Baffled by the range claims

But after seeing your pics of antenna location, maybe you are not transmitting and receiving 5 miles.

 

I thought I was having a really bad experience with my radio and antenna until I had a chance to talk to the CB shop in West Memphis AR. I was 4 miles into Tenn and they are at exit 5 in AR and they were still hearing me loud and clear and me hearing them. And thats with my NGP antenna setup.

 

That lady has a base station with an antenna tower several stories high. Former 2-way public service.

Call it a partial answer. But a good one.

 

I run a Cobra 148 GTL... The old style that has the 5 pin Mic plug on the side (I use a 5 to 4 pin adapter so I can use a 4 pin Astatic Mic). I got it handed down to me by my father-in-law. I have carried conversations out to about 6 miles that I can confirm... Of others that I can not confirm there are at least 2 times that I suspect we carried the conversation to 8 or 9 miles. This is all in a Volvo 670 with stock antennas and coax.

 

Well CB is pretty much line of sight. Just like any HF or VHF signal. So if her antenna is fairly high that makes sense. But the fact that I could hear her 9 miles away that means my antenna setup is adequate.

You don't need power. You need height. One time in a plane I had a handi-talkie for aircraft. A rubber duck antenna INSIDE of an aluminum airplane. We were at 1000 feet. I asked for a radio check and got one from a plane 60 miles away. Also at 1000 feet. With a 5 watt radio.

 

On the right day I can hear her thirty miles away. In Arkansas on 55 or 40. In TN on 40. And in MS on 55.

Kick it to 26 for the real deal.


This is a big part of that reason right here.
.

 

"You selling burritos?"

Can I get a burrito with the good green sauce? Chili Verde is tasty.

 

Good white, good green, kick it back to the sand man patna.


Thats why i said find a CB shop. I can hear her at the TN/MS border on hwy78. granted i cant talk past the pilot but still lol.

 

Antenna elevation has more to do with range than anything else. the 27MHz band is mainly line of sight propagation. For a mobile installation, 7 miles is about the best you're going to get on flat terrain because the curvature of the Earth is going to block the signal beyond that distance. Base stations have more range because the antenna is typically much higher than a mobile antenna.

 

The 27MHz band (CB) utilizes line of sight propagation. The higher the antenna, the greater the range. Mobile to mobile is going to see a maximum of 7 miles. Beyond that, the curvature of the Earth blocks the antennas from 'seeing' each other. Base stations typically have antennas positioned higher than mobile stations, so their range is going to be greater as a result.