linear amp? where get one for a CB

[hasselbach]

Anyone with a CB know of where to get a 100 watt+ linear amp?

 

[JTryles]

Try:



http://www.1stopelectronics.com/



http://stores.ebay.com/DJ-ELECTRONICS-PRODUCTS



Now, I JUST KNOW SOMEONE will be piping up ANY second now to berate you on how these are illegal, etc. etc. etc...

 

[B.G. Smith]

A lot of truck stops have a CB shop nearby, they usually have access to what you want. bg

 

[HEMI®Dart]

I was just gonna ask, aren't they illegal?

 

[JTryles]

I was just gonna ask, aren't they illegal?

It's a bit of a grey area if you can OWN one but they cannot be USED in the U. S. A. that's for sure.



Let's all remember that cutting off the CAT (or gutting it) on your truck is illegal as well. Power is addictive, both under the hood and coming out of the wire you call an antenna. Be nice though! Only use that extra oomph if you NEED to, IMHO.

 

[manganos]

You don't need an amp on the 11 meter band. Spend your money on a Wilson 1000, run some high dollar coax from the radio to the anteanna. Make sure you power the radio with the best wire you can afford. 100 watts in that class of amp isn't going to do anything but make you 'bleed over' the over channels. I've got an amp sitting here that does almost 9kw but of course I don't use over 1. 5kw on the ham bands

 

[JTryles]

You don't need an amp on the 11 meter band. Spend your money on a Wilson 1000, run some high dollar coax from the radio to the anteanna. Make sure you power the radio with the best wire you can afford. 100 watts in that class of amp isn't going to do anything but make you 'bleed over' the over channels. I've got an amp sitting here that does almost 9kw but of course I don't use over 1. 5kw on the ham bands

He's got a great point here... . go for the QUALITY radio, wire and antenna first THEN if you really think you need it the amp. Be nice to your neighbor though- get a quality amp, use the minimum power needed to keep the adjacent channel splatter down!

 

[hasselbach]

I used to have a 400 watt unit, and it worked great. I sold it for some stupid reason a few years ago. It helped on the receiving end too.



It was fun to hold a flourscent light tube next to the antenna, and key up the mike, it would light up in your hand.

 

[hasselbach]

Try:



http://www.1stopelectronics.com/



http://stores.ebay.com/DJ-ELECTRONICS-PRODUCTS



Now, I JUST KNOW SOMEONE will be piping up ANY second now to berate you on how these are illegal, etc. etc. etc...

Thanks the links are great.



What is a 10 meter radio? Will it pick up standard 11 meter channels?

 

[JTryles]

10 Meter is an amateur band located just above the CB bands. The so called "11-meter" band is the area between CB channel 40 and beginning of the 10-meter band. It's all "freeband" here in the USA- illegal to transmit on but lots of folks do. You will hear lots of SSB activity, folks doing "skip" and such. Try 27. 5550 in USB mode, especially when the sunspot cycle is good. I've heard places as far away as Alaska, Bermuda Island and even Australia! Try http://www.rollanet.org/~scanning/Personal Radio Services/cbext.htm for a clearer look at the frequency bands we're talking about here.



Some of the 10-meter radios can be modified to work on the CB band as well. Most of the models from Galaxy for example. I, myself, am running a Cobra 148GTL-DX+ off a Wilson 5000 antenna in the Ram. The radio is a no longer available export version of the old 148GTL that was very popular here in the states. In the house it's a RCI-2995DX base radio off an Antron 99 antenna.

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

It helped on the receiving end too.

An amp can't do anything on the receiving end. The things that can improve reception are a better receiver, better antenna, cable, antenna placement, ground plane, etc.



N1RTU

 

[JTryles]

An amp can't do anything on the receiving end. The things that can improve reception are a better receiver, better antenna, cable, antenna placement, ground plane, etc.



N1RTU

Some of the TX amps I've seen include a seperate receiving amp built in to them. Of course, the background noise is also amplified!

 

[manganos]

Some of the TX amps I've seen include a seperate receiving amp built in to them. Of course, the background noise is also amplified!

aka " pre-amp "

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

But that does nothing to improve the reception - it just makes it louder just like amplifying your FM radio. Now what you can do to improve your reception is to put a digital signal processor (dsp) inline which can remove a lot of the background noise.

 

[JTryles]

But that does nothing to improve the reception - it just makes it louder just like amplifying your FM radio. Now what you can do to improve your reception is to put a digital signal processor (dsp) inline which can remove a lot of the background noise.

Exactly. I remember a few years back that Radio Shack sold an add-on DSP box. I picked one up and it did actually help a bit.

 

[TSpecht]

If you insist upon having an amplifier for the 11m band please, please, please make sure to not get some Class C piece of crap but rather get an AB1 or B instead. Class C is far more likely to splatter, cause IMD, etc. Also please use it sparingly, as in "only enough power to successfully conduct a conversation". There's enough jerks out there running junk equipment and keeping it cranked up all the time, even when they're just a few feet away from who they're talking to.

 

[Got Smoke?]

Palomar 250's, Galaxy 225's, Modulators, etc... . go all day long on Ebay for $100 or so.

 

[hasselbach]

Palomar 250's, Galaxy 225's, Modulators, etc... . go all day long on Ebay for $100 or so.

What do you search as? That's good to know since new they are in the 200 range...

 

[Got Smoke?]

What do you search as? That's good to know since new they are in the 200 range...

No "225" and "250" are the amount of watts they put out. They go all day long on Ebay for around $100 + shipping.



Go to Consumer Electronics on Ebay and then to CB/Ham Radios and type in Linear and you will get about 3 pages of auctions. You will have to sort though the old tube type liners, and the Phaser(I think) itty bitty red boxes that are JUNK!



Now if I could just find me a Texas Star 667 to go with my Cobra 148F for that price I'd be Oo. Oo. Oo. :-laf

 

[manganos]

Not that I condone non hams using amps. But check out Davemade amps. He had a website I beleive if you search google. My second amp was a 16 pill Davemade. Our diesel trucks are great for putting AC generators on and using an AC amp. More efficent.