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Thread: Hello from western North Carolina.

  1. #1
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    Hello from western North Carolina.

    Hey everybody. I'm from NC at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mnts. I've been talking on radios since I was old enough to speak. Dad was a trucker and we always had a base station at home. He finally retired and moved onto ham radios and I stayed on 11 mtrs. I love cbs and talking on them. I also like working on them and modifying them as much as possible or as much as I can afford. Lol. Right now I have a Radio Shack TRC-447. It's a good lil rig. I traded for it so I'm tickled with it cause I have 0 money in the entire rig. I have plans on putting a rfx-75 kit in it as soon as I can save the money. Right now I'm barefoot and talking close by. Anyways, thats the extent of it. If anybody has any suggestions on how to boost this lol rig im all ears. 73's

  2. #2
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    I would add an external amp instead of the rfx75 to the back of the radio. JMO. Less things to go wrong with an external amp and you won't risk blowing the radio. Again JMO. A Texas star modulator or a good 2 pill amp will work as well. Also , you may want to move that antenna to the top or center of the tool box and as high as possible, the bottom of the antenna should be roughly level or as close to level with the roof will help. A mag mount placed on the center of the roof of the truck will probably do better than the current setup you have IMO. That or hard mount an antenna on the roof as close to the center of the roof will provide the best counter poise for an antenna. More metal under the antenna and less reflection as well. Again JMO. But before adding any amp unit to the back of that radio I would get my antenna system setup as best as possible as by doing just this, it will increase your rx and tx range. Again JMO. With the way you have that antenna mounted now don't expect any great distance talking with it. Have you ever tried SSB. I don't think the radio you have has it. If not I suggest getting a radio with ssb as you will find that making long distant contacts is easier on ssb when the conditions are good. Again JMO. Hope some of this helps and god bless.

  3. #3
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    I had a K30 mag mount in the center of the roof and had really high standing wave that I couldn't tune out. I found out that that is the best place on my truck for low SWR. Thats the reason it's mounted where it is instead of up higher.

  4. #4
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    In all honesty the k30 is a POS antenna that is ever narrow banded and usually don't tune very well. I had a k40 mag mount, couldn't get the VSWR below 1.7. Now I run a sirio megawatt 4000 and a pl145 mag mount and VSWR across the 11 meter band is 1.1-1.15. Same spot, different antenna. Try a wilson 5000 mag mount or drill a hole in the roof and hard mount an antenna for best performance. Swr reading isn't everything and I promise that the way your antenna is setup, off very directional and most likely has a high reflect. You need an antenna analyzer to properly tune an antenna system. You can have a good VSWR reading but how much of that is reflected power that is coming back into the radio. JMO, get a good mag mount antenna like a sirio performer 5000 with a pl145 mag mount, or hard mount and antenna in the middle of the roof. This will should yield the best performance IMO. God bless

  5. #5
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    Thanks for the advice. I'll see what I can find to upgrade my antenna. Any and all advice is much appreciated.

  6. #6
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    Please don't think I trying to bash your system, I love the old radio shack and realistic radios!! They were made by uniden. Just want you to get the best performance out of your system. Your antenna system is the most important thing to consider when installing a radio system.

  7. #7
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    I don't think your bashing at all. I truly appreciate all advice. For the time im having to trade around for my setups. I really don't have a lot of extra cash to buy the "fun" toys. Lol. That being said, I am taking the advice and using it to find things I can save for or trade for in the future. I've recently came across a Pride 100 amp that I'm not sure if it works or not so that will be my next fun little project. I'm gonna see if I can tinker with it for the fun of it. It's probably useless but this is a hobby for me.

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    I just added a trc 444 to my collection to other day. Only got 15w out of it but the audio is unreal. Keep on learning all you can and don't fret about getting in a rush to install an amp or the backpack. Take your time to check out all the options available and watch out for the snake oil products.
    QUACKA QUACKA FOR A MUD DUCK CHECK QUACK QUACK

  9. #9
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    Thats for the tip. I planned on checking with the forum before actually buying anything. Y'all know a lot more then me and so far I respect the opinions on here.

  10. #10
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    It's a fun hobby and with the right help really is enjoyable!! Hope that I can help in any way. Like I said, your antenna system is the heart of the entire system, bad heart=no good. You can talk around the world on 12 watts if the conditions are right and ou have a good antenna system and radio. Agin have a good day and god bless.

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