things are getting better need more power

[bigmotorjoe]

my last post was needing help with my base well i up graded to a gal 99v and a 100w linear a procomm 18 1-2ft antenna with a ground plane kit on a 12ft mast off my chimeny so its about 45ft i have talked 12miles out to a buddy w a tweaked general lee
is that all the range i can expect . what kind of power do i need for about 50 mi on the cb band thanks all imput is great guys thanks for the help Bigmotor joe

[209 first class]

hi joe, i think your antenna being higher will help you reach farther rather than more power. even if you got more power, people would hear you farther away, but you would not hear them. the time to upgrade power is when you can hear people, but they cant hear you. the minimum a cb antenna should be off the ground is 36 feet (one wavelength) otherwise the antenna will not be as efficient.( im not sure how tall your house is). 2zero9

[bigmotorjoe]

bottom of the antenna is about 28 30 feet up its a pro comm 18 1-2 ft

[Circuit Breaker]

Your height is sufficient. Ideally, it only really needs to be 1/4 wavelength above ground to reduce ground losses...but higher is better.

Getting to the power issue...the single most important aspect of a station is the antenna. If you're only getting out 12 miles with 100 watts on a base then I'd say there's something wrong with the antenna because when I had a base set up, I could easily talk 12 miles with just 4 watts. An amplifier is nice, but it won't do what some people expect it to. Let's say you're pushing 4 watts and talking to someone that's 10 miles away. He says you're coming in about S-5. So, you kick on your 100 watt amplifier and might think to yourself, "I should be hitting him like gangbusters now." Well, not exactly. Each S-unit on a meter is approximately 6 dB. Doubling your power is an increase of 3 dB. Some think, "Well, if I want to get an increase of 1 S-unit on the other end, all I have to do is increase my signal by 6 dB." Which is correct...but some misunderstand how it works. They think that if increasing your power 3 dB takes your carrier to 8 watts, then another 3 dB would be 12 watts (4 + 4 + 4 = 12). But it doesn't work that way. An increase of 6 dB would, in reality, mean doubling your power twice which means you would double 4 watts to get 8 watts and then you would need to double 8 watts to get 16 watts...and so on.There will be an improvement from 4 watts to 100 watts to be sure...about 2 S-units. But that isn't really enough to make a lot of difference. You're stronger, yes, from S-5 to S-7, but it probably isn't making you a whole lot easier to understand. And, let's face it, someone will still be able to "step on you" if they're closer to the other station than you are.

Now, let's say you're running 100 watts and you actually reach someone that's 50 miles out. They say you're coming in about S-1...pretty weak and hard to copy. Just to boost your signal to an S-2, you would need to increase your power from 100 watts to 400 watts (100+100 = 200+200 = 400). Then, to increase your signal from an S-2 to S-3, you would need to increase your power from 400 watts to 1600 watts (400+400 = 800+800 = 1600)...just to get to an S-3. But, that would make it easier for them to understand you but just about anyone in between the two of you would easily be able to step on either one of you. 50 miles on that type of antenna on just AM is going to be a stretch...especially if it's base (you) to mobile. Base to base would be easier but still a bit of stretch. A 5/8 or 3/4 wavelength antenna would perform better...whether or not that would be enough to get 50 miles is hard to say...especially on AM. Sideband would be another story. I once talked base to mobile on SSB over hilly terrain for a distance of 40 miles. But I was using a beam antenna and the mobile was running 200 watts. Even then it was very weak...but we could hear and understand each other which we couldn't do on AM at all.

[Ballixxe]

I have a A-99 on a piece of mast pipe strapped to my chimney, and I talk 20+ miles with a 2 watt deadkey every day.
Talking long distance has always been done with a beam antenna, which is why this spring there's gonna be a 4 element quad
where my TV antenna used to be.

[bigmotorjoe]

well i appreciate all the help one more thing on my usb and lsb my talkback is so distorted i can barley understand myself any ideas galaxy 99v