OK, so I'm running a CB in my car just for funzies and to sort of break into the radio hobby.

So, my dumb rear stepped on my mounting bracket while I was installing the radio and bent it all to heck. No biggie a quick trip to the local radio shop and $4 later I'm back in business.

While I was there someone was asking about getting their radio "peaked and tuned" and the guy behind the counter (who was very helpful and informative for me when it came to selecting an antenna for my rig at the right price btw) said that the particular radio in question could be "peaked and tuned to be 12 swingin' 20" for like $30.

I tried to look it up just via google and all I got were forums with a lot of technical lingo that basically were CBer's and HAMer's arguing with each other over what's good, what's useful, "splatter", legality, "the FCC is gonna getcha" and all sorts of other things where they clearly knew what they were talking about and I was reading a foreign language.

Now I know that "legally" speaking a CB is limited to four watts on it's designated frequency, but I also know that people regularly break that rule and that unless you're really going out of your way to be a jackwagon the FCC doesn't seem to care/have the resources to enforce any of this.

So my question is what does this all mean? Is peaking and tuning useful? What does it do? What does "12 swingin' 20" mean? Does this make the radio "sound bad" when you Tx (as claimed by some)? Does it cause the radio to interfere with other things as claimed by some of the HAMer's? Is this just a class war between different radio guys, unlicensed vs. licensed?

Thanks.