Connex 3300HP-ZX

[DeadManWalking]

Originally Posted by kc0rey

Pick my brain? No problem. That is why I asked for this part of the forum to be added.

I'd recommend any Uniden (I always recommend Uniden because they are well built) or Cobra that fits the space you have. If you'll use SSB then pick one with SSB otherwise any of the AM models will work for you. All of these radios have the same power capability. Cobras built since around 1993 have some quality problems that are easily corrected. Before that they were built by Uniden and were rock solid.
For an antenna, save your money and leave the big coily jobs on the rack. By a 5/8ths wave antenna. It will have gain over the 1/4 wave antenna and will out perform almost everything available. Firesticks and the Wilson Silver Load are 5/8ths wave antenna and are inexpensive.

I recently took a 5/8ths wave Skip Shooter and lengthened it almost 3 feet and made it a 1/2 wave antenna. This gives a gain of around 12db. It is now too long for the truck and will have to live on my Bronco.

BTW, 3db gain is the same as adding 10 times the power to your radio. Every 3db doubles your signal.


The hard part:

Every manufacturer expects you to run to the CB Shop for a tune up. Therefore, your new radio will not be set to it's legal limits. Now you've got to find a good CB shop aqnd tell them you want a 4 Watt dead key and 100% Modulation. This should be done on an oscilloscope and not a meter. A good shop will have a scope and will know how to use it. Tell them you do not want the Modulation Limiter clipped. And watch them. They should not get near your radio with wire clippers of a soldering iron (except to unsolder the speaker to facilitate case removal).

Buy the best coax you can afford and keep it short. Any excess, Coil it up near the antenna or the radio. They tell you not to and say it creates a choke. What it does do is create a crude Balun (matching device) and will not allow RF to travel on the shield back ito you cab.

Now I've got to go play in the snow in Utah. I'll check back here tomorrow sometime.

Thanks for your input. I'll be following your advice within the next few weeks. Now to find a good CB shop here in the SE region!

BTW, no four letter words around me, please. The "s**w" word is not even in my vocabulary. That's why I stay in the SE! I remember those days/nights crossing Wyoming in the winter ... never again!

[kc0rey]

Fine business! I am thinking of starting a web site to help folks get big radio performance from a legal limit setup. It is all in the antenna.

Maybe in the near future. At least help somebody to avoid the most common mistakes.

[DeadManWalking]

That would be awesome! We hear it every day: Guys bragging about all the power they're pushing. Sooner or later, though, they're gonna lose those radios. Lots of people will be reading your future site then!

[Iceratt]

Its been a while since ive been to the forums so I will start off with hello.

Now I have read some of your posts here kcorey and have come to respect youir good intention and inteligence.

That being said, I would also like to pick your brain. TurboTrucker, or as I like to call him (TT) , mentioned that when he moved his radio into his new truck that it seemed to have more power. Any idea as to why? Coax length? Just a guess.

I was also curious as to how you went about lengthening your 5/8ths to make it a 1/2 and how long it actualy was at completion? Concidering doing something of the sort with my strictly legal pc78 elite. I love this radio and want the best I can do (within legal limits) so that if im going in the other direction of someone that I can keep the signal long enough to at least exchange pleasantries. (sp?) Im terrible at spelling so please be gentle. LOL.

Thanx in advance for any and all help you can offer.

Iceratt

[kc0rey]

It is probably as simple as a different ground plane and less stuff in the way to interfere with the wave pattern. There also may have been some noise difference allowing him to hear further and that would make him think he was talking farther. My money is on the ground plane difference.

The best advice I can give you is Wilson Silver Load or Firestik. Keep your coax as short as possible. That means a little more work but it is worth it in the long run. Do not lean your antennas forward and try to install it as far away as you can from any obstructions. If you have a plastic cab or doors a "no ground" antenna is better then running a separate ground wire.

A 1/2 wave antenna will resonate like a mother but, the only way to make it work on a truck is to shorten it with a coil and that defeats some of the gain. It will still out perform a 5/8 wave. Also at 1/2 wave the impedience is around 10,000 ohms and your CB likes 50 ohms. You need to use a capacitor or tuner to get the inpedience (combination of resistance and capacitance) near 50 Ohms. A balun could help here as well but would be unwieldy on a truck.

1 wavelength on 27.185 MHz (channel 19) is 11 meters or a little more then 33 feet long. That is why CB is referred to as 11 meters. The perfect antenna would be 1 meter long but this is impractical.

73,

Steve

Oh and Hello Back!

[Iceratt]

Thanx for the response. Theres alot of info in what you mentioned. Phew, never knew there was that much to it. I had a very tip of the iceburg type of know how with antennas but after googling some of what you mentioned (so I knew what you were saying ) I learned a lil bit more. Still lots to comprehend. It left me with more questions and I will research more so that I may have a better understanding and quite possibly a better setup in the future. Thanx for getting me headed in the right direction.
Iceratt

[Iceratt]

So I was reading alot on antenna theory and if I understand it correctly 1 wave lenght is approx. 36 feet, half is 18, 1/4 is 9.
Now what im thinking is that 1/8 is 4.5 feet and should work nicely as a match. Am I crazy or would this be good?

I have some good links for antenna theory and some for homebrew antenna making. Im thinking about trying out the fishin pole one. Heres a link to it. If you get a chance to look at it please let me know what you think.

[LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link.

Iceratt

[kc0rey]

Originally Posted by Iceratt

So I was reading alot on antenna theory and if I understand it correctly 1 wave lenght is approx. 36 feet, half is 18, 1/4 is 9.
Now what im thinking is that 1/8 is 4.5 feet and should work nicely as a match. Am I crazy or would this be good?

I have some good links for antenna theory and some for homebrew antenna making. Im thinking about trying out the fishin pole one. Heres a link to it. If you get a chance to look at it please let me know what you think.

[LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link.

Iceratt

ratt, ever consider being a Ham? You sound like you have the mind for it.
1/8 wave woud have lousy gain and would not work as well. You are on the right track though.

I have no time now but wil reply more in depth tomorrow.
73,
Steve

[Iceratt]

Ok then I was correct on my assumption on gain. I really appreciate the help and input. I have concidered going into ham, I had a friend back years ago that was into it and it peaked my intrest back then, only I was to busy at that point in life to add anything into an already caotic schedule. Now it seems I have plenty of time on my hands when Im home that is. I go back out tonight and wont be back home for 3 to 4 weeks (im sure you know how it gos) but I have flying J's wifi so im gonna make myself a lil less scarce. Thanx again and peace for now.

Iceratt

[Iceratt]

Sittin here at the flying J in Peru Il. I decided to create 2 small balun's. 1 at each antenna as close as possible to where the coax connects. It appears to have dropped my swr by about .4 on the meter. I was getting a reading between 1.4 to 1.5 before this and now its between 1.1 and 1.0 on the meter.

In order to create them i pulled (very carefully) the coax until I seen the other end move, getting rid of about a foot of cable on each side that was bunched up under the dash. In your oppinion was it the shortening of cable, the balun or the combination of both that helped?

Theres always the other option.......I could be nutz.

Iceratt