12w vs 4w receiving

Well, if the 4w refers to regular AM mode on CB, and the 12w refers to single side band on CB, then they can't communicate with each other. Pick one or the other mode for two radios within range, and they can communicate.

The wattage level is set by Federal law. CB is legally limited to 4 watts when in normal AM mode, and 12 watts for SSB. Of course, many people exceed these limits by "tuning" the radio and/or using an amplifier, in which case the wattage can be much higher than the legal limits.

What you're hearing on channel 6 from faraway states is AM mode from guys with big amplifiers riding the magic carpet named "skip."

 

4w or 12w isn't the thing, there is a mode of transmission that makes the difference.

Am or amplitude modulation is one mode. It is made up of three parts. The audio, the carrier and the sidebands. It is a thick form of communications and what I mean is it takes up more space and the more space means more energy is needed to move the signal through the air.

SSB or single sideband is am without the carrier and cut in half. It is much more efficient than am because it is a thinner form of communication, hence takes less energy to make the signal go through the air.

4 watts is the base power of an am signal, 12 watts is the peak power of a ssb signal. It gets a bit complicated to explain so don't worry about wattage.

And to contrast it with every day radio, you am radio is just like the am cb radio. When you use the fm part of your radio, it is still another mode and it is less energy efficient when it comes energy needed to communicate through the air. It does not use audio like am or ssb but it uses audio to shift the frequency back and forth with the carrier staying the same and at the receiver it uses a discriminator to decode the shifting and return audio. It is not used in the cb bands because it takes up a lot of space.

Hope this helps, but who knows I may have thoroughly confused you.

 

The really long distance stuff (ch 6) is usually “skip”, an atmospheric condition. Not really relevant.

As Ridegeline refers, it isn’t the wattage of the Radio per se, it’s the mode.

Regular mode is AM (4W legal maximum) is how most of us communicate when we talk about using a CB. Channel 19 for truckers, etc.

When we say we’re using “sideband” (SSB; 12W) it’s more particular. A pair of friends, a club, etc.

All in all, when someone says they’re using a CB radio, they mean the 4W limited regular channels.

(Other radios may not be strictly legal in output wattage, but the assumption about CB “regular channels” still holds true).

 

The antenna receives the signal...and transmit's your signal yes...

"ANY RADIO" that can tune to 27.025 MHz (channel 6) will pick up stations pretty clear... Channel 6 (also called "The Superbowl" or "The Bowl") is the channel allot of guys that run big-power will get on just to see who is the loudest...Some of these guys are running anywhere from 5000w's to over 10,000w's! (not all, but most) so even if there is no conditions (no skip) they tend to make their own conditions just by shear-power, and huge antenna's... Trying to make contact with one of these guys with nothing more than a 4w CB Radio is pointless..."Ain't-gonna-happen"....but you can listen to them all day long if ya like.

Another thing with channel 6...Even-if you got a Big Amplifier that could do 5000+ watts and a big beam antenna 50-70 feet in the air, that still doesn't guaranty you will get someone on channel 6 to answer you... If you don't have the "Lingo" down, even if they hear you...they may-not acknowledge they hear you...so they hear you, but they don't hear you.

 

You’d be surprised what 4 watts can do. Trust me, I’ve done a lot

 

Quote: "There's no way I plan to try reaching someone more than a few good miles with hills and mountains here, mobile or not 4w probably wouldn't go far I wouldn't think."

Get on top of those "hills and mountains" and your radio's prowess can be greatly enhanced via the "line-of-sight" transmission path. The best RF communications are achieved via line-of-sight; i.e., the antenna-to-antenna "seeing" each other without obstructions in the way.

By the same token, get into the valleys of those hills and mountains and your radio's communicating ability will be greatly diminished, because HF radio waves don't penetrate dirt and rocks too well.