CBs revisited

[jmbrodsky@domain.elided]

Skip,

        It's pretty much accepted practice to get a good antenna, and cut 
corners ont he radio.  Just about every CB on themarket will have the maximum 
allowable (FCC) output power of 4 Watts.  There are amplifiers that *are illegal
to install and use* that may boost power, but they shouldn't be considered right
off.  The first step is to buy a good antenna.  If you can afford the overhead 
height, Radio Shack has a 114" Steel Whip antenna that requires no tuning.  Get 
the $12 spring for the base, and the antenna is around $15.  If you have a 
height limitation, the next best antenna is the FireStikII tunable fiberglass 
whip, available mail order.  They are about $20 and $5 to ship and can be tuned 
to 'near perfect' conditions.  The other thing to get is a SWR meter, Radio 
Shack $20-$30.  The SWR meter will measure the amount of 'radio reflections' in 
the system (Radio, cabling, antenna, mountings).  It is imperative to tune the 
antenna/radio combo to the best possible ratio SWR.  1:1 is ideally perfect, 
meaning that 100% of radio output power is 100% of antenna output power.  Any 
ratio lower than 1:4 should be avoided, it can damage your set.

        If you have to cut corners, get the cheap wal-mart radio ($35).  I can 
get 8 miles in town/clutter with my $39 Kraco and FireStikII, others I know with
more expensive Midland, and Cobra radios get only a couple of miles.  It's all 
tuning.  Also make sure to mount the antenna as high as possible, and as close 
to the center of the top of your vehicle.  If you have the factory roof rack, 
it's perfect.  Hood mounts work, but they are not as tall, and have a bad ground
plane.  The ground plane is the base of the antenna that acts like a mirror to 
reflect radio signals skyward.

        Good luck,

        -Joel

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Date: Tue, 9 Mar 1999 18:05:38 -0500
From: ldupliss@domain.elided
Subject: CB radio

Greeting:
I know this has been covered somewhere in the past, I just can't find it.
Any how, the time has come to buy a cb.  Where does one go to purchase a
decent one (Wal-mart, Sam's, HIFI Buys, mail order???)?  Are there any
special features I should look for, is one maker better than the other, and
how much should I expect to pay?  Does anyone have any experience with
antennas which hook into the radio and cb at the same time (I've heard they
exist and like the idea of keeping my exterior clean).  I realize this type
of antenna will cut down on performance, but is there really that big of a
difference?

Thanks for any advise!
Skip

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