Help me with an amp please.

1 to 4 ratio with modulation limiter in place set to just under 100%...

 

A 25 CAN do 25-30 watts. The 25 is the "ugly sister" to the 29. Actually more a no frills version. However, oddly enough, it can do more watts than the 29. If it is doing that much wattage it almost certainly has had a mosfet or 1969 final upgrade of some type. Possibly an older stinger board upgrade.

If you have a final upgrade you have 2 straightforward. You can purchase a high drive amp. They usually require around 30 to 50 watts to reach their max output. Alternately you can install a variable power mod and turn the power way down when using the amp. The caveat here is if you forget to turn down the power you will quickly produce a non functional amp suitable only for use as a paperweight.

If you have a stinger boad it would be best to uninstall it and return the radio to stock power. then you could hook up the amp with no problem.

Also another possibility.... Is thee a heatsink on the back of the radio? If so you probably have an RFX type final mod on the radio. These are not so easy to uninstall. If you see that heat sink you best option is the High Drive amp.

 

Just so you all know, not all swr/power meters measure peak power. Most of the inexpensive (think Rad Shack) measure RMS power only.
I have seen many a radio show forward swing when connected to a peak reading meter, and backwards swing when connected to an RMS type meter.
Only true way to see what is really happening is to setup a field strength meter in close proximinity to the dummyload and see if it swings upward or downward.

In any event, you would also need a 50 ohm dummy load connected to it. You can not get an accurate reading if connected to an antenna; no matter how good you think your SWR is.

 

IMHO the best thing to do is buy a Cobra 29 LTD, have the carrier dead key lowered to 2 watts with a swing to 8 watts then by a good 2 pill amp. I run a Cobra 29 LTD with a 2 watt dead key carrier that swings to 8 watts with a Palomar Elite 250 amp and a Wilson 5000 mag mount antenna. When the skip is not rolling I can talk for 10-12 miles.

 

I would think you should be able to talk a little further than that. I've talked 10 miles locally on a 4 watt carrier/16 watt modulating Cobra CB and a Wilson 1000.