“Most manufacturers set their radios just below 4 watts,” says Firestik’s Vincent. This procedure, known as a peak and tweak, is particularly important for new radios, which are intentionally detuned at the factory. However, the unit itself should be tuned occasionally by a reliable technician. A CB radio is only as good as the coax and antenna connected to it. There are several procedures for ensuring maximum output. Given the device’s utility – and meager legal power limit – its optimum performance is essential to anyone wanting to “ratchet-jaw” with others more than 50 feet away.
#CB RADIO POWER BOOSTER DRIVERS#
Still, the CB provides drivers with unlimited, free airtime and information available nowhere else on the electromagnetic spectrum. Today, the humble, 4-watt two-ways must share time and cab space with cell phones, satellite messaging units, Internet-connected laptops and digital pagers. Of course, these terms interested truckers more 30 years ago, when CBs were the only communication devices they had. They’ve been replaced by large electronics stores, truck stops and Internet merchants, all of which can offer competitive pricing, but fall short when it comes to discussing the subtle nuances of gain, co-phase and voltage standing wave ratios. The CB shops of yesteryear “are somewhat of a dying breed,” he says. I call this the Microsoft syndrome: Everyone has become too accustomed to point-and-click technology.”Ĭhanges in CB distribution have also contributed to this decline in customer knowledge, says Bob Gladden, vice president of sales at Omnitronics in Cleveland. “Now, a lot of people don’t know even the basics of antennas or the required tuning. “They’d be asking us about propagation philosophies, angles of radiation, impedance and inductance,” he says. And a growing number of truckers no longer understand the fundamentals of CB equipment or perform the necessary maintenance.ĬB customers were well-versed in the 1970s, says Rick Vincent, owner of Firestik Antenna Co.
Manufacturers are outfitting their trucks with multi-purpose antennas designed to receive a wide range of airwaves. Truck cabs and sleepers are increasingly made from composite materials, which provide no ground plane, an essential element for most CB operations. Several problems afflict antenna performance. Unfortunately, many truckers are using antennas that function as if they were missing the top three gears. Ideally, a CB antenna should be mounted at least 30 inches from others.Īn antenna is to a citizens band radio what a transmission is to an engine: It transfers power from its source to some useful destination. Truck cabs are sprouting an increasing number of antennas.
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