CB Help

Alright, so about a week ago I got a CB radio from my fiancé's mother. It was in a plain white box, it had been sitting in her car for a while. Anyway, I got it set up and installed on my truck and there's a great deal of static. I met up with some buddies who run CB's in their trucks and I had to turn the squelch down real low for me to hear them. But inbetween communications that static is insane. Being a cb noob I don't know if it's a weak radio or antenna. They're both Cobra, and the radio says Cobra Ultra 10. I only have a volume and squelch option. It's also plugged into a cigarette lighter so that might be some of the issue. But any ideas to help get better audio quality?

Bird said:

Alright, so about a week ago I got a CB radio from my fiancé's mother. It was in a plain white box, it had been sitting in her car for a while. Anyway, I got it set up and installed on my truck and there's a great deal of static. I met up with some buddies who run CB's in their trucks and I had to turn the squelch down real low for me to hear them. But inbetween communications that static is insane. Being a cb noob I don't know if it's a weak radio or antenna. They're both Cobra, and the radio says Cobra Ultra 10. I only have a volume and squelch option. It's also plugged into a cigarette lighter so that might be some of the issue. But any ideas to help get better audio quality?

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I would say this is 95% of your problem. Go right to the battery. You also should have a tune-able antenna (some of them under the end cap there is an adjustment), but that requires a special meter to tune in. Going right to the battery should solve enough of the problem that you will be good.

Go to the battery to start but I have to tell you that a cobra 10 is a bottom line radio and you get what you pay for.If you want cheap and ok pick up a cobra 25 or 29 with a side mic jack not the front one,the side ones are older radios and have better filtering in them.Also a good ant. will help alot like a wilson 1000,It all depends on how much you want to spend and how far in the hobby you want to get.Also alot of newer stuff causes rf noise led lights will do it too.

It's like rifles. A low end rifle with quality optics will always be better than a high end rifle with crap optics.

Start with a quality antenna and coax, then tune the antenna. If you still have feedback then at least you know that you have eliminated one other variable.

Thanks guys. I hooked it straight to the battery, and not much changed. I was gonna rewire it to a thinker wire, but I'm gonna replace it for a better radio soon.

H Bird,
You need to get an SWR (Standing wave Ratio) meter and set your antenna so that your swr is 1.5 or lower. Make sure you are using clean power and look for a noise blanking switch most have them, if not the n turn the squelch up. As all the others have said a $20 radio is not going to perform like a $150 radio.
Also make sure that when you set the swr your coax and you antenna are the they are going to stay, in other words adjust AFTER installation.
preachp

Bird,

If an idiot like me can figure out how to use an swr meter and tune the antenna, I know you can do it too. It's really a very simple process. Just do a google search and there will be a lot of forums, webpages, and videos that walk you through the process.

Just remember:
- you want to get the swr equal on channel 1 and 40.
- take your readings in an open area away from power lines and trees or it won't be accurate.
- cut or raise the antenna in 1/8" increments between readings. (If the swr is higher on channel 40 than it is on 1, you will need to shorten the antenna. If it's lower on 40 than it is on 1, you will need to raise it).
- when you take a reading make sure your microphone gain (or dynamic) is turned all the way down.
- don't forget to calibrate the meter each time to take a reading.
- proper grounding makes a difference.
- roof mounted antenna is always superior to other locations.
- permanently mounted antenna is always superior to magnetic mounts.
- if you mount the antenna off the fender or the bed, you should have at least 2/3 of the antenna above the cab. If your antenna has a load (coil) it will perform much better if it is also above the cab.

*** some things that are not directly specified on websites or videos (that I have found).

- you cannot go below a swr of "1". In other words if your swr on channel 1 is "1" and your swr on channel 40 is "1.3", keep cutting the antenna in 1/8" increments. The swr on channel 1 will either remain the same (while it comes down on channel 40), or it will start to slightly increase as it comes down on 40. Remember the goal is to have the swr equal on channel 1 and 40 for a properly tuned antenna.

A lot of people would stop and call it good enough with an swr of 1 on channel 1 and 1.3 on channel 40. This situation happened to me and I was able to achieve a flat 1:1 swr across the entire band.

Those are the absolute basics that you should understand.

jdocs...The difference between a 1.1 and a 1.3 is so minimal its not funny..

Most of the op issue sounds like electronic noise from injectors and heater motors ect..
Keep wire lengths as short as possible....Dont buy basic trk stop coax,its junk..Wilson make a nice ant stud(a thick alum one not any of the chrome plated crap)
coax length has been a battle for yrs so get quality ends and get a length you need..
Someone mentioned a load coil on an ant...A load coil is the wire windings you see at different heights on the ant..Stick with a load coil up top..My suggestion is a skip shooter or even a fire stick..Get the one(fibre glass whip) that has a tunable tip..Where ever you buy the coax,be sure its a cb shop and ask them to tune for you..Coax should be 50 ohms or even a lil less,going over adds resistance and signal loss....SWR although good to have lower is not the end all be all..Tune more for resonance not swr..

I'm running a cobra 29, with a 4' fiberglass antenna, with a second as a dummy, just because I like the dual antenna look.
It's plugged straight to the cigarette lighter in my console, and I'm running an Astatic mic. No problems with the 18' truck stop coax, I've got little noise and good range.

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Well since I'm still getting posts on this I figured I might as well update y'all!

I have since upgraded my radio to a Uniden 520, that's wired directly to the use box for power, and fender for ground. I just installed a 3' firestik to my bedside, so far it works way better then any other set up I've tried since the OP. my SWR meter came in today, so in the next hour or two I ought to have that all set up as well.

I have read some people getting 15-20 miles ranges. I'm lucky if I get 2 miles .

I have a cobra lx with wilson 1000 antenne.


What kind of range are you getting ?

Does the one with 15-20 miles have booster, or it's a normal range ( on flat area)

Range like that I'd image you would need an amp, or it's really bad signals.

danmp said:

I have read some people getting 15-20 miles ranges. I'm lucky if I get 2 miles .

I have a cobra lx with wilson 1000 antenne.


What kind of range are you getting ?

Does the one with 15-20 miles have booster, or it's a normal range ( on flat area)

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The only way you'll get better than 2 in the city and 4-5 in rural (depending on atmospheric conditions of course) is if you run a linear amplifier or peak & tune your radio; these are both 100% illegal also. The FCC would crack down on folks running amps and peaked out radios back in the day, but now so many people run it they don't bother. If you want more range take your radio to a "CB Shop", not one of these places that sells everything under the sun CB and get the radio peaked & tuned. A problem you have running a peaked out or amped radio is over powering signal, you can be talking to someone from Florida when your in Utah like they're right next to you, but when you try to talk to your buddy next to you, you will step right over them.

Ive got a bone to pick with guys who run amps on their radios. Not only is it stupid and illegal, it can cause interference on other radio frequencies, like marine,air, fire/ems/police.

I run a police scanner (legal in my stare) so I can avoid road hazards and traffic jams. I drive a 1500 Ram that gets 16 cruising at 65, I dont
speed because I cant afford it at the pump.

I've heard people as far down as Texas on my cb. Those guys I cant hear on my scanner, but the guys running them in Kentucky, I can hear ultra loud static on my police radio, followed by an officer asking for a repeat.

The use of trunked radio systems has helped with this, but as higher power amplifiers from china are being used, the noise on emergency and air channels is jumping.

I absolutely hate people who amp up their CBs. If you want that kind of power move to armature radi like the rest of us who domt like the 4W AM transmit limit. or get yourself a radio that supports sing side band and legally broadcasts at 12W.

Ill tell you from experiemce, 2-meter radio is way more fun than CB (also known as ham radio)

dudeman2009 said:

Ive got a bone to pick with guys who run amps on their radios. Not only is it stupid and illegal, it can cause interference on other radio frequencies, like marine,air, fire/ems/police.

I run a police scanner (legal in my stare) so I can avoid road hazards and traffic jams. I drive a 1500 Ram that gets 16 cruising at 65, I dont
speed because I cant afford it at the pump.

I've heard people as far down as Texas on my cb. Those guys I cant hear on my scanner, but the guys running them in Kentucky, I can hear ultra loud static on my police radio, followed by an officer asking for a repeat.

The use of trunked radio systems has helped with this, but as higher power amplifiers from china are being used, the noise on emergency and air channels is jumping.


I absolutely hate people who amp up their CBs. If you want that kind of power move to armature radi like the rest of us who domt like the 4W AM transmit limit. or get yourself a radio that supports sing side band and legally broadcasts at 12W.

Ill tell you from experiemce, 2-meter radio is way more fun than CB (also known as ham radio)

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I agree with this, I run my CB every day, but it's bone stock and I'm not going to touch it. I was running down I10 last week and picking someone up in Hawaii talking on a CB about what he had done mod wise to it. I here a guy all the time in LA at a CB shop jackin' his jaw trying to sell CB equipment. We have a real problem here with the Mexicans taking over channel 9 where it's not able to be properly utilized.

SilverStreak88 said:

I agree with this, I run my CB every day, but it's bone stock and I'm not going to touch it. I was running down I10 last week and picking someone up in Hawaii talking on a CB about what he had done mod wise to it. I here a guy all the time in LA at a CB shop jackin' his jaw trying to sell CB equipment. We have a real problem here with the Mexicans taking over channel 9 where it's not able to be properly utilized.

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Thing is, more than half of them speak spanish. For all we know they could be in mexico. What I do know, is i've been in my truck listening to EMS dispatchers with my trunking capable radio, and for a good minute there was nothing but static on any of the channels used by my local EMS and fire.

That interference added a whole minute to the response time of what I followed on my radio to be an elderly woman having heart attack. After the static was gone, they ambulance had to re ask for directions because they were cut off the first time.

I am ******* pissed at anyone who uses an illegal booster. Goto armature radio and buy boosters there that are legitimate and DONT interfere with the 911 system.

God this makes me mad. You dont want to know how many CBs I ripped from truckers vehicles while I was working at Kenworth because they had illegal booster. I wasnt nice about it either. I took every piece of hardware and smashed it before throwing it out.

I don't want to be hear 100 miles away , but I was wondering why even with a Wilson 1000 and a good cb I can't talk more than 1-2 miles on flat area.

I used the build in tuner and my swr ( according to the radio ) is very low.

What are the tool to get the best performance out of the cb and still legal.

And also if someone had a tuturial to tuned a cb it will be great.

danmp said:

I don't want to be hear 100 miles away , but I was wondering why even with a Wilson 1000 and a good cb I can't talk more than 1-2 miles on flat area.

I used the build in tuner and my swr ( according to the radio ) is very low.

What are the tool to get the best performance out of the cb and still legal.

And also if someone had a tuturial to tuned a cb it will be great.

Click to expand...

A lot plays in radios, if you truly want to understand how to set them up (get into amateur radio) and how everything works I would say go over to Radio Reference Forum and start reading around there.

With CB's you're only on AM band, so it already limits you, you then have to take in what type of area am I in... in the city, rural area with woods here and there or is it open desert stretch?

You have to take in what are the current weather conditions, clear, cloudy, thunderstorms? There are a lot of things that come into play with radios, the higher you get the antenna the better reception in and out you'll get. When you talk into your mic it turns that into waves by vibration of the antenna.

I run a Cobra 29LTD with a Wilson 1000 modified and have almost 3/4 of the antenna about my cab so I get better reception. You can have the baddest radio, antenna and co-ax, but if you don't set them SWR's you're choking your radio out.

All I say it study up on them to really understand them.

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I've got a little issue here. So lately I've been getting quite a bit of static with my set up. Usually I don't get anywhere near what I have been experiencing. Can it have anything to do with the nicks I have on my antenna now?


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Could be your ground, could be your coax, could be your connectors. If your antenna was damaged you should be able to tell by comparing your VSWRs (before and after you experienced it).