Hounddog wrote:Maybe I should have said the "bad" old days. In our heyday it was a 250 watt linear amplifier running of a 5/8 Station Master from the Coogee Area. I got a report from someone that I was interfering with his TV over 3 Kms away.
I can always remember going away for a holiday to Bermagui on the south coast and leaving the house (and the radio shack) in the care of a house sitter who was also into CB radio. One morning in the caravan park we turned on the CB in the car to work some skip. There was no skip about but, to our surprise and horror, we could actually hear our house sitter having a conversation on SSB back in Sydney. Opoops! I forgot to turn the Linear off.
Linear amps on UHFCB are very expensive. A 250 watter (a Tokyo Hi power HL250U) will set you back about 1500 dollars and the 120 watt version is not much cheaper. I prefer to go with a commercial radio. Mine is designed to run 25 watts but usually I keep it on low (5 watts) output unless I realy need the grunt. Even with 25 watts I had to thicken the power cabling in the car to to run it safely.
If anyone is interested in buying a high end CB radio I recommend the GME TX3800. A great radio but needs to be programmed by the dealer.
Another cheaper 25 watt radio is the Icom 400 pro, a lot of people have them but I don't think it's quality and warranty is anywhere near as good as the GME.
Hounddog
Jimminy Cricket!!
The caravan story rings a bit close to home (I think I know the "Housesitter").
The GME TX3800 is good but overpriced in the market(but if you want remote head its worth it), The IC400 Pro is a much better radio (The quality is excellent and warranty is good too, the service from Icom is brilliant for repairs)IMHO.
I currently run
1. GME TX4400 on a 6.5db Elevated Feed (Work Truck)@2.5watts
2. Phillips 8030 on a 6.5db Elevated Feed (The Excel)@18watts
3. Motorola GM 300 Via a 12db Rojone (At Home)@40watts
4. Uniden Uh011 Via a 6.5db RFI G3 Elevated Feed(Home) @4watts
5. Phillips TX/RX815 rigged as a streaming(receive only) radio
6. Phillips FM91 as receive radio (all sorts of channels in that!)
I have used the Tait series II 2020 and 2015 and wasnt as happy with the radios as I was with my 8030 (for in car use).
BTB the going rate for Tokyo High power HL250U is
$2799
And the Tokyo High Power HL130USX is
$1399
The TE systems is built for 477mhz rather than modded from 440mhz like the Tokyo High Power.
The TE prices are much more reasonable
Lee Andrews at Greystanes usually has stock of both.
Effrem