I bought a new radio and I still can’t get out!!

 

I have heard this more times than I want to admit.  For some of us we seem to forget that there are more things in your radio setup than just the radio.

The radio is the one that gets all the attention but it is not the main factor in how you get out or hear, there are several factors to keep in mind.

The Coax is the link to the antenna and if it is bad then you are just wasting your time with that fancy radio as you will not get the performance that you are looking for.

I don’t know how many times I have sold an amp to someone to compensate for a poor performing antenna system. Trying to tell them that this was not the answer

Let’s look at some of the facts on antenna systems.

1.      If the SWR is right then the system is ok.

Wrong this may not be the case you need 50 ohms impedance for an antenna system to work the way it should. SWR alone is not the only factor in how your antenna performs.

2.      I can use my SWR meter in the radio to set the antenna.

Wrong all the meter is doing is showing you the SWR, it will not set the SWR for you.

3.      I have to use 18’ of Coax

Wrong you can use any length you like, if you set the antenna buy adding are cutting coax then you are getting a false reading at the meter and the impedance will be way off.

4.      Duals are better than a single antenna.

Depends, the space apart is important for the antennas to work right if they are too close together then the will interfere with one and other and you will not get the performance you are looking for.

5.      Mounting my antennas on the truck bed or tool box will work great.

Wrong most times you don’t get a good ground from the bed of a truck as they are mounted with rubber mounts and most tool boxes are aluminum and they don’t conduct very well. Also one thing to remember is you don’t want to be too close to the cab of a truck as this will interfere with the antennas too.

Now I am not going to try and cover every aspect of antenna systems here as I would never get this done. I will tell you that if you have had your radio tuned and it still is not working the way you want more than likely you have an antenna issue.

Fixing this is not an easy job and can be time consuming too.

Frustrating most of the time

If you take the time to get it right you will not only get out but you will be amazed at what you can hear.

Something else to consider is the fact that when I of someone else builds a radio with high power and other mods it is like a race car and it cannot take a mismatch like a stock radio can, so it is very important to have everything in place when you are installing that super duper radio you just bought so it will perform and last as it should.

If you don’t know or just can’t seem to get it right then take it to someone that does and it will be worth every penny you spend. (Before you ask I don’t work on antennas anymore)

I love fixing up radios and my reputation is on every one that I build so the better you sound the happier you will be and the better I look J

There are tons of articles on the internet that can help you get the antennas set and as I said the time you spend will be well worth the effort.

 

 

 

Well I have been selling and servicing radios for going on 15+ years and I have seen most every mod that is known to man.
Everyone wants mower power and modulation...
Well that is great and if done right your radio can sound really good, but if done wrong you can create a whole lot of problems for your self.
Lets take a look at a lot of the mods done at truck stop radio shops. First thing they do is to cut the modulation limiter out and then start turning screws on the radio as they yell into the microphone. Do they get more power? Yes they do but how much is going on the channel you talk on? You see over modulation of a radio tends to splatter and that is just waisted energy that does no one any good. What you want is "applied Power" that means most of the power and modulation is going to the channel you are talking on.
What does this mean to you? The fact is that if you cut all the limiters out of the radio it is running hard all the time and is heating up the components of the radio. That is bad as heat is the worst enemy of any component.
But you can have the best of both worlds, a loud radio and a cooler running radio.
What has to be done?
The Answer is lowering the dead key and changing the way the voltage is applied to the finals of the radio. The process is the same for most Galaxy, Range and Connex type of 10 Meter Radios but it is totally different for Cobra, Uniden and most CB Radios.
For the 10 Meter Radios I have developed a great kit that is fast and easy to install that will do exactly what you want without removing the limiter or cutting a bunch or resistors in the radio. You will see from a 2 watt dead key and full output of the radio that is driven from modulation and when you take a breath the radio rests too. This leads to a cooler running radio that is very loud and will last twice as long and if everything is cut out of it.
For Cobra and Uniden Radios you have to go about it a little different, you have to use a cap installed in line to the supply voltage of the driver and final to cut the dead key. Then you use a fixed resistor of a variable resistor to set the dead key.
That will give you some swing but there is more that needs to be done to the radio to make it loud and proud.
The output circuit is not tuned to the max on these radios so you are going to have to add some components to the circuit to finish the job. I'm not going into all the details here but you can expect to see some big improvements.
The bottom line is if you are paying $10.00-20.00 for a so called peak and tune then you are just not getting the radio set up as good as it can be, and you might be setting yourself up for a costly repair..
Hope this might help some of you.. There will be more on this subject soon.