legal
limit of 4 watts (which translates to 16 watts peak/PEP). Most of the
shops that offer peak-&-tune jobs are chop-shops that will tell you
anything you want to hear just to get your money. And yes, some of
their claims are flat-out lies, including the text you quoted in your
post. (The work is illegal, so it shouldn't come as a shock to find
out that their advertising is also illegal.)

The best thing you can do to improve your talk-power is to use a
quality mic. You can improve it even more with an audio compressor,
and don't exceed about 30% compression.


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?


The meter probably works ok, and your location shouldn't make much
difference (unless you are parked inside a steel shed). It's more
likely that you have something wrong with your antenna and/or coax.
The antenna could be poorly mounted, the coax could be old (don't use
foam coax!), the connectors could be bad, etc, etc. My first guess is
that mag-mount antenna you are using is junk.


I really hope someone has the time to answer and help out a newbie as
I am very interested in Cb's since i finally broke down and got me
one. I just want to be able to transmit and receive as far as possible
without breaking the law to bad. Not ready for a amplifier or anything
like that.


Amps are not only illegal, they are expensive. The laws of physics
dictates that you need 4 times the power to double your range. That
means you need an amp capable of 16 watts AM. The problem here is that
most amps are rated for peak watts (PEP), which means you need 4 times
-again- as much power; i.e, a 64 watt amp. THAT's how much it takes to
double your range, but -only- during transmit, NOT receive (and that's
assuming you have an IDEAL antenna operating under IDEAL conditions).
Ok, so you get a 64 watt amp, and after a while you want even -more-
range. To double your range again you would need an amp capable of 256
watts. Double it again and you need over 1 Kilowatt! By the time you
reach that point you are in it for the big bucks -- to run that kind
of power you need two or three heavy-duty alternators (with all the
pulleys and other hardware), battery cables thicker than your thumb,
high-quality coax, an antenna capable of that much power, ....$$$$$
And here's the ass-kicker: if your range was 1 mile without the amp,
you have only increased your range to 8 miles!

On the other hand, a better antenna can do the same job or better for
-both- transmit and receive. It's also much cheaper. And it's legal.


I seem to like the site I am planning on purchasing from unless
someone out here tells me there is no need for another radio because
the Wilson 1000 will do what i want. I guess the reason i also like
them is that they will tune and get everything running just right
before they ship it. I know that wasn't done to the one I have now.


To get everything running right you need to install everything
properly. They can't do that through the mail.

Go to the library, find a book on CB or ham radio and read it. That's
the best way to learn how to do things right the first time, and not
pad the pockets of sham artists with your hard-earned money.






-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =-----