why do truck drivers

Better to remain silent and thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt.

 

'Tis a fact that there is more hype and myth on CB than any other radio service. CB radios are manufactured to a certain spec because FCC requires them to do it. When there are mods that "turn up" power and modulation, it is illegal. Period. Of course, who cares about that: after all, *I* am the most important person on the planet! If I push people aside, figuratively, with my "loud 'n proud" radio, that makes me important, right? Seriously, the promoters of this are, naturally, the ones most likely to, and have, the most to gain. If they get people to believe myths, they get less radio-savvy people to spend $$$. Like the huge coil antennas. They sell because they "look tough", and present an aggressive profile. Actually, coils do ONE thing: they allow a shorter antenna to be used on a mobile. The best antenna? The 102" whip! However, it has drawbacks; length, height, tendency to swing and flop about, affecting SWR. So we shorten the antenna with a loading coil. Once that coil gets just so big? You are at the point of diminishing returns @ 27 MHZ. The mods?
The best part of THAT is, the $$$ that is now in the technician"s(??) pocket. Messing with modulation, clipping limiters, produces distortion, and many cases, and no matter what you say once you reach a certain percentage, that "loud" signal is now loaded with "fuzz" that DEGRADES your actual output to the receiving station! Oh! BTW! Ever see those huge coil antenna almost horizontal on a truck? A little tilt is OK, but did you know that, since most other mobiles are vertical, by tilting your antenna horizontally (on a flat plane), you are REDUCING your received signal by at least HALF, and the effectiveness of your output the same amount?? Polarity close in is a big factor. But "myth and legend", and the desire to look tough make the CB hobby unique in its own way! Power is another myth. It takes 4X the power to raise the received signal by ONE lousy S-unit!!! IOW, its all in yer head. And that's what the CB butchers are counting on!!!!

 

I've oft times opined that the variety of coil-laden antennas, chrome-plated mics, rebel flag face plates, and crappy Class C amps intended for the CB crowd are sorta like fishing lures: they're made to attract drivers (or fishermen), and not distant radio operators (or fish).

And don't disregard the pride element in getting mods/noisemakers/spur generators installed. Who in his right mind would pay $100-300 for "improvements" to their radio system and then admit they got taken for a ride?

73

 

I thought you needed twice the power to gain one s unit not four times..

 

I laugh my ### off when i see ant leaned so far foward,i usually act stupid and ask them why they do that..9 outta 10 times they say it lowers swr..It does lower it just by tricking the radio into thinkin it sees lower swr..
So many seem to think swr is the end all to be all..Had a so called tech in ill said my swr of 1.6 was awsome,not bad i said but what about reflection and matching ect..Not that i know much but i had to show him more options on his mfj 259 and show him swr aint all that..lol

 

No, it actually takes 4X to raise the received signal by one S-unit. SO, 4 watts x 2 = 8 watts. Needle won't respond to it. So, now you gotta go to 16 watts to move the needle an S-unit. To get another, 4 X 8= 32 watts. Now you got 2 S-units. But if the frequency is noisy, or crowded, that won't really do that much. Let's go to 4 X 32= 128 watts. There's a total of 3 units above what you where you were when you started. Now you *may* start to notice the difference if the channel is roaring like it commonly does when conditions and that "skip" is in. So maybe we "need" that O-o-o--one extra S unit just to get over the noise. But what if everybody else is doing the same thing? Increasing their power, too, cancels everything you just did! Nobody is gaining anything at all.
This is the very reason FCC does not want people using excess power. But, then, too, if they wanted things kept under such a lid, WHY did they put CB on 27 MHZ?

But, the CB shops and equipment sellers know that "power" sells radio, right? It's a psychology thing. If you mash the gas, you go faster. But going faster may not be a good idea depending on traffic, weather, etc. If you have an illegal amount of power, yeah, you *might* get out farther, or be louder than your neighbor, or be "King on the Hill". But what if a fellow trucker has slid off a lonely road somewhere and he's hurt in the wreck. Cell service is not working, and the ONLY thing he has is his CB radio to call for help. But there's someone all "Loud 'n Proud" locking down the channel and nobody can hear his call? Would you intentionally block his calls, or think of it as being "King"?
I'd like to think that other drivers would stand by, learn his location, send help, rush to assist. That is what radio is really FOR: to aid us, render help in emergencies; its less about one's own personal fun.

The real truth is, your radio is FINE right out of the box. Unless there is an unknown factory flaw, there is no reason to be sticking golden screwdrivers in there. Its-all-in-yer-head! We have been told by the bucks who want to make a buck that our radios need to be beeped & squeaked, twisted and turned. tuned and pruned, snipped and clipped and it just-ain't-TRUE!! Why is it, then, that no other radio service automatically opens up radios to make internal (and illegal modifications) to the radio circuitry other than to set the frequencies/program the Part 90 commercial sets for the service it is to be used in? Nope. Only CB does that. And how many times did you hear of drivers whose new radios have been ruined by some screwdriver clown? I rest my case!

 

Well i never said my memory is a trap door..lol..1st mistake i ever made..lol

Gladfly i agree with some of what you said but other stuff you sound like a ham user that doesnt like the intrusion of the cb..