CB radio mods

I stumbled on a thread about improving cb radios, and thought I could help. Now I can't find the thread!!LOL Don't even own a Toyota, in fact I drive a cargo van for my shop!. I have lots of tips to offer, and was just trying to help. I saw alot of misinformation, and my intensions were to help. jimsjinx

 

I though modifiying CB's was illegal?

Of course there's always those morons on channel 6 that I can hear no matter where I am. So the law's not stopping them, or, as it may seem, you

 

Not trying to be rude but there are mods you can do to CBs that aren't illegal.

 

No, I see your point. The way he stated "improving" I figured he was talking about increasing power output from the FCC regulations. Never heard of any other mods

 

Oh he may have been. I know people do little mods like LED lights and talkback switches and stuff. Who knows though, OP you wanna chime in? Lol

 

The only two I know of is talkback and peaking.

Talkback could be useful...

Peaking the radio, can mess up the radio if you aren't careful and if you're using it just out on the trails among your group it probably wouldn't be too useful.

 

Hi! What I was gonna say, was that yes, "mods" to increase output power is "illegal", tens of millions of operators do it, due to a lack of enforcement resources. Most every "Ham" I know started this way, and will likely NEVER admit it to other Hams. If you want a better signal, and want to stay legal, then your set-up and antenna are the things you need to pay attention to. Taking the cover off a CB, and trying to tweak it, is usually going to screw it up, or blow it up. It takes some pretty expensive test equipment, and knowledge to get a CB tuned as close to perfect as possible. Most idiots start turning things with the "golden screwdriver" and don't have a clue what they are doing! Linear RF amplifiers are great, but are not supposed to be used on CB. But the truth is, I don't know but 2 or 3 operators that DON"T use one. There is alot to know about them before you spend the money and try hooking one up. There are parameters for each type of radio, and linear amp. Some amps can olny handle a half a watt input, while others are able to utilize a 100 watt input or more. You mismatch the set-up, and it will work for about 4 seconds before you see smoke! Read everything you can get your hands on about this subject, and be prepared to throw away some money, if you don't. All the "Import Only" radios, and illegal amps are sold all over the web, and also in about every truck stop with a radio store. There is just too much participation to enforce the rules. If you DO get busted, you are gonna get a nasty fine, and all your equipment is "bye-bye". (so the officers can divey up your equipment!LOL) It is both a blast, and a PITA when you do get up and running. There are sooo many idiots out there, and some are some real evil MO-FO's. Legal Hams will despise you. And some even try to turn you in. There are actually many decent groups of operators that try to keep their radios transmitting with a clean signal, are polite, share knowledge and so on. jimsjinx