Linears and can U hear me nows
- Thread starter doc pops
- Start date
Help Support Homesteading & Country Living Forum:
What do you mean? Cell phones? Or something else?
For the CB, you need a signal amplifier or "linear" amp.
http://www.ebay.com/gds/A-Guide-to-Buying-CB-Radio-Amplifiers-/10000000177317569/g.html
I have a Palomar Red Devil 350 HD hooked up to my Galaxy 99 V2. On a dead key I push close to 100 watts. I will always keep a CB, but at this time I am currently taking a class to get my Ham license.I have a Night stalker and a old Tahoe 40. I would like to get a couple of amps for the CBs. And would like to get the can u hear me nows tweaked to work on CB chanles. Can any one help??
For peaking and tuning check out http://bellscb.comI have a Night stalker and a old Tahoe 40. I would like to get a couple of amps for the CBs. And would like to get the can u hear me nows tweaked to work on CB chanles. Can any one help??
Before he ships it back to you he makes a YouTube video about it.
I have a Night stalker and a old Tahoe 40. I would like to get a couple of amps for the CBs. And would like to get the can u hear me nows tweaked to work on CB chanles. Can any one help??
I'm more then a little confused, You have CB radios and you want to spend money to buy amplifiers and then you go on to say that you want to become a HAM.
Hams don't use CB radios!
A CB radio does not have sufficient enough power to drive a true linear amplifier.
It takes about 65 watts to drive a 600 watt linear amplifier.
It takes more then 100 watts to drive a 1500 watt amplifier - which is the reason why the contest grade transceivers usually incorporates 200 watts output.
CB radio - there is no one of any intelligence to talk to - so what is the point?
Comparing apples to apples, if you have a Moonraker IV or a HY Gain - Duo 5 beam or a HY Gain Long John beam antenna - properly installed, it is possible to make a 4 watt AM signal appear as if being a 120 watt signal into a dipole antenna.
That power is also reciprocal - not only will your perceived signal sound louder, you will also be able to hear more / further. This is a much cheaper investment from a standpoint of power consumption and also quality of signal. Once the antenna is put up, you don't have any further expense.
CB amplifiers tends to be Class C garbage, intentionally designed for use with CW transmitters, - is designed to be used with a narrow band emission, so when it is used with a phone transmission - the audio tends to sound distorted and off frequency.
The manufacturer really doesn't care, since no one signs their real name to any of this garbage and there is no one you can go to when it doesn't work - to complain.
Technically what you are doing is illegal - so they have you on that one.
The one and only local CB radio shop sells all that garbage - there seems to be a big demand along the Interstate highway for Dave Made Amplifiers and that Palomar garbage. Monkey Made Antenna's and those phasing harnesses for twin sticks on the mirrors.. Bob even runs commercials on channel 19 advertising his trade - using amateur radio equipment.
On the flip side, on the amateur radio, I have never heard anyone say anything about having to take their new Yaesu, Kenwood, Icom over to Bob to have it tweaked and tuned. We don't worry about swing or none of that garbage.
I CAN TURN ON THE POWER SUPPLY, HIT THE TUNE BUTTON, HIT ANY LEGAL BAND AND TALK TO ANYONE ANYWHERE WITH 100 WATTS OR LESS.
Digital modes - 20 - 40 watts is all the more power you use.
So why use a Linear amplifier?
Antenna's here are a old Solorcon A99 that someone else was throwing away.
I also have a Barker & Williamson BWD 90 - also rumored to be a good dummy load.
Amps are not critical, but sure are nice when theres a pileup. Im on 38lsb almost every night. Skips rare due to the current solar cycle but it comes in every so often, so does auroral and Es.
If you are running 18w (sideband limit) into an omnidirectional antenna, an amp is invaluable when solar activity is low.
People can tell you an amp is useless and all the magic is in a big beam antenna. A big array is handy but not always practical or enough.
Hams have it easy. Theres usually a band thats open for a given time. But for someone with no license stuck on 11m... an amp helps BIGTIME.
Heres why hams get all salty talking about cb... most CB amps have absolutely no output filter and emit harmonics way past VHF. thats when connected to a proper rig. Then they connect the amps to radios with limiters removed, boxcar modulation, a badly set bias and output impedance nowhere near 50 ohms. The result is a whole lot of crap way outside the passband of the other guys rx, wasted power, angry neighbors, and the fcc tracking you down. As one person said here, "nobody intelligent to talk to" i disagree. And when all the hams wanna reach family members who lack ham gear, i guarantee their rigs will find 27 or 462MHz!
If you are running 18w (sideband limit) into an omnidirectional antenna, an amp is invaluable when solar activity is low.
People can tell you an amp is useless and all the magic is in a big beam antenna. A big array is handy but not always practical or enough.
Hams have it easy. Theres usually a band thats open for a given time. But for someone with no license stuck on 11m... an amp helps BIGTIME.
Heres why hams get all salty talking about cb... most CB amps have absolutely no output filter and emit harmonics way past VHF. thats when connected to a proper rig. Then they connect the amps to radios with limiters removed, boxcar modulation, a badly set bias and output impedance nowhere near 50 ohms. The result is a whole lot of crap way outside the passband of the other guys rx, wasted power, angry neighbors, and the fcc tracking you down. As one person said here, "nobody intelligent to talk to" i disagree. And when all the hams wanna reach family members who lack ham gear, i guarantee their rigs will find 27 or 462MHz!
not true Many hams use cb radio. Some started with cb and others like any good comms person wants to have all the frequencies possible at their disposal. There have been many times a cb has alerted me to road closures or wrecks up ahead on the interstate so I was able to go around. In a SHTF scenario cb with an amp would be welcome to listen and talk a little further out than your 4 watt cb can do. There will be people on cb that don't have ham you can contact. And in a shtf scenario I want as much information as possible from as many sources as possible.
