advice

Would really need an amp with the 4300-300? They can do over 300 watts out of the box.Personally I'd stay away from that radio, too much heat in a confined space.

 

I'd just add the amp to the 3300hp. (be sure not to over drive it.)

 

Connex 3300-300 are good radios as long as they are set up by someone who does not turn them up to the max,that's when you run into over heating problems. This would be the best way to go as far as plug and play goes. Now if you own the truck or drive for a company who does not care if you use an amp then you can go as big as money allows. Texas Star are good amps for the money but there are many more amp builders out there depending on how much you want to spend and how much power you want.

 

Well, you have a bunch of options then. I mean,there are just all kinds of amps out there to chose from depending on how much you want to spend or how much power you want. When i drove OTR i used a 5 pill Dave Made, Cobra 148GTL,Predator 10K antenna with low loss coax and i never had any problems being heard. I've used amps with more power than that over the years but it always seemed to me that anything over 600 watts was a wast of money.

 

First thing to consider.... what kind of amperage do you have available?

What are you willing to spend on upgrading your power system?

How far of a battery cable run will you have to run to power your amplifier?

With the 3300.... looking at it on net (Not 2 familiar with most exports being I only talk on 6, 11, 15, 26 and 28 so no need for all those extra channels) Not that I do not own a few... I just am old school on 40 channel radios.

I would recommend running that 3300 into straight 4 transistor amp for longevity of the amp... You could probably get by running it into a 2 driving 4 amp.... but it might not last as long as the straight 4 transistor amp.

Looking at that 4300.... well the pics I have seen.... Looks like it could be a headache of a radio if you get to long winded on it.... Note transistors like a lot of heat sink to dissipate heat. And I am not seeing enough for that radio. But if you insist on having that radio like most cbers that have got to have the latest and greatest.... Then I would recommend that radio driving a straight 8 transistor amplifier. But then you will be looking into upgrading your power system on your truck to be able to supply the straight 8 amp.

 

Look. All you really need to do if you want a big amp and are willing to spend the money for it is this.....

Just for example....a 5 pill DM - XF or what ever-$300 to $375/800 claimed peak watts. Your charging system will support this, as long as you dont use it while the engine is off then you wont have any problems. Other wise it will drain your battery quickly.

Run at least 8 gauge (go larger if you have the space) wire from your amp to your battery. Hot wire goes straight to the battery,Ground to your frame. The bigger the wire the better your performance will be and the less problems you will have out of your dash lights and such.

Ground wire from the case of the amp to your seat frame.This will help cut down the chance of your dash lights going nuts and such as well as using good coax will.

Use the best coax you can afford,prices vary depending on manufacturer ($40 and up) but the lower loss the coax (more efficient) has the more power that will make it from your amp to your antenna and the better you will talk. Run as much coax as you need for a clean install but increase the length of coax by 3 foot (18-21-24 and so on) sections only. If you do it by 1 or 2 feet you will have a hard time getting your SWR right.

Use a good antenna with the SWR as low as you can get it with a ground wire from your antenna mount down to the frame. If you want a big coil antenna then the Predator 10K is the best other wise a good Wilson 2000 or 5000 will work fine. $50 to $100. But remember-Just because an antenna looks the same as another does not mean it will work as well. When it comes to antennas you generally get what you pay for.

Have your radio set to key around 2 to 4 watts ( i like a little higher key myself and no,it wont hurt your amp) and your good to go.

If you look around on EBay you may be able to get a big amp for less as well as the antenna but if this is to much for you to spend then you could go with a radio that has a built in amp. A Connex 4600/Galaxy 48T or 95T with a 2 pill amp built in ( 125 to 150 watts) would be the way to go, Under $375 for either of them. Just make sure you mount them in a place where they can get plenty of air flow and run your power and ground wires the same as you would if your using an amp.

 

You do not want to put one of those radio's into a 1 driving 4 for sure. I may know a thing or 2 about this... Look into one of these last post I just made. I run a small station in the mobile.