Hey Guys,

I guess this is kind of a unique questions as the search found me nothing useful.

I have a Midland CB and I bought one of those Radioshack magnet antenna. I know the CB has power since it lights up and when I press the talk button on my mic, it lights up the bars.

The channel is set to channel 19 but when I ask for a radio check, I get no response. There were about 8 trucks within 100 yards and I got nothing. Is something broken??? Am I doing something wrong?

The reason I want it is because I make a long drive to school and the cops are bad on the highways i travel so im hoping for the truckers to alert me before I hit a speed trap (like the one i almost hit last night)

Thanks!!

 

(1) Try other channels
(2) Get a real antenna

 

i'll agree with the first suggestion, but since you're probably not an OTR driver, you probably don't have a need or desire for a real expensive antenna, as most people just add cb's for offroading and highway emergency situations, and the occasional "Smokey Report".

My suggestions are first check your squelch. If you have a squelch **** turn it fully CCW. With the radio on and volume up you will probably hear alot of static fuzz. This lets you know that your radio is receiving.

If your radio has RF Gain, i suggest going to about 3/4 of the full adjustment. This will increase the strenght of radio's ability to receive signals.

Now, the static fuzz may have become stronger. Just turn your squelch CW until you can no longer hear any static fuzz.

You also may wanna go out and check everything from your antenna base all the way back to the radio itself and look for nicks, chaffes, or breaks in the coax.

If you have any excess coax, i suggest bringing it as close to the radio as possible and coiling it up. this will help reduce signal interference and get a clearer signal.

if your radio came with a built in SWR meter, you may wanna call midland and get their advice on calibration. if not i would suggest buying an swr meter, to make sure you get a good swing when your transmitting.

these are just a few of many suggestions available. these are some of the most basic things to check. Hopefully the will help you out...

 

the speaker on the cheapie midland models goes bad pretty quick. If you're not getting any noise, try headphones in the external speaker jack..

 

take a picture of the model you have so we can help you out....but check the squeltch like what was posted above, and yes you should probably get a better antenna....just because there are truckers around you doesnt mean they have cb's either, But im sure one of them had to..

Rocky

 

Or were listening, I have a buddy that is a OTR trucker and the CB gets annoying pretty quick, he only has it on when he needs something, or is lonely. I want to know why the truckers always have the echo on, it makes them so hard to hear

~HJ

 

Yeah that pisses me off on mine, i have to turn it up and concentrate (sp) on what they are saying, because of the echo...Its stupid

Rocky

 

thanks for the advice...I have a volume ****, a squelch control and a dial for up to 40 freq. I had the volume up and i kept turning the squelch...i did hear static like 2-3 times but nothing constant. As far as then antenna, I dont want anything permenant cuz i only use it once per month and i dont really have any money for anything more expensive

 

wait, i thought that your supposed to hear the squelch on the cb. you can turn the squelch **** down until you only hear voices? thanks in advance.

 

yeah...squelch is to get rid of unwanted signals. it's kind of like a filter. in that it only controls the amount of swr and rf coming in...


ok, a big majority of truckers, especially the old coal haulers, and bull wagon guys, cb's are to them what big thumping stereo systems are to alot of us. Bigger is better! My dad for example, when he owned his own fleet, he had his truck outfitted with a heavily modified 148 GTL. This thing had 4 different echoes, voice modulators, roger beep, and a 500W linear amp. For antennas he was using Wilson Liquid Cool 1000's, which are no longer made. You could honestly run a metal clothes hanger between the two antennas and slide a hotdog on the hanger, hold down transmit for about 30 seconds and it would microwave the hotdog. All of our old truckin buddies used to make jokes about him and say that he had to call NASA down in florida for clearance before he could key down his mic...lol

 

You are correct on everything except this. Never coil up coax, it is the worst thing you can do for your antenna system.

 

i'm not talking small coils....just a loose lying bundle...

 

Ok, but the way you worded it wasn't that. "Spread out the exess" would be the best way to word what to do with it. I personally cut it to a more managable length but reattaching an RF connector is beyond what a lot of people want to bother doing.

 

Yea ive heard to seperate the excess coax....But you dont have to have anything permanent, thats why you get a magnet mount, just get a cheap wilson 1000 off ebay, or get a "lil will" magnet mount...which is like 30$....But yeah turn the squeltch all the way counter clockwise, and you should hear alot of static....and then ask for a radio check, someone should chime in, if not then try another antenna...

Rocky

 

Even with my squelch all the way down, I hear no static or anything. I heard static briefly like twice but thats it. My cord is all effed up behind my seat so i will try extending it so its not all bent around

 

the reson they use echo from what my dad told me is because other ppl get annoying so when one lets off there mic another trucker count the echos then keys up keeps the conversation 1 on 1 yea you can hear them but you dont get to put your 2 cents in it

 

The static from having the squelch all the way down is not effected by the antenna. You should hear that even with the no antenna at all. If you aren't hearing anything, then the radio is malfunctioning. Either the speaker doesn't work or the radio is just dead.

 

i might have the same cb and i havent had a chance to try it yet so i cant help you