From: (Frank=A0Gilliland)
On Sun, 31 Jul 2005 18:54:41 -0500, driver42 wrote in
:
Geez fellas... I didnt mean to start a war here.

I'm just a turkey driver that wants to do things

as right as I can given my situation with pretty

much having a different turkey everyday. After
reading through this entire thread I think I'm

even more confused :-)
_
Frank Gilliland wrote:
First rule: Avoid any gimmicks or modifications
that claim to give you some profound increase
in performance. It doesn't work that way. The

laws of physics dictate that there are only two

ways to significantly improve your

performance: use a bigger antenna and/or use
more power. Leave the gadgets and gizmos

for the neurotics that want to squeeze every

last milliwatt from their radios (and the morons
who like to watch meter needles bounce).



You like power mics on CB, Frank?


Second rule: Practically all CB radios are the

same


That's why I like an imported export for the mobile. Of course, the
right Icom might work ok, too.



in that they have an output impedance

of

50 ohms. This means that the antennas which
are installed on these trucks are most likely

-already- adjusted for best SWR to a 50-ohm

radio, and will therefore work just fine with

-any- CB radio you choose to buy, matchbox

or not.

Third rule: Don't pray to the SWR god. A

dummy load will give you an SWR of 1:1 but it

doesn't make a very good antenna. Your

antenna is best tuned with a field strength

meter, and many times the best field strength

does -not- coincide with best SWR. If the radio
you choose has an SWR meter included,

great. Think of it as a go/no-go meter: below

3:1 and everything is fine; above 3:1 and you

need to check for a major malfunction like a

disconnected cable, corroded connectors,

busted antenna, etc.


Truckin' wrote:
so here's what I'm gonna do. I

will call a few of these cb shops that I've seen

on the web and ask them for their advise and

explain to them my circumstances of wanting

a good high quality radio "no amp or stupid

toys that make noise" and telling them that I'll

be in a different truck and wont be able to set

the SWR and ask them what would be a good

setup for me. One last question for you all that
have been helpful. Can you give me a few

sites to good internet dealers since there arent
any physical shops left in my area anymore?

Thanks again for your help guys.


Frank Gilliand wrote:
Forget the internet CB shops --


And here I was gonna send him to a TA or similar truck stop near Philla
Philadelphia.

let your fingers

do the walking and contact one of your local

commercial radio communication shops. They

do this stuff professionally, they will verify

everything I have said, and will give you the

-straight- scoop instead of a bunch of CB

hocus-pocus designed to sell crap to naive

CBers like Brian does.


Too bad you don't like the extreme heat. One or another of the many
stations here are always hiring, but then again, the doors are revolving
types mostly at Clear Channel or the other scumbags and they own it all.
We have one community radio station that has lasted over the years on
donations and fundraisers. Tough to hold out when you're independent.