100 watt amp for cb

[cheny]

Some said you can put a 100 watt amp on the cb to increase out put. How is this done?

[etcswjoe]

Very carefully. You can put a liner in line however it is not legal to do so. A 100 watt would get you a long way and I would not want to be riding in a group with you when it was on. They make smaller ones but I would try new antennas or at least get your SWR set before I got an amp.

[GeorgeS]

Its not worth the trouble, 5 to 20 watts is good enough for close in communications

with rideing groups. Especially if you use channels above 25, useing the SSB channels.

 

A 100 watt amplifier, on a motorcycle, gets into some serious power draw, and wireing considerations.

 

I have done it with Ham radio equipment, 100 watts, and currently 200 Watts.

Trust me, its not easy, but, it can be done.

 

( A 100 watt amp, is going to draw, about 20 Amps from your electrical system, be sure to consider that in your plans )

 

But on the CB band, its simply not worth the trouble.

 

5 Watts, SSB is good for about 5 mile range with rideing groups, thats all you need.

I might go with a 20 Watt amp, but remember, thats not legal. ( I know everybody does it )

 

George, K7RTF,

[cheny]

ok thanks. how would I go about putting a 5 or 20 watt in. just looking for a little more out put. Have all ready put on the fire stick annt. and did the swr match.

[Marcarl]

Just me thinking here,,, but if you can broadcast further than those who you can receive, you now no longer have 2-way communications.

[GeorgeS]

Just wire it up with about #12 stranded wire.

 

Install an new fuse holder, and wire Directly to battery.

Also, install a RELAY, that can handle about 10 AMPS .

 

Power the relay so its OFF when the KEY is OFF.

 

Put the Fuses, CLOSE to the Battery.

 

If you are still useing the STOCK, OEM venture Antenna, I would replace it with

a HIGH Quality CB antenna. and NEW, COAX from the new antenna, to the New Amplifier.

 

Also, make up a new Coax,from the CB transciever to the new AMP.

 

If you have never installed COAXial Connectors, find sombody to do that for you who knows how to do it. OR, buy NEW made up cables, with plugs on each end.

 

RG-58 Coax cable will work good, ( 50 ohm impedance coax ) try Radio Shack, for made up cables.

 

Lots of folks, have had problems with the Antenna base mount, on the 1st gen bikes, MOST, of them have been replaced with aftermarket CB antenna's.

Edited September 23, 2013 by GeorgeS

[frankd]

There are a couple other important things to consider. With a passenger onboard and a 100 W. linear amplifier, your RF (radio frequency) field strength will probably be way above what is considered "safe". Basically the RF energy coming from your antenna heats things just as a microwave does, and the temperature of skin increases slightly. Radio Amateurs are supposed to do a study when they install antennas to make certain that nobody will be able to get close enough to an antenna to be harmed. Yes, I know that you're not an amateur, but consider the safety of your passenger and to a lesser degree, yourself.

 

Also make sure you inform your passenger to NEVER reach out and touch the antenna near the tip. The tip is the high voltage point of an antenna and there is a pretty good chance that on a hot day (sweaty bodies) that you passenger would feel a pretty big shock, and with if they jerk violently away an accident could occur. Stay at 4 Watts. It's not the same as running a 100W amplifier in a car.

 

Frank D. KA9J

[MikeWa]

Unless you want to overwhelm everyone else you are riding with I would recommend limiting yourself to about a 15 watt linear amp. 10 watts would be even better.

 

If you can find a cb shop still in business in your area go and talk to them. Let them know you need the amp for additional range when riding in the desert in Mexico. Although amps are installed all the time anything over 4.25 watts is illegal in the US.

 

I took the cover off my cb and adjusted the rf output up to max. It helped a little but not that much. I didn't have a scope to bump the modulation. The Harleys seem to transmit better than the Ventures. It's possible that is because the Harleys have a ground plate for the antenna under the trunk and the Venture does not. Some day when I have my trunk off I will install a ground plate just to see what happens. If it helps I will report it on these forums.

 

Mike

[cheny]

I gess I will just leave it as is. Thank you all

[Guest tx2sturgis]

Not to mention that the factory antenna coil probably wont handle 100 watts. It might handle 20 watts...maybe. An upgraded antenna would be a necessity with an amp.

 

Of course, the electrical system on the bike is also a limiting factor, although CB transmissions on a bike tend to be brief and infrequent, over time.

 

What would really benefit these CB units would be better modulation...they tend to be soft on the audio output, which limits range quite a bit, especially in noisy environments, and during skip conditions.

 

But it is what it is....

 

 

 

[IronMike]

As a truck driver having a CB as a serious work tool for over 30 years and my brother owned a CB shop, What everyone said here is right on, Your best work is done to match the SWR.

If that is done, the best part of the signal is going out to the airways! (Not back into your transceiver.) So your doing the right thing to leave it be.

 

100 watts? Man with that much you can seriously light up a tube light bulb! I used to do it!

Ventures with that Modification should have some sort of warning placard, I mean if you get too close to them is there not a chance they might melt the Snickers bars in your trunk?

 

I would be afraid if I had a 100 Watt on there, I would key the mic and the bike would stall!

 

I got to go to the Maint Day just to see that sheet!

[Bob Myers]

I'm running a Kenwood TMD700 FM transceiver. Occasionally when my APRS unit transmits my 87 will skip a beat or two when I'm running 50 watts, on medium power (25 watts) it never does it.

[brd7666]

If you want to learn about cb radios from the best site, go here.

http://www.cbradioforum.com/

It is the best by far. I have a 100 watt amp in my truck. It gets out there pretty good. If I did it all over I would get a 400 watt amp. Any cb putting out more than 4 watts is against the law. Nobody enforces it. Checkout the site. I'm a member there.