Uniden pro 510x Static

Without diminishing the thread, I’d have first answered that the combination of RF Gain and Squelch can be adjusted together to cut the worst of the noise.

Some of it is constant. Usually related to your vehicle and rig installation.

Some is temporary. Outside sources that diminish with distance.

1). I generally back off the RF Gain until the meter shows nothing. Or, next to nothing.

2). Then I move channel selector to 23 or another not in use. And adjust Squelch to cut all noise.

3). Back on 19 I may or may not re-adjust Squelch due to noise (with more transmissions, it’s higher).

This method is sort of what the rig is capable of doing at present without it driving you nuts after an hour.

Improvements to the conditions in which the rig has to work usually mean lesser amounts of Squelch, and/or that the RF Gain can be opened up more.

This is a starting point.

From here, checking Mike Gain by asking others about audio quality, and trying to ascertain how far away you can hear is what gets the ball rolling.

A). It assumes the antenna has been checked for lowest SWR, and that all connections are tight

B). The best place to start to cut noise is in the power leads. Straight to car starter battery is best. Research how to do it properly. Fire risk.

C). The subject doesn’t end. But it can get better as more work is set up as projects to complete. See www.K0BG.com

D). The second noise-cutter isn’t discussed much as it’s expensive, but after power leads is a Digital Signal Processing Speaker. $200 and up. See West Mountain Radio for one example.

Clean power and a DSP will do a tremendous amount for mobile rigs in terms of simple fixes (as antennas in type & placement gets complicated; so does bonding).

Good luck

 

LOL.... don’t worry about it. It’s just the way this forum is. Why? I have no idea.

 

“Someone on the Internet is WRONG!”

The world stops until this is fixed.

Hold all my calls.

Not now, honey, I’m busy.

It’s just a game. I’ll be there in a minute.

Etc

 

This is how people learn, if it is too technical, then someone speaks up and it gets simplified. If we all just sat silent no one would learn, right?

 

Ridge, reading is passé.

The world now turns much more slowly (planetary warming; the bearings need grease), and low information content videos are the thing. Visuals. Costume changes. Snarky knows-it-all.

Since reading skill is obviously biased against groups maintaining an oral tradition, reading is elitist.

Thus one must preface anything longer than a paragraph with an apology for the strain involved.

Oh, and no more than a couple of three-syllable words.

 

My two cents:
I don’t use squelch anymore. It’s potentially choppy response is annoying. I keep it fully off (counterclockwise) and use the RF gain adjustment knob to silence the background static for normal listening.

 

Then with SQ there will be an adjustment point that removes much but not all noise BUT makes available “most” of the local transmissions.

I’ve never recommended radios such as this. A Uniden 78 is as “basic” a radio as a trucker should have.

These days, a Uniden 880. As a 980 isn’t much more (and incorporates SSB) it’s my usual recommendation. Room to grow. Rewards improvements to other components and to the system as a whole .

Once the operator has some experience, SSB gives yet more of what radio can offer.

 

So if you want a $40 radio, buy a Uniden 520xl. It has an rf gain control and a noise blanker that works pretty well.

 

That's what I have, a Uniden 520XL. It has both squelch and RF gain knobs.

The way I use it is to:

1. Keep the RF gain wide open to make sure no important signals are eliminated with the background static.

2. Use the squelch for signal control, adjusted right on the edge so the background noise is quelled but weak signals just above the background that I might want to hear might get through. It does get "choppy" sometimes with marginal signals cutting in-and-out. When I hear that, I turn the squelch down to see if it's anything I want to hear. If it's not, then I turn the squelch up a bit more to eliminate the new on-air irritation in that particular area.

The only time I might use the RF gain is in an unusual situation that a big hog radio is close by and forcing its way through even with the squelch turned way up. In that case, the RF gain control will mash the vermin under its heel until distance permanently does him in. If I didn't have the RF gain control knob, I would simply maximize the squelch or alternatively turn the volume to zero until distance solves the problem.

So, based on this procedure, I find the RF control to be marginally useful and would not miss it if I didn't have it. Being of low intelligence, I like the KISS methodology. I.E., the fewer knobs, the better; especially in traffic where I use the radio the most.