anyone know the general range for cb whips. or are they all gonna differ a little based on brand?

 

Range is gonna depend on SWR, power of the system, quality of the antenna, and height of the whip in about that order. On a legal system you should average somewhere around 5 miles receive and transmit.

 

unless on top of the truck SWR will be hard to nail close to 0.. not only that but signal receive and transmit will be one sided if the whip is placed on say the bumper and what not.

 

allright cause im considering doing a setup for one. what would be considered illegal? to tall of whips?

 

I would suggest using a magnet mount Wilson 1000 the coax will be rg8 mini
the SWR "standing wave ratio" is the amount of transmitted signal being feed back into your radio, because the antenna is not a 100% perfect match to the frequency that your radio transmits on. 26-27mhz 11 meter band.

If you are looking for the best range you need the antenna mounted on your roof and not some cheep small whip.

The best radio for your money is a cobra 29, you can pick one up at any truck stop, look for radio shops get it tuned and peaked with some extra power 30-40 watts with out a liner amplifier.

You asked "what would be illegal?" = any modification to your cb radio - tune ups, amplifiers, noise toys- also music, cussing, & broadcasting music.
so basically meaning you must use only type accepted equipment that has been approved by the FCC.
However most of all truck drivers use illegal cb's.

Truck drivers who want to be heard on the radio decide to use a 10 meter amateur radio, transmitting on the "ham" bands requires you to have a license, they dont transmit on the ham bands, the radio can be modded to transmit out of band and down on to the cb bands. These radios can transmit up to 300 watts and have over 500 channels or more.

If your going with a 9' whip on the bumper you might want to run some power, and keep from touching the body of your truck, proper coax rg8 and good mounting is key to a good working antenna that wont burn up your radio.

I use amateur radio to talk to other radio operators around the world using only 2 watts on 40 meters ssb.

 

the size of the whip has nothing to do with legality. a CB (Citizens Band) radio. an Illegal setup would any radio modified and having a linear amp hooked up to raise signal or modulation, or a radio modification that allows a CB to broadcast on other frequencies other than the ones reserved for CB's. in fact here are the FCC regulations which are very good to know:


Citizens Band (CB) Radio Service is a private two-way voice communication service for use in personal and business activities of the general public. Its communications range is from one to five miles.

Licensing


License documents are neither needed nor issued and there are no age or citizenship requirements. As long as you use only an unmodified FCC certificated CB unit, you are provided authority to operate a CB unit in places where the FCC regulates radio communications.

Operations


You are provided authority to operate a CB unit in places where the FCC regulates radiocommunications, as long as you use only an unmodified FCC certificated CB unit. An FCC certificated unit has an identifying label placed on it by the manufacturer.




47 CFR 95 Subpart D prescribes all operating requirements which apply to CB. General system technical details and major operational regulations are highlighted below.

Equipment


You must use an FCC certificated CB transmitter at your CB station. You can identify an FCC certificated transmitter by the certification label placed on it by the manufacturer.

Territorial Limits


You may operate your CB unit within the territorial limits of the fifty United States, the District of Columbia, and the Caribbean and Pacific Insular areas ("U.S."). You may also operate your CB on or over any other area of the world, except within the territorial limits of areas where radio-communications are regulated by another agency of the U.S. or within the territorial limits of any foreign government. You may also be permitted to use your CB unit in Canada subject to the rules of Industry Canada. Travelers to the U.S. may operate a CB unit within the U.S. as long the unit is FCC certificated.

Linear Amplifier Ban


Users may not raise the power output of their CB units. That would be unfair to the other users sharing the channel by raising the level of radio noise. You must not attach a "linear," "linear amplifier" or any other type of power amplifier to your CB unit, Moreover, you must not modify your CB unit internally. Doing so cancels its certification and you forfeit your authorization to use it.

Antennas


There are no height restrictions for antennas mounted on vehicles or for hand-held units. For structures, the highest point of your antenna must not be more than 20 feet above the highest point of the building or tree on which it is mounted, or 60 feet above the ground. There are lower height limits if your antenna structure is located within two miles of an airport.

Ten Codes


Ten-codes are operating aids used by public safety and other professional communicators. The FCC does not regulate the meaning of the ten-codes. You may use an on-the-air pseudonym ("handle") of your choosing.
Channels


There are 40 shared CB channels used on a "take-turns" basis. There are no channels authorized in the CB Radio Service above 27.405 MHz or below 26.965 MHz.
No CB channel is assigned to any specific individual or organization. Be cooperative. Keep your communications short. Users must never talk with another station for more than 5 minutes continuously and then must wait at least one minute before starting another communication. Channel 9 is used only for emergency communications or for traveler assistance.

 

^^ this is good. my work had to get approved from the FCC so we could use our radios on our own frequency pretty cool stuff

I wish I had some friends who had CB radios I usually just listen to truckers...

 

CB radio is cool at first untill u get the static, the noise, the cussing and just people that want to cause problems.
Thats when i decided to get away from CB and take my amateur radio test, the test is somewhere around 35 questions based on theory of electronics and rules and regulations.

If you guys are looking to talk to ur buddy in the next town, state or country then amateur rado "ham radio" is the way to go.
you can talk radio to radio up to 25 miles or more, or talk using a repeater up to 100 miles or more.

http://arrl.org

If any one needs information on CB or Ham radio just ask.

 

most out here have a 15 km range depending on how the receiver is tuned and whether the antenna is tuned

 

Just found this thread as was lookign at buying a cb radio... they would have been useful with the future brother in law.... but I am just curious how "noisey" these channels get.... I would really hate to be running out of town, giving him some sh*t and have a random trucker hop in and scold us..