Just thought I would add a little inspirational 2 cents here.
If you are somewhat like me, and not inundated with "disposal cash" then you can understand frustration when it comes to your radio and your equipment. We are constantly striving for the "perfect" radio (whatever that is) and constantly making changes, additions, tweaks, etc. Well, here is what I did for my mobile unit.
Remember, I am extremely financially challenged, but still have the desire for a monster radio (even though I cant afford a full tank of gas let alone a "Super Bowl" radio.)
I went to eBay, purchased a Cobra 18RV radio for $10.00 (brand new in the box.. factory refurbished), went to Walcott radios on the web and bought a $17.00 echo mic (copy of a DM-452), went to a friend and bought a Shooting Star 225 amp. for $30.00, went to my Father's house and unearthed an old "Original" K-40 antenna that I purchased in 1978-1979.
I put all of this equipment together, played around for about 2 hours trying to get the SWR down to 1.1:1 without the amp, and 1.4:1 with the amp. The wattages I am getting are:
No Amp = 4 watts swinging to 7
Lo Amp = 70 watts swinging to about 85
Med Amp = 80 watts swinging to 100-105
High Amp = 125 watts swinging to 150
Now, I spent a total of $57.00 on this radio, amp, mic, and antenna. So far, I think that I have keyed the mic and transmitted maybe 3 times without getting, at least, 1 trucker asking me what kind of system I am running. When I tell them, they laugh and ask... "Really, what kind of radio is that? A Connex, RCI, Magnum?"
The only reason I even added this post is to show everybody in the same boat as me, that there is hope for a good radio without going out and spending everything you have. You can acheive a good strong signal, a nice long distance, and a nice quality of sound on a very low budget. I did it!
Thanks for your time........ we now return you to your regularly scheduled program.
73's
-Jim
If you are somewhat like me, and not inundated with "disposal cash" then you can understand frustration when it comes to your radio and your equipment. We are constantly striving for the "perfect" radio (whatever that is) and constantly making changes, additions, tweaks, etc. Well, here is what I did for my mobile unit.
Remember, I am extremely financially challenged, but still have the desire for a monster radio (even though I cant afford a full tank of gas let alone a "Super Bowl" radio.)
I went to eBay, purchased a Cobra 18RV radio for $10.00 (brand new in the box.. factory refurbished), went to Walcott radios on the web and bought a $17.00 echo mic (copy of a DM-452), went to a friend and bought a Shooting Star 225 amp. for $30.00, went to my Father's house and unearthed an old "Original" K-40 antenna that I purchased in 1978-1979.
I put all of this equipment together, played around for about 2 hours trying to get the SWR down to 1.1:1 without the amp, and 1.4:1 with the amp. The wattages I am getting are:
No Amp = 4 watts swinging to 7
Lo Amp = 70 watts swinging to about 85
Med Amp = 80 watts swinging to 100-105
High Amp = 125 watts swinging to 150
Now, I spent a total of $57.00 on this radio, amp, mic, and antenna. So far, I think that I have keyed the mic and transmitted maybe 3 times without getting, at least, 1 trucker asking me what kind of system I am running. When I tell them, they laugh and ask... "Really, what kind of radio is that? A Connex, RCI, Magnum?"
The only reason I even added this post is to show everybody in the same boat as me, that there is hope for a good radio without going out and spending everything you have. You can acheive a good strong signal, a nice long distance, and a nice quality of sound on a very low budget. I did it!
Thanks for your time........ we now return you to your regularly scheduled program.
73's
-Jim