best 10 meter converted cb

[buck and a half]

going to get a magnum nitro radio,is it legal to use as cb as long as it is converted.? what about the watts,are they legal? whats the best 10 meter to convert to cb, Kc corey,iI too love you,hope you are feeling better these days,I really miss your reports alot also. take care and god bless. I came off the road and going to hauling trees and logs in me ,home every nite. Running with my oldeset son,kw 55o 18 sp,alot of work for me but getting too fat,see ya all.

[TruckerLlew]

Originally Posted by buck and a half

going to get a magnum nitro radio,is it legal to use as cb as long as it is converted.? what about the watts,are they legal? whats the best 10 meter to convert to cb,

No 10m radio is legal to convert to cb. PERIOD! I am not familiar with the Magnum radio but if it is technically a 10M radio, then it's not legally possible to mod it due to FCC type acceptance issues and power limitations.

Type Acceptance means that the modes for the band that the radio is designed to be used will be specific to that service.

In this case, modification of a 10M radio to transmit in the cb band would violate this rule as the radio has the ability to transmit in a mode not legal on 11m. In this case, it is the ability to transmit in FM. FM is not legal to transmit on 11M. There are limits on what mode is legal on CB radio. The only modes allowed on CB are AM/SSB. I am not sure about CW. I had read in the past that CW is the only mode allowed on ALL FCC regulated frequencies but I am not positive. FM is definitely out!

Power limitations are as follows for CB:

AM power limits are set at 4 watts, carrier, 7 watts modulation. This means the radio cannot exceed 4 watts transmitting an unmodulated carrier signal nor can the wattage exceed 7 watts with modulation included with the carrier. Modulation is "voice". I am fairly certain that this Magnum radio would do much more then that.

SSB signals cannot exceed 12w. Once again, I am certain that this Nitro would exceed the legal power limits stated above. There is no modulation clause as SSB power is solely dependent on the modulation to create its transmit power. That is why SSB signals get out a bit further then AM signals. Twice the power essentially.

Also there is no heterodyne interference when 2 signals mix over each other in SSB. Heterodyne signals are the SCREEEEECH you hear when 2 AM signals are reaching your radio at the same S unit. Neither one can outpower the other so they cause interference in your radio. I am sure KC0REY can give a better explanation about that when he gets the ball rolling again.

These are the rules as they stand. Take your chance if you decide to purchase and mod this radio. The feds and others are watching more closely now then ever before. This has been mentioned over and over by KC0REY and others on this board. You risk up to $10,000 fine if caught.

Hope this helps and I hope that KC0REY gets better soon and gets rolling again. Missin ya in the board bud!

[MUSTANG]

I dont want to sound like somebody else, but 10 meter export radios are not legal even after beeing converted. I would just get a Cobra or Uniden. Get a good antenna and good coax set the swr's as low as possible. I used to run export radios and never had any problems because I stayed on the C.B. channels.Export radios are capable of transmitting above and below the regular 40 channels aloted to c.b. radio and thats when you get into the HAM radio bands.I dont have a problem with export radios I just like the older c.b. radios. I hope I was able to help you, im sure some others on here will offer some good advise. Good luck.

[Gadfly]

One way to tell about the "10 Meter" radios is to look for the "band" switch. If it has "bands" of 'channels labeled, "A,B,C,D,E,F" and so on, it is NOT legal for use on CB. It also must have an FCC certification sticker with an FCC number. ANY radio that exceeds 4 watts output is against the law to use on CB! Your best bet is to use a certified CB radio and refer to Part 95, FCC regulations. These days, the surest way to get into trouble is to start talking on those "extra" channels as, contrary to the past, FCC IS now looking!

Best,

Gadfly