Maximum Distance with a CB Radio
by David Harvey VK2DMH on Monday, August 3rd, 2009 | 1 Comment
What model CB radio will fit in my 4×4 and give me the most range?
I have a 2000 Honda CR-V 4-wheel drive and the CB radio that’s in it at the moment doesn’t do too well. I want more grunt with my next radio.
I am looking to get maximum range while transmitting & receiving, and I would like the most power at the best price (I’m on a tight budget here)…
What is the best recommended antenna/radio unit for this type of application?
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The brand and model doesn’t matter very much as long as you buy a reputable brand-name CB radio, such as Uniden, Midland or Cobra. Radio Shack has some decent CB transceivers as well. (In Australia, we have the Dick Smith stores, Jaycar Electronics and the petrol station shops at many of the big truck stops on our interstate highways.)
There are lots of folks out there who will offer to tweak the power on your CB rig to boost the power output, add more channels and the like – which breaks the FCC rules and makes you liable for a fine. What’s more these ‘fixes’ really don’t help much at all. Seriously, you’ll be lucky if they can boost your signal by half a percent. And nobody at the other end will notice any difference; but there is a good chance these unqualified tinkerers will do more damage than good.
If you want the most ‘grunt’ from a CB radio, then pay the extra and buy one that does single-sideband (SSB) transmissions. Sideband mode is much more efficient than the cheaper AM mode CB radios, but you will still have AM mode (amplitude modulation) as well, so you can still talk to ‘ordinary’ CBers with AM-only radios as well.
A single-sideband SSB CB rig will have 40 channels AM mode, 40 channels in LSB mode (lower sideband) and 40 channels in USB mode (upper sideband). Salespeople may try and tell you you’ve suddenly got 120 channels, but it doesn’t work that way.
You will find people on nearby channels will splatter you if they are close, or you will interfere with them. But for long-distance work, there is no doubt that SSB is far superior, and it is what licensed Amateur Radio Operators and commercial, military and government HF band operators make use of every day for their voice conversations on the HF (high frequency) Ham bands.
Incidentally, Amateur Radio Operators are not allowed to talk to CBers on the CB channels unless they are using a type-approved CB rig. Their Ham license only allows them to use the Ham bands, and not on the CB radio channels, except in case of emergency.
The best thing you can do for your radio signal is to mount a full-sized 9-foot steel whip CB antenna on the back of your 4×4. You should have a ball mount and a large spring at the base. These full-sized aerials are one-quarter wavelength long and will give you the strongest signal.
Do yourself a favor and have the rig professionally installed, with noise suppression as well. This will reduce the interference noise from your own car when you are trying to hear weak stations. You will get the legal max for both sending and receiving.
People using a 27 MHz CB radio from their home will get the best signal by using a proper ground-plane vertical antenna or a half-wave dipole (wire) antenna, mounted as high as possible off the ground — preferably at a height of 20 to 30 feet (6 to 10 meters) or even more.