Steveo wrote:
Paul Calman wrote:
Hi. I have a cb unit mounted on a motorcycle. it is a J&M, linked
here,
http://www.jmcorp.com/SeeProducts.asp?PF=24 , using the 3 foot Wilson
antenna on the page.
It's a pretty decent unit (kinda expensive, mine came with another
bike) and
can be operated without looking at it, a good thing on a bike. I use
it to
talk with other riders, but the maker says about 1/2 mile is all the
range I
should get. On a straight piece of road it gets tough to use at 1
mile.
The reason I am told is that the bike has no ground plane, but I
don't know
whether that affects reception or transmission. What's the story
here?
I know Linear amps are a no-no, but I don't intend on doing skip,
using it
often, or even talking much to base stations and truckers, and
certainly
don't want to run some giant power unit that stomps on others
transmissions,
but would be interested in using a small linear to boost transmission
to a
max range of about ten miles, an acceptable distance when traveling
cross
country with other bikes. Can any of you recommend what wattage would
be
sufficient for this use without going overboard? Some of the problems
to be
dealt with are a limited charging system, the inability to space
wires far
from current and ignition units, and physical size. I would prefer to
build
my own unit, rather that pay big bucks for garbage made in china. I
have
seen schematics for sale for 30, 50, and 100 watt units. Know of any
free
sources?
Other that a lecture on the illegality of linears, Do you have any
useful
advice?
--
Paul C.
Hey Paul..........I'd like to mount you on your bike and **** your
man-pussy!
Paul, I'd check with J&B about how to set up a ground plane for the
bike. Going with a dual antenna rig may also help. I tried that on my
old R75/5 a few years ago and it seemed to help. I currently have a
chatterbox tank bag unit that sort of works, but has the extremely
limited range problem that yours has. Recently I've been trying out the
FRS and GMRS radios with some success. Much more compact and not tied to
the bike.
HTH
Paul Elliot