Honest CB guy or shop needed..

[LawDawgOh]

Hello all.. I have been away for a while but its good to be back. (cant remember the old sign in or email I used so Hence the new name)

So Im facing a layoff at the Police Dept and heading back out on the road. The nice thing about a CDL and keeping your nose clean, and giving a notice when leaving a employer is, you never have to be without a job..

Anyway:: Im looking to buy a new radio. Last year I bought a General Lee from the last sponser of this forum.. I was less then happy. He told me he would peek and tune and turn the radio up. I paid extra for his "ultra service" He told me the radio would have an output of about 100watts. After putting the radio in the truck it was very clear that I wasnt putting out any where near 100watts. In fact the cobra 29 I took out of the truck sounded and put out better. So I stopped in the CB shop off the circle in indy ( the guy next to the pilot in the trailer) He hooked it up and told me I was putting out 50 watts. Anyway long story short and 100 bucks later The radio was rocking!! I finaly had the radio I thought I ordered in the first place.
Now I think I want another GL however Im a little gun shy after getting what I feel in my opinion was "hosed" from my last radio purchase.
What I want or think I want is a General Lee upgraded with the Top Gun Mods, aand a good mic, and if its truely available a " Better peek and tune" then normaly offered from the standard purchase. I dont know what the CB guy did in Indy But it was a HUGE difference!!
Someone please be honest. Whats the best output I can expect fom this radio? dont get me wrong Im not trying to talk to the moon, but I do want a solid talker and listener..

Thanks everyone for hearing me out!!

[Chemcat]

Hello all.. I have been away for a while but its good to be back. (cant remember the old sign in or email I used so Hence the new name)

So Im facing a layoff at the Police Dept and heading back out on the road. The nice thing about a CDL and keeping your nose clean, and giving a notice when leaving a employer is, you never have to be without a job..

Anyway:: Im looking to buy a new radio. Last year I bought a General Lee from the last sponser of this forum.. I was less then happy. He told me he would peek and tune and turn the radio up. I paid extra for his "ultra service" He told me the radio would have an output of about 100watts. After putting the radio in the truck it was very clear that I wasnt putting out any where near 100watts. In fact the cobra 29 I took out of the truck sounded and put out better. So I stopped in the CB shop off the circle in indy ( the guy next to the pilot in the trailer) He hooked it up and told me I was putting out 50 watts. Anyway long story short and 100 bucks later The radio was rocking!! I finaly had the radio I thought I ordered in the first place.
Now I think I want another GL however Im a little gun shy after getting what I feel in my opinion was "hosed" from my last radio purchase.
What I want or think I want is a General Lee upgraded with the Top Gun Mods, aand a good mic, and if its truely available a " Better peek and tune" then normaly offered from the standard purchase. I dont know what the CB guy did in Indy But it was a HUGE difference!!


Someone please be honest. Whats the best output I can expect fom this radio? dont get me wrong Im not trying to talk to the moon, but I do want a solid talker and listener..

Thanks everyone for hearing me out!!

Hi, Anyone that told you a General Lee would put out 100 watts was just lying to you and I suspect that he never peaked and tuned it either. I think that the actual peak and tune was done by the guy in Indy. I've never owned a General Lee but I have co-workers that do and they sound great, get out great and are very tough radios. A very good review of the radio is available at cbradiomagazine.com They are supposed to be great candidates for the Top Gun modulater and the SP1-A speech compressor but others with the mod will have to tell you if they see a difference. The best thing you can do is get the best antenna for your situation, best coax, and get the SWR as low as you can get it, but you probably already know that. Two noise canceling mics that many people use are the Turner RK-56 for people with high pitched voices and the Astatic 636L for those with lower pitched voices. I'm sure other more knowledgeable people will chime in but I thought I might be qualified for a response. Good luck

Oh by the way, I forgot that you were asking for a good shop. I've used a few over the years but I've been happiest with Sparky's CB Shack and he has the GL on sale for $170 and the peak and tune is free. I think he does the Top Gun mods for around $55 dollars for both. I bought a Magnum S-380 from him for $220 and it has them built in but don't know how much difference they really make. I get good reports and can usually talk to anyone I can hear. Google for his website and browse his forums and ask the experts for better info than I can give you. I'm not telling you this to sell you something just personal experience.

[Carolina Thunder]

Hello all.. I have been away for a while but its good to be back. (cant remember the old sign in or email I used so Hence the new name)

So Im facing a layoff at the Police Dept and heading back out on the road. The nice thing about a CDL and keeping your nose clean, and giving a notice when leaving a employer is, you never have to be without a job..

Anyway:: Im looking to buy a new radio. Last year I bought a General Lee from the last sponser of this forum.. I was less then happy. He told me he would peek and tune and turn the radio up. I paid extra for his "ultra service" He told me the radio would have an output of about 100watts. After putting the radio in the truck it was very clear that I wasnt putting out any where near 100watts. In fact the cobra 29 I took out of the truck sounded and put out better. So I stopped in the CB shop off the circle in indy ( the guy next to the pilot in the trailer) He hooked it up and told me I was putting out 50 watts. Anyway long story short and 100 bucks later The radio was rocking!! I finaly had the radio I thought I ordered in the first place.
Now I think I want another GL however Im a little gun shy after getting what I feel in my opinion was "hosed" from my last radio purchase.
What I want or think I want is a General Lee upgraded with the Top Gun Mods, aand a good mic, and if its truely available a " Better peek and tune" then normaly offered from the standard purchase. I dont know what the CB guy did in Indy But it was a HUGE difference!!
Someone please be honest. Whats the best output I can expect fom this radio? dont get me wrong Im not trying to talk to the moon, but I do want a solid talker and listener..

Thanks everyone for hearing me out!!

If you want a radio with the top gun stuff in it then why not just get a Magnum radio that already has all of that stuff from the factory.


My 2 cents on the top gun mods,compresser mods and NPC/RC mods. It is a HUGE wast of money that CB techs use to get your hard earned cash! I have seen all of the mods on the scope and on Bird meters and the only difference between them is the level of distortion they produce. These mods are for the Dosy Swing watts crowd only and do very very little to increase the amount of "real power" that your radio will do.

These mods are only to show you more power on a Dosy (peak ) meter,check the same mods out on a Bird meter and you would be not only SHOCKED but mad as hell!!

There is a reason that CB techs dont use a Brid meter and those that do have Birds with a Peak kit installed. If people really knew what little power increases they got for their $100.00 at CB shops they would loose their minds!

I not trying to start a war here,you boys do what you want.

[WA4GCH]

If you want a radio with the top gun stuff in it then why not just get a Magnum radio that already has all of that stuff from the factory.


My 2 cents on the top gun mods,compresser mods and NPC/RC mods. It is a HUGE wast of money that CB techs use to get your hard earned cash! I have seen all of the mods on the scope and on Bird meters and the only difference between them is the level of distortion they produce. These mods are for the Dosy Swing watts crowd only and do very very little to increase the amount of "real power" that your radio will do.

These mods are only to show you more power on a Dosy (peak ) meter,check the same mods out on a Bird meter and you would be not only SHOCKED but mad as hell!!

There is a reason that CB techs dont use a Brid meter and those that do have Birds with a Peak kit installed. If people really knew what little power increases they got for their $100.00 at CB shops they would loose their minds!

I not trying to start a war here,you boys do what you want.

YEP YOU HAVE THAT RIGHT ........

Now I use processers on my radios and they DO work but they are not going to turn a 2sc1969 final into a 4cx250b .......

[Mad Dog 20/20]

I think whackjob,sparktune,rolling tune,NPC or PPE mods or what ever a tech calls their tune is not necessary.Maybe turning up the AMC if needed and an alignment should be all that is necessary for a good sounding radio. As stated above it's easy money for the seller.

[Sixx Burning Sky]

For a Complete Transmitter Alignment TX, the shop in question should have a Bird PEP wattmeter and scope on their bench. Used to monitor radios RF Output, driver, pre-driver and mixer filter for output and bandwidth.
Complete Receiver alignment RX Aligning Front End, mixer, filters, IF section using a commercial Service Monitor and SINAD meter for best signal-to-noise ratio and sensitivity. Radios with SSB need biasing adjustments so the carrier and balance are equal between LSB/USB Many radios regardless of model or brand can easily be improved with a complete TX & RX alignment. There is more to it than turning the AMC.. Don't rely on a modulation meter, the only way to see what is really going on is to monitor the RF output with a scope. There is only so much 'headroom' in the transmitter strip, and too much AM power will cause signal clipping and the radio needs to be run within it's linear region so you don't distort and splatter all over the band.

[WA4GCH]

For a Complete Transmitter Alignment TX, the shop in question should have a Bird PEP wattmeter and scope on their bench. Used to monitor radios RF Output, driver, pre-driver and mixer filter for output and bandwidth.
Complete Receiver alignment RX Aligning Front End, mixer, filters, IF section using a commercial Service Monitor and SINAD meter for best signal-to-noise ratio and sensitivity. Radios with SSB need biasing adjustments so the carrier and balance are equal between LSB/USB Many radios regardless of model or brand can easily be improved with a complete TX & RX alignment. There is more to it than turning the AMC.. Don't rely on a modulation meter, the only way to see what is really going on is to monitor the RF output with a scope. There is only so much 'headroom' in the transmitter strip, and too much AM power will cause signal clipping and the radio needs to be run within it's linear region so you don't distort and splatter all over the band.

Yep I do that every day here and at my home shop however most radios I see unless something had to be changed are very close .....

Nothing wrong with checking things ..... which is why we use the IFR 1200S on everything that goes out of here.

[outerspacehillbilly]

Hello all.. I have been away for a while but its good to be back. (cant remember the old sign in or email I used so Hence the new name)

So Im facing a layoff at the Police Dept and heading back out on the road. The nice thing about a CDL and keeping your nose clean, and giving a notice when leaving a employer is, you never have to be without a job..

Anyway:: Im looking to buy a new radio. Last year I bought a General Lee from the last sponser of this forum.. I was less then happy. He told me he would peek and tune and turn the radio up. I paid extra for his "ultra service" He told me the radio would have an output of about 100watts. After putting the radio in the truck it was very clear that I wasnt putting out any where near 100watts. In fact the cobra 29 I took out of the truck sounded and put out better. So I stopped in the CB shop off the circle in indy ( the guy next to the pilot in the trailer) He hooked it up and told me I was putting out 50 watts. Anyway long story short and 100 bucks later The radio was rocking!! I finaly had the radio I thought I ordered in the first place.
Now I think I want another GL however Im a little gun shy after getting what I feel in my opinion was "hosed" from my last radio purchase.
What I want or think I want is a General Lee upgraded with the Top Gun Mods, aand a good mic, and if its truely available a " Better peek and tune" then normaly offered from the standard purchase. I dont know what the CB guy did in Indy But it was a HUGE difference!!
Someone please be honest. Whats the best output I can expect fom this radio? dont get me wrong Im not trying to talk to the moon, but I do want a solid talker and listener..

Thanks everyone for hearing me out!!

I would recommend sparkys cb shack. All his radios come tuned properly at no extra charge.

[WA4GCH]

For a Complete Transmitter Alignment TX, the shop in question should have a Bird PEP wattmeter and scope on their bench. Used to monitor radios RF Output, driver, pre-driver and mixer filter for output and bandwidth.
Complete Receiver alignment RX Aligning Front End, mixer, filters, IF section using a commercial Service Monitor and SINAD meter for best signal-to-noise ratio and sensitivity. Radios with SSB need biasing adjustments so the carrier and balance are equal between LSB/USB Many radios regardless of model or brand can easily be improved with a complete TX & RX alignment. There is more to it than turning the AMC.. Don't rely on a modulation meter, the only way to see what is really going on is to monitor the RF output with a scope. There is only so much 'headroom' in the transmitter strip, and too much AM power will cause signal clipping and the radio needs to be run within it's linear region so you don't distort and splatter all over the band.

TNX for PM ....

[coal]

A great little cb shop is crickets cb shop in dallas pike wv, located behind the T/A. They are on channel 16 I think and that guy in there really knows his stuff. They sell those radios and I was really happy with my work up.