As you may know many of the older radios are capable of going above and below the normal CB band; the most popular ones being the MB8719 chassis. This includes the Cobra 2000 GTL, Cobra 142 GTL, and the Uniden or President Washington.

The older Washington used the 858 chassis and can be identified by the use of a 4 pin standard microphone jack instead of the newer 5 pin jacks. Regardless of the radio used the most important part of the station setup is the antenna. The trick to getting out is an antenna system with the minimum amount of reflection. As you go above or below the CB band the SWR’s will increase; reducing the radio’s efficiency.

The idea is to get most if not all of the radio energy to radiate from the antenna without any energy being reflected back. This is known as a 1 to 1 SWR. In this condition your antenna acts the same as a tuning fork and resonates maximizing the radio’s performance; as the reflection or “SWR” increases the performance of your station decreases. The following is a list of the ratio of an SWR to its lose. Read the rest of this entry »

Whether you are mobile or running a base there are three parts to the antenna system. The first part is the antenna itself. A good antenna should last you 10 years or more. Ultra violet light and moisture is the most common failure. The second part is the mounting hardware. This is subject to moisture and wind and should be checked periodically.

Only stainless steel bolts and mounting brackets should be used to minimize rust. The third part is the coaxial cable. This part of the system is the first to wear out; it is exposed to wind, rain and most importantly ultra violet light. If the coax is easily replaceable any good RG58 or RG8 coax less than 100 feet with 95% shielding will work.

If you never want to touch the coax again and you would like to bury it or not have it wear out, then you need to purchase RG213, it is expensive at $2 a foot but will last the lifetime of the antenna system. Read the rest of this entry »

In 1957 Congress authorized The Federal Communication Commission to create a citizen band radio service. The FCC or" UNCLE CHARLIE"
took the lower portion of the 10 meter amateur band and created a
very restrictive class "D" Citizens Band starting at 26.965 MHz, as
channel "1" and ending it with channel "23" at 27.255 MHz.

Except for channel 23 each channel was given a 5 kHz bandwidth with a 2.5 kHz bandguard on each end of the Bandwidth for a total of 10Khz between each channel or 10,000 Hz. Read the rest of this entry »