help with corba lx29 need more power

Really...You think?

There's so many things you posted that are wrong I don't know where to start.....

1/4 wave antenna's come in a all sorts of configurations besides the 102" Whip...Base loaded, Open Coiled, 2', 3', 4' (etc.) Fiberglass antenna's like the Firestick, even the little stick-on window CB Antenna's are all 1/4 wave antenna's...

"Useless" to invest in a Export or Amp? How do you figure this? If the guy wants to be able to get out farther, either of these will fit the bill...IF I can hear someone regardless of where in the Country (or World) they are, most of the time I can get back in their receive...The radio has little to do with it, mostly it's the antenna and how well it's tuned and where it's mounted...a few extra watts don't hurt either...

"Line of sight", so what your saying is he will only be able to talk to someone who is within a 9 mile radius regardless of how much power he's running? Is that what your saying, because if it is, I hope your a better driver than you are a radio operator....

You don't really believe this do you? Because if you do, your in for a rude awakening... I talk to people all across the Country and even in other Country's from my mobiles...No Beams, and No fancy radios...Just a Cobra 29 LX CB Radio right out of the box, with nothing done to it other than a basic P&T, and a Predator 10K open coil antenna...(and a Amp, but not "Mega-Watts")

Truth is, with a little 2-pill Amp in-line and a decent antenna, the radio he already has (Cobra 29 LX) he could talk across the Country when DX is rolling just fine...And pending on surroundings, even with a barefoot Cobra 29 with a decent antenna, he could talk closer to 20 miles "Line-of-sight" as you call it...

I'm clueless on what your talking about here...Unless your talking about Base Antenna's...If so, this has no bearing on Mobile Antenna's or the fact you don't need a base set-up to talk thousands of miles...

Heck...when DX is rolling out of Texas where ever your at, get on channel 28 and I'll let you hear my mobiles...

 

There is a lot of good information on here, and some not so good. It doesn't take very long to figure out who knows what they are talking about and who doesn't.

 

JJD forget it, he is just a ham that comes here to stir the pot so to speak.

You and I both know that we can reach well beyond line of sight with an amp installed behind a good radio. We don't need to have our antennas 30 feet in the air to reach out more then 30 miles with 100+ watts.

To the original poster in this thread, the radio will do pretty good in stock form with a decent antenna. There are alot of antennas out there. I am personally running a wilson 5000 due to it was the only thing I could get locally.

Finding a place that can tweak that radio a bit might be an issue though. There are alot of good shops out there and alot of bad shops out there.

But i would do some more searching and find a good shop to get that radio peaked and tuned. Then I would look into some type of amp. I am no amp god so I can't offer much there. I am running an old Palomar 450 I got from a friend and it will reach out and touch someone.

When running without the amp I can easily reach 15 miles in my area. They say I get really weak out past that point. I turn on the amp and boom they say it is like I am sitting in the cap talking loudly with them and it stays that way out to and past 30 miles.

When DX or skip is heavy, I talk from North Dakota to Florida regularly. Yes I have done it barefoot (without an amp) but you have to really work it to get through. I turn on the amp and I don't have to work as hard. Guys say that I went from a very distant sounding station to a local sounding station with just the flip of a switch.

But before you get to excited about amps etc, you HAVE to make sure your antenna system is up to par. Good quality coax, good chassis grounds and making sure all metal body panels are well grounded. Also have to make sure the antenna bracket is well grounded to the nearest metal part.

 

Channel Jumper, if your 20 miles south of brookville your #### near in my back yard...

 

Channel Jumper...OK, your last post made more since vs. your earlier post, and I will agree with most of what you said...

Still...the original question was on how to get more power out of his radio, or maybe investing in a better radio, of which what I posted was correct...And just to show a example of what a little Amp can do for a CB Radio, here is a Videogate of me today talking to Island 860 in the Dominican Republic...For the record, The radio I'm using is a Cobra 29 LX LE, which is like what the original poster has...I'm also in my work van that has a Predator 10K coiled antenna, and a 4pill Amp...Nothing fancy.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1FrVFejc7c[/ame]

Now...To show you what Island 860 has for a Base Station, and antenna set-up, check this videogate out, and be ready for a real eye-opener!
(I'm not in this videogate but he still is making contacts in the States)

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1Y0NW1xA-s[/ame]

 

If it were me, i'd get the Cobra peaked and tuned, nice antenna and cable set up and see if that works good enuff. Most of the time i have my 29 in the truck, instead of my General Lee. The 29 is more than good enuff, these days since most people don't talk or listen anyways

Then again.....[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esDX2lVRTb0[/ame]

 

Just to show you the first video I posted wasn't a fluke, and you don't need some type of High Powered Base stations running Mega-watts, with Beam type antenna's...Here is another video recorded today by Island-860 in the Dominican Republic of me talking to Bulldog 777 in Maine...Bulldog was in his pick-up on the way to pick up some Chinese Food, and I was in my Suburban on my way back home from grocery shopping, trying to get home before the Daytona 500 started (which was later canceled due to rain) I was about 20 miles So. east of Dallas TX.

Bulldog by the way runs a Galaxy 959 with a Predator antenna in his truck, and I had no problems pulling him out... I run the Predator coiled antenna's on my Suburban...The one Bulldog is using is just a bit too tall to run on the roof...

The video was recorded using a cell phone, so the audio isn't all that good, but you can still make me out....
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYdjMToPimg[/ame]

Bulldogs Mobile video...
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1llS6E1URc[/ame]

 

JJD, did you try to contact the Caribbean station barefoot??? I'm sure he would have heard you just fine without the "4 Pill".Mother Nature's propagation was doing most of the work.In this part of the spectrum you can work the world with little power.On 11M and 10M I've had no trouble putting 5/9+ signals into Europe with 25 watts from a 2950 into a Wilson 1000 on my way to work in the morning.On my way home in the evening I've made contacts into Hawaii and Australia.

You forgot to mention that Bulldog uses the special "audio enhancing" antennas.

 

A 10 db gain mobile wip ?

I run about 80 watts on all bands but 2 meters and run 150+ on 2 It might just be me but I work the world with just that ....

 

Yeah I know...Thats why i was debating on whether or not to even post the contact...But thats getting into a whole other story...

As for contacting 860 bearfoot...nope, didn't even cross my mind at the time...Not sure I would have made the trip bearfoot anyway, that would be pushing it "Mobile to a Base station" thousands of miles away using a wire antenna 4' off the ground behind a concrete wall!