Let Me see you CB!

[marcehboy]

yeah thanks anyway and yeah ive heard of peaple running 2500 watt linears

 

[5speedin2.3]

Only 2500?

 

[Danger FX4 Ranger]

ARRRRGH!!!

Why is it that Cb people think they need 600 freaking watts to get out???

My "Big" ham radio has 100w and I have communicated effectively with people in CA (from NY) on both AM and SSB

When the bands open up, all that extra power does is create problems for other people on the frequency and create potential problems for people in other bands in case your install isn't just running on the 11 meter band.

Legal limit BTW, is 4 watts.

Correct me if I am wrong; I though ham radio uses repeater towers, where CB does not. Repeater towers would give you a definite advantage in terms of being able to communicate long distances.

 

[marcehboy]

yeah i thought ive heard 5000 but i could't say it i would have felt like a dumbass if i was wrong and i know nothing of ham radios

 

[Simple_serf]

Correct me if I am wrong; I though ham radio uses repeater towers, where CB does not. Repeater towers would give you a definite advantage in terms of being able to communicate long distances.

VHF and UHF do (6 meter and up), and there are some 10 meter repeaters (my book only shows around 20 for all of NYS, whereas there are thousands for 2 meter and 70cm)

CB is 11 meters, close enough to 10 so that the propagation is similar. MOST (but as stated above, not all) ham operation between 10 meters and 160 meters is simplex(no repeaters). Pretty much all repeater operation is done on FM (for voice), whereas cb is either am or SSB. most simplex voice operations on Ham is done on SSB, though you occasionally hear some am.

Regardless of what you are operating on, or the legality of the power levels, etc, RF energy CAN hurt you... and being close to that 2500 watts on the truck would, in my opinion, be dangerous. I honestly don't know of any production mobile antennas that could hold up to that kind of power level for any amount of time, either.

 

[Danger FX4 Ranger]

Regardless of what you are operating on, or the legality of the power levels, etc, RF energy CAN hurt you... and being close to that 2500 watts on the truck would, in my opinion, be dangerous. I honestly don't know of any production mobile antennas that could hold up to that kind of power level for any amount of time, either.

LOL. In middle school I joined our school's HAM club, but quit after a few weeks. If I am correct (correct me if I am wrong), our science teacher told us the HAM antenna on vehicles can become hot with usage and enough power?

 

[np205]

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1189&stc=1&d=1229578991

here's mine in a 96

 

[Jason]

Regardless of what you are operating on, or the legality of the power levels, etc, RF energy CAN hurt you... and being close to that 2500 watts on the truck would, in my opinion, be dangerous. I honestly don't know of any production mobile antennas that could hold up to that kind of power level for any amount of time, either.

Actually, one of the most popular trucker antennas can handle twice that.
http://www.rightchannelradios.com/wilson-cb-antenna-109/wilson-trucker-5000-cb-antenna-356.html

 

[Simple_serf]

They say on the website that that is the ICAS rating. So in other words, 2500 watts am and 10k ssb.

I still doubt the antenna would hold up to that in continuous service. What's the point in spending $60 on an antenna and $1500+ on an amp that could actually hit those power levels (that's for a tube amp, BTW, Solid state is more $$$, and an amp that is ACTUALLY putting out 2500 watts)

You do realize that true 5000/20000 watts are in the power levels of small commercial radio stations, right?

 

[marcehboy]

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1189&stc=1&d=1229578991

here's mine in a 96

WOW?? what did you do with the airbag?

 

[Jason]

They say on the website that that is the ICAS rating. So in other words, 2500 watts am and 10k ssb.

I still doubt the antenna would hold up to that in continuous service. What's the point in spending $60 on an antenna and $1500+ on an amp that could actually hit those power levels (that's for a tube amp, BTW, Solid state is more $$$, and an amp that is ACTUALLY putting out 2500 watts)

You do realize that true 5000/20000 watts are in the power levels of small commercial radio stations, right?

A driver friend of mine runs a 3000 watt linear on his rig (hauls into Canadian wilderness alot, needs a good throw) and he runs twin Wilson 5000's. He talks to alot of the hobbiest guys and uses it all the time. No problems except when he was running cheap coax in the beginning.

 

[Bill]

Extra power isn't necessary.

I've talked all over North America with 4 watts on AM. This includes Alaska. I've made a few contacts into the Pacific as well. On SSB with 12 watts pep, I've made contacts out to the Philippines, New Caledonia, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Italy. Northern Europe is a poor path from the West Coast due to having the magnetic pole in the way, so no contacts from the rest of Europe.

On the ham bands, 6 meters (50 Mhz) with 15 watts on SSB, all over the country, Canada, Japan, Guam, and many other locations in Oceania. I've made numerous contacts into South America as well. No repeaters used.

On 2 meters, using FM and 10 watts I've been able to talk up and down Northern and Central California by way of a propagation mode called tropo. The range is somewhat limited in California because this mode traps the signal in the lower troposphere (below about 6000 feet in many cases) and the mountain ranges usually rise up above ducting medium, effectively blocking the signal. On 2 meter SSB, using 25 watts, I've made contacts over many parts of the US, Canada and Mexico. Skywave propagation (Sporadic-E) is much less common at 144 Mhz than lower frequencies, so less contacts are made with this mode. However, using SSB with Tropo propagation is much more effective than using FM or AM. I've been able to make contacts up into Washington and over the top of a 9000 ft mountain Range between my location and Southern California through tropo ducting, or the natural "forward scattering" of the troposphere.

 

[PlumCrazy]

This Thread inspired me

After seeing how some people mounted their CB's i decided to move mine. I never use my ashtray for anything but holding change. So I took out the tray cut the hole a little bigger and spent a couple hours relocating things and making brackets. this is what I ended up with.

 

[marcehboy]

After seeing how some people mounted their CB's i decided to move mine. I never use my ashtray for anything but holding change. So I took out the tray cut the hole a little bigger and spent a couple hours relocating things and making brackets. this is what I ended up with.

that looks real clean

 

[ItsA5Spd]

I'll try and get some pics of my mount up. Basically, I used friction lid supporters like you would use on a toy box or blanket chest. I then mounted them to the radio and mounted the radio between my shifter and middle seat on the tranny hump. It works great because if you need to use the middle seat, all ya gotta do is unscrew the radio quick and fold the brackets down and it's basically like there's nothing there.