I'm new to the CB world, so I'm interested in what I should expect in terms of clarity and normal operation. Should I be expecting things to sound clear as day or scratchy? Should voices be heard like a talk radio station or will it be hissy like an old walkie-talkie? Is a lot of static hiss normal?

I just installed a cobra 29 LX, firestik firefly, and 18' coax w/ fire ring. When testing it out, I heard one channel pretty clearly, but most are tough to make out. I listened a bit during my commute to work, since I was closer to the freeways, and didn't hear much improvement. Any advice and insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

You have to tune your antenna with a swr meter

 

Depending on the level of activity in your area, and the solar conditions (which are highly influential on long range communications in this range of frequencies) , you could have next to nothing on any channel or or a massive wash of signals across the selection of channels.

In terms of audio quality, it will vary greatly on conditions, antenna gain, distance from the transmitting station and the modulation of the transmitting station. It would not be uncommon to have some signals crisp and clean and others scratchy and barely intelligible.

 

Yeah I know buddy. I used the internal SWR meter and its under 1.5 which is great, but not sure how reliable or accurate it is.

I plan on picking up a swr meter this week, but if I can't find the time, can you bring one on Sunday before the run, Edgar? Which one do you use?

 

I used my buddies he is going on the run Sunday (Bob-o) so ill ask him if he can bring it. I used the radio shack one after we tested my cb out and it worked great

 

Just as ARJeeper said, there are many factors that play a role in a achieving a good signal. For trail runs, where everyone is relatively close and utilizing the same channel, you ought to have good clarity...as long as everyone isnt steppin on one anothers trasmission. Last weekend I finally had someone broadcasting for a radio check and seized the opportunity to do that same. Found out we were about 5 miles from one another, and signal was strong. Comms were clean. (Cobra 75wxst, 3' firestik, 18' RG58, chasis grounded ant mount)

 

^ Yep. You can expect around 5 miles or so on average. There will be tons of stuff you can hear but won't be able to come close reaching because they are using illegal power and antennas. Basically, you can talk to what you can see or just a little more as a rule of thumb.

 

So just for shits & giggles I decided to adjust the top of my firefly antenna just to see if the internal SWR reading would change. Just as I expected, zero change... The internal SWR meter is officially worthless. Total junk. I don't know why they bother incorporating this feature if it just plain doesn't work. However i did hear some dude complaining on ch 17 as clear as if he was sitting next to me. Got a kick out of hearing him frustrated about how "America keeps making shit smaller and smaller"....

Anyways, I'm gonna try to find an SWR meter tomorrow at Radioshack. In the meantime I won't use the CB just in case the setup risks a short.

 

Me and my buddy just installed our cb's and I have no clue why but we have no range at all! Seriously we have maybe 10 car lengths... No idea what the deal is?!! HELP!

 

Are you getting the same results both ways?

It could easily be a connection problem. Try a different antenna if you have one. You can also test your antenna with a meter. There should be no current between your antenna whip and the outer part of your connector. There should be an uninterrupted connection between your whip and the core of your connector.