5 watt limit question

The Cobra 25 from the 80's was one of the best CB's ever made. And they tuned very easy. It could see up to 16-21 watts. Great modulation too! Try it, it could be a Big sounding radio out the box.

 

"Big-sounding radio" with 16 watts? Well...........maybe a bit bigger, but not by much. Like the others were saying, power is NOT the do-all- BE-all of radio. Established radio theory and practice by electronics labs and users tell us that it takes FOUR times the power to equal one little S-unit on an S-meter. S-units are measured in decibels, so at 4 watts X 4 DOES equal 16 watts = ONE raised S-unit----which also happens to equal the amount of increase a human ear can detect. And even THIS is variable depending on atmospherics, the kind of equipment, whether it is working up to snuff and even whether the hearer at the other end has good (human) ears! "BIG" power is actually inefficient and it actually takes more to produce a "high"(?) level of power than it is worth because there are much better ways to produce results: more efficient antennas, elevation, and using something called "MUF"--Maximum Usable Frequency.
CB can't actually USE "muf" because it is stuck on ONE band. Other agencies like government, military and amateur stations can use the actual frequencies at their disposal because they have other frequencies to which they can go. Propagation changes and different frequencies "run", or carry traffic better than others. They can also listen to WWV
(.5, 5, 15, and 20 MHZ) and CHU Canada at various other bands to determine if a particular frequency will carry their traffic. Changing the height of an antenna can change "take-off" angle and at what place a signal "lands" on another station. Kinda like "aiming" your signal at another station, or at a certain distance. IOW, you don't always WANT your antenna at the highest place (known in comm circles as "NVIS--Near Vertical Incidence")

Not to 'lecture" anybody, but, for those who are interested, such info is useful, and it is why I encourage folks to explore the amateur license. There's so much MORE to it than yak-yak-yak-yak-in' on an old radio---'specially one so limited in its abilities and usefulness. It's an education unto itself where one can understand the true usefulness of "power" (or the LACK thereof!), and how little it is really needed to carry on communications. Yet on CB radio, it is a legendary mantra and a psychological crutch (for some) that attempts to make for some unforseen lack of physical or mental abilities. Honestly, there IS some lack when there is satisfaction (?) because "Hee Hee, I (big man, eh?) just walked on somebody's radio signal". And THAT'S supposed to make him BIG?

Taking advantage of the amateur license can help you in your trucking profession AND increase your knowledge of how to use your CB better as the principles are the same. Plus, you wanna talk to other trucks (and hams) with telephone-quality signals & like he was in the cab with you? HOW about using FM repeaters to talk to your buds 2 states away? Now, you can't use it for business (like finding loading docks, etc), but it sure makes driving those long trips nicer. Want to send DATA streams from your truck. You can! Want to talk DX? DO it with a legal, 100 watt ham radio (not on CB, tho), and contact stations THOUSANDS of miles away--places you will NEVER hear on your CB. That truck can become a mobile ham station at your fingertips where you can sit in the sleeper or cab and while away the hours. A few rules to follow, a test to take, and its yours.


GF

 

CHU in Canada operates on 3330 at 3,000 watts and also on 7850 and 14670 at 10,000 watts.

Near Vertical Incidence Skywave does not occur on CB frequencies.

 

Don't forget .....

WA4GCH burns up 20 meters with 80 watts on 14.300 mhz

Well maybe I'm bragging just a bit .....

 

Ummm.................maybe, maybe not. I was actually talking about how hams and commercial HF stations take advantage of this overall. I notice I even left out "skywave" because I was in a hurry to go meet for coffee!

GF

 

I was two meters one day and heard a call from a station down under. We talked about an hour and I ran out of range of the repeater. It is called IRLP. (Internet Radio Linking Project) yes you have to be a ham, But you can talk to almost anywhere you can think of. Lots of fun...There are a couple other projects out there that do the same thing. HF is great mobile But then you have to spend a few dollars on an antenna system to go with the radio.