Where did you find out where to "turn the right screw" to pump that cb? I am looking for a cb and like to know what one to modify? thanksd0wnf0rcec0ncepts said:thats pretty close, here is another viewpoint. cb amps are kinda like NOS or police scanners, legal to have but not to use. here is a problem with that though, a lot a cb'ers use them to get up and over the noise, so others get larger amps to get over the first group, and so on and so on, next thing you know, the guy down the street has a set up for 1000 watts or something. What is usually good enough and while technically still a no no, is more ok than an amp, is to have the radio "tuned" by a proffesional cb'er. take a nice radio like the cobra 25 or 29, out of the box puts out 4 watts, with a turn of the right screw, can put out 20 watts, which is usually enough to get out. figure an average range of 1watt = 1 mile. alos on the receive side of the amp, it just amplifies everything, noise and words, so you can hear people further off.
I'm pretty sure that if caught with a linear amplifier you will be in deep doo doo. Everything i have ever heard and read said that, if it's in your possession like in your car or in your home no matter if it's hooked up or not your busted. So it's more like drugs, not like NOS or a scanner.d0wnf0rcec0ncepts said:thats pretty close, here is another viewpoint. cb amps are kinda like NOS or police scanners, legal to have but not to use. here is a problem with that though, a lot a cb'ers use them to get up and over the noise, so others get larger amps to get over the first group, and so on and so on, next thing you know, the guy down the street has a set up for 1000 watts or something. What is usually good enough and while technically still a no no, is more ok than an amp, is to have the radio "tuned" by a proffesional cb'er. take a nice radio like the cobra 25 or 29, out of the box puts out 4 watts, with a turn of the right screw, can put out 20 watts, which is usually enough to get out. figure an average range of 1watt = 1 mile. alos on the receive side of the amp, it just amplifies everything, noise and words, so you can hear people further off.
There are no licensing requirement for CB, amps are illegal period. But if you use one smartly you can get away with it as amps are quite common with truckers and hobbyists. Id like to have one buts its not on my priority list. heres a good forum for cb's...bigd9247 said:first off, why are cb amplifiers illegal? second, what does a cb amplifier do? they make the cb work longer range right? and who makes quality cb amps?
thanks...dalton
That is a really good point you made, but it might be something just like a variable resistor and it can be tuned up just a tad.i dont see how that can be done because the cb should have a very small internal amp which should only be big enough to supply close to 4 watts because that is the legal cut off and it would be wasted money for the cb manufacturer to put a stronger internal amp inside the cb because it would never get used.
bud, try the link i posted above. no you wont get caught esp w/ a small amp. the FCC is plain lax on their enforcement of CB radio regulation. yes (maybe) the factory amp can be tuned, but i know for sure "peak and tune" is a common mod for a new CB. Try a 60 watt amp that should be plenty. But definitely visit the site i posted cbradios.net (retailer) and cbradioforum.com (same retailers forum)bigd9247 said:ok thanks everyone for the information. now then i don't want anyone to think that i am someone that wants a 200watt cb or anything like that so i can stomp out everyone else. because that is not the case. i was just curious as to why they are illegal. but i would like a SMALL amp so that i can transmit better. what do you guys think about something like 10, 15, or 20 watts? i wouldnt get caught with anything that small would i? and it wouldnt interfere too badly with other conversations would it?
also, i would like to know how it is possible to tune a cb to put out more power? i dont see how that can be done because the cb should have a very small internal amp which should only be big enough to supply close to 4 watts because that is the legal cut off and it would be wasted money for the cb manufacturer to put a stronger internal amp inside the cb because it would never get used. (sorry for the huge run on sentence) but if i am wrong and that is possible, i would really love to know.
Actually, the manufacturers design the radios to run at 4 watts because of the FCC rules, but most radios are designed with components that will output up to 20-25 watts. This is so the radio doesn't over-drive and over-work the components, thus they will last longer and the output signal will be clean. Since the radios are designed this way, if you know how to mod them, you can get more power out of just about any radio.bigd9247 said:also, i would like to know how it is possible to tune a cb to put out more power? i dont see how that can be done because the cb should have a very small internal amp which should only be big enough to supply close to 4 watts because that is the legal cut off and it would be wasted money for the cb manufacturer to put a stronger internal amp inside the cb because it would never get used. (sorry for the huge run on sentence) but if i am wrong and that is possible, i would really love to know.
The point of having an amp is to use it when u need it. Not to have it on all the time so you interfere w/ other conversations. Although some people do that.afcajun said:I'm pretty sure that if caught with a linear amplifier you will be in deep doo doo. Everything i have ever heard and read said that, if it's in your possession like in your car or in your home no matter if it's hooked up or not your busted. So it's more like drugs, not like NOS or a scanner.
Now being a Satelliet/Wideband and Telementry Systems Technician I think i can jump on this thread and offer a little bit of knowledge. CB radio's used to actually required a licence when they first came out, after some time the FCC dropped the licence requirement for CB because of it's popularity and now it's free for all. Plain and simple CB's run in very low frequencies these frequencies are part of the Citizens Band, a part of the electromagnetic spectrum that is set aside for people like you and me to use absolutly free of charge. The reason for the limit on power amplification is because they give us 40 channels to us and IT"S FREE...they don't want you to use too much power and be transmitting for hundreds of miles. It is actually illegal to transmit over 155.3 miles on CB. When talking about frequencies as low as the frequencies we use in CB 26.965-27.405 they are capable of traveling long distances if given enough power or the atmospheric conditions are right. Now say you are having a conversation on channel 19 and 15 miles up the road someone else is having a conversation on that same channel, well with your regular 4 watts you should have no chance of bleeding into his conversation, that's the way the FCC meant it to be. So we can all SHARE. If say Joe Blow hase a 200 watt linear amplifier hooked up and decides to key up his radio to yell at the trucker who just cut him off then he will most likely interfear with everyone's conversation within that 15 mile radius....(this is just an example not exact distances or wattages) Point being the limit on power is there to make everyone happy and to stop as much interfearance as possible so everyone can use CB and be happy...now another thing is if one channel is busy switch to another channel that's y they are there. Now everyone knows that people can't leave good enough alone and to tell you the truth CB isn't good enough for our purposes, when out great distances from civilization you need to transmit greater distances sometimes...then theres the other power hungry people that just want to transmit over other people like mentioned in the above post. Yes putting out more power will jam the others and only your voice will be heard on that channel because you are higher above the noise floor than the guy abiding by the law putting out only 4 watts. Well in my openion if you need to transmit farther distances go get a radio operator licence and run a radio of higher frequency, then you can run your high power and transmit farther and it's all leagal so you won't have to worry about being smacked with a fine or thrown in the slammer for doing something you can do legaly if you had the licence.
Oh yea and about the receive side well yes you can amplify the receive side and then use your squelch to block out all the noise below a certain point on the noise floor. Everything is amplified but the squelch will only let the higher power signals through that are higher above the noise floor than the point set by the squelch knob.
And how does it all work? Well the amplifier takes the modulated signal at the previously amplified 4 watts and amplifies it more then sends it out through the antenna, but someone already stated this.
If you want to konw more about it do a search for linear amp in google and there's TONS of info on the web and they can explain everythign exactly. There's schematics and directions to build your own linear and most probably places you can buy them...weather or not you need a licence to do so i can't tell you...i never messed with it all too much. I'm pretty sure it's illegal to sell to someone without a licence both the linear amp and the instructions to build them but i'm sure they are available. It's all out there you just have to look for it and read read read.
well compare that to your Taco's engine. 150hp... well cut the exhaust at the cat, throw in a K&N filter in place of the stock or replacement, etc. viola! you've just peaked and tuned your engine. lol ok so our truck is capable of more than 150 hp but toyota put limiters in the system for various reasons. same is with CB's. theyre capable but limited by the manufacturer.Yeti said:That is a really good point you made, but it might be something just like a variable resistor and it can be tuned up just a tad.