Thinking about buying an amp... Help?

It is the policy of many companies now to not allow amps. If you are a new driver, I would be very careful about breaking company policy.............I wouldn't even be concerned about running an illegal amp as far as the FCC is concerned though. The big amps were causing problems in our trucks. You don't hardly see anybody running one (at my company) at all anymore. The few I do know about are 250 to 300 watts and they run them on low.

 

That's not proof.

So I have a KW sitting in my sleeper, and my ECM goes out, so that means that it is the amp that caused the problem with the ECM?

They can assume what they want but they would have to prove that it was the cause of an ECM being fried when there are a lot of other items that come before it.

By the way, I talked to GM this morning when I was delivering at the tech center. The guys over there said there really isn't any limit to power on their vehicles, because most of the professional and commercial installs are directly to the battery. They gave me a web page to see what they recommend and handed me a rather obnoxious looking manual on radio installs. The link is here ==>> https://service.gm.com/techlineinfo/radio.html

 

Im still wondering why you need to run 1000kw out of a poorly made amp that probably splatters all up and down the spectrum. Are you one of those retardos that trys to work skip on 19? LOL

 

Who said it was a poorly made amp?

The point is this, there are more than the typical cb amps in trucks, there seems to be a misconception on how much power (wattage) can be put into a car, or a truck or that it may effect the ECM.

Like I said, I know a couple of people who are running legal limit HF amps in their trucks, they seem to have no issues what so ever.

 

A. Compensation for lack of running a good antenna
B. Wanting to be the big dog on the highway
C. Because the next guy and his buddies all run one

BTW 1000 kW is 1,000,000 watts....I don't know of too many truckers who sacrificed the entire sleeper compartment for a wall of amps and drivers for that much power. Heck I don't even know if the channel 6 crowd runs that much.

One things for sure, 1000kW would probably be enough RF to cook you to a crisp the first time you keyed up. Suicide by the CB......

The truth is, most amps geared towards the CB crowd, lack the filtering and such required to keep the power clean. Take a look at a genuine HF amateur amp (will have more than just 10 meters on it) and one that just says 10 meters and notice the genuine HF amp has capacitors and such inside as opposed to the 10 meter amp which doesn't have much going on inside. The filtering is required so the amp does not send spurious emissions in areas of the band (and other bands) where it should not go.

I once had a small 2 transistor Maco amp that was hooked to a bone stock Midland 77-159 CB. I could sit in my drive, key up and make the door bell start buzzing. But it didn't affect the truck's electronics. Then later I had a 4 transistor Palomar amp being driven by a stock Uniden PC122 CB that would cause the truck run rich plus the SES light would come on, as well as the 4X4 indicator. And yes the door bell would also buzz. Mind you I used good coax and a good antenna too.

The reason for all of this is because neither amp I had, contained the correct filtering to keep the amp clean. As an end result, the signal would go out all over the band instead of staying withing the frequency, as well as getting into things it should not have.

 

You guys are funny ...

 

Kickstand,
Your funds would be better spent making your antenna system more efficient than just cranking out more watts, especially if those extra watts are spread out across the band, rather than being kept all within the channel you've got dialed up. And the antenna is just about the only thing you'll be able to change that will influence your receive range.
When the bands are open for skip, then even stock power (into a decent antenna) can work around the world. But you'll be competing with all the other stations on the air at the same time, so it will be hard to overwhelm the combined signal strength of *ALL* those other transmitters to be heard by one station that you're calling. An amp can increase your chance of talking to someone 20 miles away, but it's hard to imagine enough power to eclipse all the DX stations on the air at once.

Power can seldom make up for a lack of discipline among operators. I hear that all the time on the ham bands. Once the DX station identifies which of the hundred-or-so stations calling him to go ahead with contact info, the rest are *supposed* to standy by until their conversation is over. As soon as it is complete, bedlam ensues again. I usually only run 60 watts on SSB and 5 watts or less on Morse Code. I'm seldom the first station acknowledged, but having the patience to wait out the "big guns" pays off for the patient op; frequently, DX stations will ask for only low power stations to call, to give them a chance.

So it's not all applicable to your original question, but it may help keep some of the answers you're getting in context.

73

 

I saw a guy with a 102" whip on a Cascadia mirror mount...