Receive vs Transmit Power

[crock]

With so many people pumping over 200 watts into their CB radios, how can you hear anybody talking back to you? It would seem to me that using a powerful amplifier would allow you to broadcast to the world, but you would not hear anybody respond unless they also had a powerful amp. When do you go past the "point of no receive" and you cannot hear a response?

[Mtn Lynx]

That's a good point. I for one am so far away from all the traffic that I can only hear the dudes that run ridiculous amounts of power... MMM, Modsquad, Brown Paper Bag... I know they wouldn't hear me I would need to be running what they are running. Even if I did run extreme wattage, the dudes closer to them would drown me out.

[Bluerunner]

Putting you mouth where your ears won't go.

[295 antenna]

I totally agree ,its crazy sometimes when i hear a dxing station and try to make contact then all the mega power stations jump on and drown everything out. How about then guys then decide to rag chew and now nobody can talk .

[443 Arizona]

roger that 295 ,
2 local ragchewers decided they were going to be on 38L, they live a few miles from each other so they probably have their squelch turned up too.
this situation once in awhile makes it hard to catch the skip.
it is funny how they think nobody can hear them, they talk about their warts and what color prune juice they like,,,
as for you Mt.Lynx, i have thought maybe your location is situated on a node, meaning a polar flux line.
have you experimented with a portable antenna and walk around your house to see if there is an optimal location?
you might have to take down your existing antenna to get a true feel.
also height is a factor(you know this) and althou you've added ground plane wires. try adding some more in the direction your trying to reach.
there is probably several ways to set your Solarcon. maybe tilt it 15* and have a few groundplane wires perpendicular to it.
also, a longwire has many variations.
what are you running for co-ax? are the ends soldered?
allthou your solarcon is a very good ant.,,
,if you ever have a chance to pick up a big metal antenna at a garage sale, get it.
or experiment building one. thats part of the fun
good,(direct) grounding is beneficial, your house included.
its all science.
plenty of things to think about during the winter, hope this doesn't give you spring fever.
i realize you have deal with the weather now. ironic how we are at opposite extremes.

[56jmk71]

I just got my amp working again, but actually I don't need it often.
If the counter-station is in the very outer edge of my range, the amp(about 130watts) is useful.

At last winter I had contact to Spain(over 2000 miles), very near of Portugal, I had 20watts(USB) and the Spanish guy tried 12W, 20W and 70W.
He was readable with all power settings(OK, the propagation was pretty good).

Yes, I totally agree "crock", there is no reason to use huge transmit power as a default.
If the reason is not to disturb all the other CB:ers...

[jon6667]

power has nothing to do with it.
if conditions are right you can talk around the world with 4 watts.
i myself don't use or need a amplifier.