When is over-modulation inevitable?

Okay, so I'm sure that this has been covered here before, but what is the carrier watts to peak watts ratio for over-modulation?

 

I understand that when negative peaks exceed 100%, over-modulation occurs.

I am by know means any kind of an expert on how amplitude modulation works, so I was wondering if there is a ratio with the watts that is bound by some scientific law or even just a rule of thumb.

Examples:

1:3 (4 watts dead key swinging to 12 watts)

1:4 (4 watts dead key swinging to 16 watts)

1:16 (2 watts dead key swinging to 32 watts)

Some people claim to tune their radios to perform similar to my last example with "big audio" and "clean modulation".

Is it even possible for a radio to perform like that and not produce over-modulation?

Maybe if a radio performs like the last example and is over-modulated, it has nothing to do with the watts?

 

Now I understand why I don't understand.

http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/dl/free/0073107042/462278/Chapter03.pdf

I think I'm gonna need "Amplitude Modulation Fundamentals for Dummies."

 

Thanks, that's the kind of answer that I was looking for.

My reason for this discussion is because while I was talking to a cb radio tech the other day, he was trying to explain to me how all this works (not an easy task). He was using long haired trigonometry equations like the ones in the link above (Amplitude Modulation Fundamentals).

When it was all said and done, he broke down the power adjustment to the dummy level that I could understand.

Find the peak output power of the radio and then set the dead key accordingly.

Like you said, he wouldn't exceed 4:1.

Processor?

Please explain.

At this point, I'm just a truck driver trying to not have a crappy sounding radio.

 

Raising the average power relative to the peak power would make a dramatic difference, but these two things stick out to me:

"Because of the large amount of gain in the circuit, background noises (even music) can easily be picked up in a noisy room. It is recommended that this circuit only be turned on in a relatively quiet environment."

18 wheeler, not exactly a "quiet environment." Would using a good noise cancelling mic through this circuitry still eliminate the back ground noise without defeating the purpose of the processor?

"While speech processors can make a difference getting through the QRM, they can cause unnatural sounding voice audio and should not be used when chatting locally."

The majority of cb usage for truck drivers would probably be considered "chatting locally" and "unnatural sounding voice audio" is what I'm trying to not have.

If something like this would work in my application I would be willing to try it. Not only do I not want to sound crappy I would love to sound way better than everyone else.