CB upgrades

[LSMR]

I've heard a few members here talking about getting CB's "peaked & tuned".Is it worth the money?Does anyone know of a good CB radio shop in eastern PA. who could do this for me?

[Big_Dave]

Don't know what it 'should cost' to have a radio 'peaked & tuned', but when I bought my radio, it cost $44.

I had my Cobra 29 LTD Classic 'peaked & tuned' when I bought it.

95% of CB's bought off the shelf are 25% off frequency. 'Peaking & tuning' gets the freq's back to where they're 'sposed to be and also bumps up the power to the max that the radio will 'put out'. In my case, the guy said it would be about 22 watts. :yikes: :ninja:

[towstrap]

I've heard a few members here talking about getting CB's "peaked & tuned".Is it worth the money?Does anyone know of a good CB radio shop in eastern PA. who could do this for me?

Yes it is very well worth the cost as long as your not getting bent over ,like $40 $50 or more. Don't know about Eastern, Pa. but if you go a little south to Haggerstown,Md. to Exit 5 there at the AC$T they have a real good c.b. shop. The receptionist, Shawna, makes the visit very well worth it, even if you have no work done :yikes: :love: :cloud9: :yes: :wicked:

[Big_Dave]

The receptionist, Shawna, makes the visit very well worth it, even if you have no work done :yikes: :love: :cloud9: :yes: :wicked:
:rofl: ;)

[Wrongway]

Getting the radio peaked does provide a little extra help getting out.
It's just not the "linear in the bottle..just add water" range enhancer some would have you believe.

Most new radios are never as far off freq as Dave suggests.
Most are actually quite close to being "right on" out of the box.

An AM only radio could be off by as much as 1khz before anyone would even notice. Most present much less error. Even 10 yr old Cobra's don't generally get that far off unless someones been "twiddling" or it's broken.

A "peaking" for a Cobra 29 really only effects the transmitter.
Unless the receiver has been "twiddled" incorrectly beforehand, you'll never really hear the difference.

Peaking just means that someone opened up the modulation limiters to allow the transmitter to reach 100% modulation or bypassed/removed the limiters to allow more than 100% modulation. If they give you your money's worth, the tech will give the receiver alignment a quick "once over".

Again, unless it was pre-screwed up for you by someone else or it's broken, you won't hear the difference.

Tuning a stock, untouchd Cobra29 should amount to maybe 10-15 bucks.
The hardest part to it all is removing the covers.

[SteelCityNomad]

I've heard a few members here talking about getting CB's "peaked & tuned".Is it worth the money?Does anyone know of a good CB radio shop in eastern PA. who could do this for me?

There was a shop downstairs of Carols American Chrome Shop in Carlisle before the Chrome Shop moved up the street. (I haven't been around that area to know if the CB Shop moved with the Chrome Shop or stayed in place. (Beside the Pilot, at the end of the turnpike offramp)

[nitestar]

If you are going to have your radio Peaked and tuned,
the first thing you should look for in the shop is a scope.
If the shop doesn't have one run for the life of your radio. The scope will or should be used in tuning the modulation pots. The scope helps the tech keep the modulation clean. I am sure you have heard radios that sounds like the operator is spitting when he talks or is so fuzzy sounding it sounds like a linear parked next to you or off freq. NO scope was used to tune their radio.

If the tech knows how to use the scope , your radio will be clean and loud and you won't get complaints on how it sounds.

Your radio is tuned and operated on a real good setup in the shop. The SWR is near perfect in the shop, The coax is very good ( or it should be)

and your truck is less than ideal. It may not sound just like it did in the shop. FIX the problem in the truck.

UNLESS you do what most do and change the settings on the mic gain, reverb, echo after you leave the shop and think that some stranger in an other truck knows more than the tech.
LEAVE IT ALONE.
Remember that just because you and your buddy have the same radio and you both drive a Freightliner or Pete does not mean you will sound the same when you key up. Way too many differences. truck, antenna, grounds or lack of them, voice , surrounding noises,
This is a good reason to use a scope. NO scope RUN

Remember the antenna is the most important piece between you and the other radio.
$300 dollar radio and a $10 dollar antenna, you have a $10 radio now.

If you drive a Frieghtliner , dump the coax fast. They use junk and it will eventually kill your radio

[LSMR]

Thanks everyone for the advice.

This week while running between Carlisle PA. & Akron Oh. I decided not to even bother with getting the CB peaked and tuned.
Most of my time was spent listening to XM radio & the few times I used the CB it picked up & received fine.I really only use the CB to let other drivers know it's OK to come back in after passing me(yeah my 89 IHC a slow truck) or to alert other drivers of a road hazard ect.The only time I really pay attention to the CB is in congested traffic situations.I think for now I'll just take the attitude of "if it ain't broke don't fix it" and use the money to take the wife out for dinner.

Thanks again

[Jimbo]

I myself never believed in the whole "Tune and Peak" thing, till I had it done to my Uniden radio. I forget the exact model, but it was one of the mid $50 models. I had a turner noise cancelling microphone on it, and took it in to have it tuned up. Instead of kicking out a 5 watt dead key signal, the radio shop has it set to where it only puts out about 2 watts, but swings up to 6 or 7 watts when I talk.

Everyone I talked to on it said it sounded like a $300 Galaxy radio. So I guess the place did a good job. The job cost me around $40 or so, and was well worth it in my opinion.

The place that did my work was just off of Rt. I-80 in Barkeyville, PA. Something like exit 30 or 29 or something like that on Rt.80. They are now located in a trailer over on the South side of the highway, next to the truck wash, across from the TA Truckstop. The name of the place was Live Wire, but is called 12 volt now. I am currently getting ready to send a radio by mail to them, since I don't run out that way anymore. That's how happy I was with the work they did.

They have a website. E-mail me at ArmedGuardian@MSN.com if you want the website.

[LSMR]

Thanks Jimbo-I used a radio the other day that was peaked & tuned plus had something done to eliminate a lot of the background noise.It's been a good month so I believe I'm going to get the CB done PLUS take the wife out for dinner. :)

[LSMR]

Yesterday I was supposed to take a trailer up to Mansfield MA. Due to bad weather on I95 & the fact that I bobtail back I canceled the trip until Monday.Instead I delivered a trailer to Winchester VA.. On the way back I had some extra time so I stopped at the AC&T truckstop of exit 5 in Maryland to check out the CB radio shop.While I was there I got my radio peaked & tuned.It cost $35.00 and was worth every penny! The radio recieves better than ever with very little background noise & transmits very well!!!!!!Plus the shop had the suction cup XM mount that I haven't been able to find.

Thanks every one for their replies & thanks Jimbo,SteelCityNomad & towstrap for suggestions on where to get the work done.

BTW-towstrap's right Shawna at the cb shop is worth the visit :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

[Wrongway]

The radio recieves better than ever with very little background noise & transmits very well!!!!!!
*agc = automatic gain control
*uv.'s = microvolts

During most days, there's at least 3-5 uv.'s of noise in the air.
That's on a quiet (no locals) or non-skip day.
This equates to a few "S" units on the meter.
Some days are just naturally quiet but not most.

If you don't hear noise, the receiver has probably been desensitized in some way.
Intentional mistuning of the rf amp stage & /or *agc amp allows this.
A common way of getting rid of typical atmospheric noise.
This is ok as long as you don't need to hear weak or distant stations.
Also, with the *agc misadjusted, you hear a large change in volume between strong & weaker signals.
Just the opposite of what the receiver was designed to do.
To get the same effect, lower the rf gain setting.
No cost..unless you dont have one.
Instead of kicking out a 5 watt dead key signal, the radio shop has it set to where it only puts out about 2 watts, but swings up to 6 or 7 watts when I talk. Another common trick.
Looks good on the wattmeter.

Tricks the close-by receiver's *agc into making you sound a bit louder.
Most CB receiver agc's cannot follow such a widely & quickly varying signal.
The end result is the agc cannot do it's job of "leveling out" the audio.

In practice, your actual range has suffered.

A properly modulated signal will peak at 4 times the carrier.
In the 5 watt example.. about 20 watts for 100% mod.
With a 2 watt carrier..about 8 watts is 100% mod.
If the 2 watt carrier peaks higher than the 8 watts, it is technically over modulated.
This measurement is made using a peak reading wattmeter or scope.
Your measurements appear taken from an average reading wattmeter.
On an average reading meter, 100% modulation will just slightly wiggle the meter.

In the distance, your low carrier radio will be muffled & hard to understand if there's any noise.
The voice tones that drive the radio to peak power are low freqs for men.
In the distance, the overmodulated low freq / hi peak pwr sounds will dominate.

The full powered radio will be easier to hear thru the noise at the same distance.
The resting carrier will be stronger & helps overcome noises in the receiver.
The information bearing (mid audio freqs) will come thru because the pwr amp isn't saturated due to overmodulating the low audio freqs.

Just little things to bear in mind for your $40+.

I qualify these statements based on too many years experimenting with these same conditions on cb / ham & an equal number of years servicing FAA aviation radio systems... Not to mention some pretty knowledgeable writers in the field of rf comm's.