220 Amature Mobile Antenna Wave
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I have been driving a tractor trailer for regarding 10+ years. I am a fellow member to some CB Radio Forums, also a lot of Truck Driver Forums. I see and get this question all the time, so I thought I would try and answer it here. You made it through truck driving school, now you need a CB Radio? OK, basi off we need to do numerous exploration on CB Radios. DO you want a 10 meter radio? Or do you want a frequent 11 meter CB Radio? Well it is going to have to be the latter of the two. Because unless you are a Ham Radio operator licensed through the FCC, then it is illegal to own a 10 meter radio. CB Radio operators are only permitted to talk on the 11 meter band. There are 40 channels in the 11 meter band, no CB Channels go beneath channel 1- 26.965 or above channel 40- 27.405. Anywhere in amidst you are permitted to operate as long as your CB Radio has not been “worked on”, we will get into this later. There are assorted dissimilar kinds of CB Radio’s to choose from that are legal in the US.
These listed here are the basic legal radios permitted to be used in the USA today without having to have a Amature radio license. They are permitted to be used as long as no modifications have been made to them such as a “Peak and Tune” where the power has been turned up on the radio. From the factory these radio’s are preset at 4 watts of power, which is legal. Tuned the right way they will go up to in regards to 35 watts, but again this is not permitted by the FCC. But most truckers go to the nearest “cb shop” and pay $50.00 to $100.00 to have a “Connex Board” and a “peak and tune” done to their radios. The “Connex Board” is a echo feature added to the inside of the radio, so as to distort (echo) the voice it also adds a talk back feature so the operator may listen themselves through an external speaker. Most drivers I know commonly buy a decent radio ($150.00) then they buy a cheap antenna to go with it. Well this won’t work, your antenna is 95% of your cb outfit. I commend any Wilson antenna, specially a Wilson 2000 or Wilson 5000. These range in price from $50.00 to $100.00 and that is normally installed. Yes, have it installed by a tech so that they may set your SWR for your antenna. SWR- Standing Wave Ratio this is what makes your radio talk. If you have a SWR of above a 3 or more it will burn your radio up. The tech will use a SWR meter connected to your coax and antenna to check it’s SWR reading. If it is to high they will cut some of the antenna whip off 1/8″ increments, until a adequate for the purpose SWR is reached. If you do not want to spend a lot on an antenna at least buy one that is tunable. The coax is another big portion of the radios performance. Which would be caught by a good tech when they were installing your “new” antenna. But if you are already using the radio and you observe it drops in performance, it will either commonly be the SWR or the coax. Truck stops trade precut lengths of coax, ordinarily you will need a 18′ piece to replace what is bad runs in regards to $25.00, I commend the gray or clear coax. If you are just replacing the coax you may do this yourself, unless you want the SWR checked. I hope perhaps this has shed a great deal of light on what to buy. Be safe out there. |
