Remember, all transmitting antennas need ground plane (counterpoise). Base antennas, much like “no ground plane” antennas, build it in. Do not use mobile antennas for base station applications unless you know how to build your own ground plane. Most, but not all, manufacturers pre-tune their mobile antennas on a test bench. To protect your radio’s circuitry and achieve optimum performance, mobile transmitting antennas (CB, cell phone, amateur, etc.) need to be tuned on the vehicle. Do i need a licence to operate a CB radio? No, up until December 2006 it was UK law to obtain an operators licence if u where using a cb radio for commercial or domestic use. The good news now is that the law has changed and CB radio is now licence free.

Use end of nail or other pointed object to unbraid the copper shield. Trim to approximately 1/4″ (6mm) long all the way around. Remove (unscrew) knurled barrel sleeve from main connector and drop over both pieces of coax. Make sure that the internal threads are up (see Diagram E). In almost every instance, once you get the same SWR reading on channels 1 and 40, further antenna tuning will not improve the readings. If the SWR is still over 2:1, you have other problems to conquer. Exception: There are rare occasions when the ground plane is so small or large that the system is way out of phase (especially with high-performance antennas). If you have high SWR on all channels and have confirmed that you have no opens or shorts in the feedline, try making a small tuning adjustment in the antenna. There are times when the SWR will drop equally across all channels under unusual ground plane conditions. If you find this to be the case, carefully adjust the antenna. I don’t need to explain this one, do I? The reason why you are purchasing an amplifier is to amplify the sound. The more, the better! So, settle for the one that amplifies the sound as promised. C. Cooling Features Firestik has tested literally hundreds of SWR meters. A large percentage of these have shown to be off by 0.3 to 0.7 when compared to a piece of certified equipment. There is no standard among production meters. However, unless a unit is defective, most will indicate the most serious problems that you might encounter

FCC will know even if you are using a standard CB radio. The moment you hook up an amplifier, there is no way you can hide your deed. Coaxial cable with holes in the outer insulation, severe bends, or door, trunk or hood caused pinches will cause performance problems. Treat your coax with care. Keep your amplifier covered with a piece of cloth when it is not in use. This will prevent dust accumulation.

The manufacturer did a remarkable job of maintaining voltage stability for the MegaWatt S-400-12 device. It also comes with protection against unexpected power surges, a grounded power cord, and an automatic shut down for protection against short circuit.For SSB, the maximum output is 300 watts for 10 watts of input. If the input drops to 5 watts, the maximum output for SSB is 250 watts. The minimum allowed input for SSB is 2 watts. Coax cables should never be cut and spliced together like common electrical wire. Line losses will occur. An amplifier should be capable of increasing the output power during the transmission of signals. In general, output power should be above 150 watts. Even 100 watts will work just fine, depending on what type of range you want to achieve. Just ensure that the output power is never below 100 watts. CB amplifiers are electrical devices. They are plagued with similar problems that other electrical devices face. So, taking care of your CB linear amplifier is important. Here are some basic tips that you need to follow: At that optimal range, the device has maximum heat dissipation. Talking of heat dissipation, the whole body of the amplifier has a heat sink type design with an extra fan to pull out the heat.

Most manufacturers of high performance antennas recommend a specific length of coax cable. If your antenna manufacturer suggests a specific length, give priority to that recommendation. Coming to the point, the idea CB linear amplifier should be independent of frequency, should maintain a constant gain at various input signal values, and should not add noise. The vinyl cap on any “tunable tip” Firestik antennas is optional. However, your antenna needs to be tuned as it will be used . . . with or without the tip. Mobile antennas, for best performance, should have no less than 60% of their overall length above the vehicles roof line. For co-phased antennas to perform optimally, the space between the top 60% of the two antennas needs to be unobstructed. All measurements should be taken with antenna tip on, unless you do not plan to use the tip in normal use.The limited range of CB radios, has forever, been the Achilles Heel for the CBers. But you don’t have to stay satisfied with what you have. You can always squeeze out high-quality signals from your CB radio with a CB linear amplifier.