CB question

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/cb-radio-forum/

 

Seeings how it's now in here, might as well go with it for a little while but look at all the threads we have and be surprised!

I had a Ranger back in 93 when someone liked it better than I did so I got a Galaxy and the same freaking thing happened in 94! Gone like a puff of smoke so my wife while I was waiting on a load out in Kansas meat patch called the CB shop at the truck stop I was at and bought me a Cobra 29 LTD Classic (made in the Philippines motherboard!) Had it peaked and tuned and even put an EB1 echo board in it and the guy brought it out to me and told me happy birthday. Total surprise.

That radio is still running great. AND no one wants to beak into my truck to steal a "cheap" Cobra! It's been tuned twice over the years and the final burned out and I had a 25 watt put in.

I've always run it with a Wilson 4' fibreglass antenna. You don't need to co phase the antennas (have 2 of them) and you can have the antennas "matched" or actually what is called the "SWR" adjusted but actually the CB's that have the adjustable SWR works fine as I put the old thing in that day and had the guy check the SWR and it was fine with the on board SWR meter and switches. NOTE: Do NOT have the SWR checked next to other trucks, buildings (steel or otherwise) and under power lines. You want to be at least 50" away from any other metal "things" to get the best possible signal off of the antenna.

In these new style trucks that use a splitter in the dash for both the CB and AM/FM you want to run your OWN antenna and coax! Use an 18' GOOD coax and put the antenna on the drivers side mirror mount if you can, this "Mil spec" coax is just the same as the rest! In fact it's the same "specs" as CATV coax so don't waste your money on it! If you put the antenna on the passenger side it can hit trees and break. If you have a cheap CB then don't bother with an antenna as you don't care anyway! LOL

What gets me are these drivers that do not know how to operate this "tool" they have. A cheap CB is just that, cheap and for use in motor homes! This "tool" you have should be able to hear and talk several miles. Now the drivers these days who run the east coast and have to put up with all sorts of grown up men in childrens bodies and have to play and do the Radio Rambo thing so these other drivers turn OFF the CB and then wonder why a line of trucks are getting off the road to a side road and run into the tail end of a 5 mile back up, turn on the CB and have to ask "Whats the problem?"

Yep makes me crazy! But how to tune out those morons you ask? Easy. The squelch and RF gain knobs are the answer. You can use these to drop your RECEIVING range down to only 100 yards once you figure out how to use them. There are actually some drivers that think the RF gain has something to do with transmitting. Mike gain is for transmitting.

First turn the squelch knob until the noise cuts off and turn it back just a bit till the noise comes back then use the RF Gain and turn it back till the noise goes away again. Now as you drive you wont get as much noise and if you start to notice as a truck approaches you, you will start to hear him as he gets closer. You can turn the RF back more and drop the range back more. This is also a good way to "find" the moron doing the singing or cussing or Ramboing just by "ranging" in on him but at least you will be able to know if some thing important is happening ahead of you OR if someone is trying to get hold of you to tell you your tires are falling off or something you might need to know!

My CB stays on when the truck is moving. ALL THE TIME! It's a "tool" not a toy to me. It's saved me more times than I can count especially when it came to major wrecks or emergencies that I didn't have time to mess around with and allowed me to keep to my schedule instead of creeping down the road in a 5 mile back up! Other drivers have notified me of problems with the truck and trailer without having to pull up beside me and hand signal me like I've had to do to way to many of these newbies these last few years.

But it's a new Century and a new way of life with all these cell phones and iPods and books on tape, but I tell you, these new drivers must not know how to listen to two things at a time! Multitasking the brain just ain't happening any more! LOLOL!


Gone are the days of hammering down the road in an old TransStar cabover with the windows down, yakking on the CB while country music poured out of the speakers!