how much does coax matter?

In short......if that factory coax isn't up to snuff that 100 watt big radio will become an expensive doorstop in short order!

JD

 

My stock cobra 29 with good coax, good grounded , tuned antenna performed better than my "big radios" (galaxy 959 and connex hp3300) did with the factory coaxial. The coax, properly tuned antenna and a good ground make up the system.

 

Invest in good coax for your big radio! Stock radios can tolerate lousy coax for a much longer time than a modified or high powered radio! I found this out the hard way years ago when I put my heavily modified Superstar in my new KW. Used the stock coax with decent SWR and fried the radio in 2 weeks!
Ya gonna put some fire in the wire better make sure the wire can handle the fire!

JD

 

Do yourself a favor and stick with a barefoot, stock, 'small' radio. That 100 Watts doesn't get you any further than the barefoot 4 watts does. It just lets people on other channels hear you. CB radio is line of sight communication. That means that you're looking at 5-6 miles, tops, on flat terrain - with 4 Watts or 100 Watts.

 

No to stir anything up............ok...I am!!...lol..

Yes, I have a 100 watt radio. Legal radio too! How far can I talk? Asia plenty of times. Europe...Africa.....anywhere in North America....South America...

My point? Your "big" cb radio is gonna let you talk how far? It may allow you to walk on somebody, but why be a jerk? Have fun with your radio, but allow it to teach you the ways of the trade. Yes...I've had plenty of kickers in my trucks over the years. Its all fun. I'm not lying. But learn about what is good and not good. Your antenna system will make you or brake you. Your coax is apart of that system. And if you are using the cheaply installed RG58, your "big radio" may talk 5 miles if your lucky. Take a Cobra 18 with the proper antenna system, and you could talk 10 miles....

My 2 cents...

 

The problem with factory wiring, like in Freightliners is not just the coax they use, but the multitude of Motorola style plugs between sections that are each a possible failure point. Running one continous line on your own eliminates that.

 

just want to make sure you know there is no such thing as a legal 100 watt cb even if you hold a ham license 4 watts is the max wattage to be transmitted on citizens band

 

I don't see that he declared his 100 watt radio as being 11 meter.