double new, have a question

[Jay]

im new to radios, and wouldnt you guess im new to the board. i drive a truck and have decided to upgrade my radio to a general lee, which im still waiting on.

first question on this radio is i dont think this radio has side bands so why or what is the freq counter jack for? what is a freq counter used for in any case?

also i know what an rf gain and squelch do, but i can get the same effect from either of them, like reducing noise and the amount of weak signals im picking up. so whats the difference between them?

how should i be using them correctly? do i set my squelch and leave it alone then just monkey with the rf or vise versa?

also how would i cancel out the noise im picking up from my mirror mounter strobe lights that give noise over the radio. i have to always adjust the squelch or rg gain to cancel it out but then its hard to hear friends talk.

thanks, dig the board so far. more qustions to come.

[BigBubbaBD]

Freq. Counter in SSB is used to fine tune your signal. Sometimes the differance between 27.3651 and 27.3652 can be the make and break point. You can also see if the radio drifts a bit off frequency at any point in time.
on a non SSB radio you could use to for varification that your on the correct frequency you are wanting to be on but other than that its just perty lights.

RF gain is your recieve power. (I run it full blast like most do)
Squelch cuts out on weak signals.
Turn it up when no one is talking untill the channel goes quiet then back it off just a tick is what I do. And if very weak stations creap back in on you that are to weak or just staticy bump it up again to cut them off again..

Maby an inline noise filter would work on the strobe problem. Hard to say. They could be giving off a small RF signal each time they flash. In that case I dont know if the filter would work.

[SmallTruckBigRadio]

im new to radios, and wouldnt you guess im new to the board. ...how should i be using them correctly? do i set my squelch and leave it alone then just monkey with the rf or vise versa?
...thanks, dig the board so far. more qustions to come.

Welcome to the forum Jay,
...decided to upgrade my radio to a general lee, which im still waiting on.
Nice choice, where did you get it?

first question on this radio is i dont think this radio has side bands so why or what is the freq counter jack for? what is a freq counter used for in any case?
The General Lee comes with a channel selector display that only displays numbers 1 through 40. Though the General Lee does not have Upper and Lower Sidebands, it does have upper and lower channels. The knob that is labeled "BAND", selects your channel band. Band "D" is the normal 40 CB channels. Band "D", channel 19, is 27.185. Some of my co-workers and I use Band "E" channel 14, which is 27.575. Some people call it channel 54, because it is 14 channels above the normal 40. If you leave the normal 40 channels, that's where the external frequency counter comes in handy. Especially if someone told you to switch to 27.575, and you didn't know that it was E-14.

also i know what an rf gain and squelch do, but i can get the same effect from either of them, like reducing noise and the amount of weak signals im picking up. so whats the difference between them? how should i be using them correctly? do i set my squelch and leave it alone then just monkey with the rf or vise versa?
You will learn to use them together. The RF gain controls the natural AM background white noise (static). If you can't hear a little white noise, you will miss some weaker signals. The degree of white noise changes from day to night, and even with the weather. That's why it's handy to have variable RF gain.
Once you have the RF gain set to about 5% audible white noise, if you turn your squelch CW to just cut out the noise. At this point, if any ones signal is above the noise level, you will hear them.
I find that roads, bridges, trees, etc, change the RF signal so much, that I often leave the squelch wide open (CCW), and I simply adjust RF gain to a barely noticeable "white noise level" and adjust it as conditions change. That way, I know I will be able to hear any signal at all. Trying to use the squelch by itself would either mean the RF gain could be very low or very high. Very low would mean lost signal, and very high means a constant hissing sound. Some of the guys do use it that way, they crank up the hissing sound with RF gain full CW, and then cut out the hiss with Squelch, but for me that often means that some weak signal pop in and out of squelch, at a loud volume level which aggravates me. Squelch and RF gain can act different on the same type of radio if different techs use different methods. You will develop a feel for what you like, and those settings can change with conditions, and the mood your in. That's part of the fun.

also how would i cancel out the noise im picking up from my mirror mounter strobe lights that give noise over the radio. i have to always adjust the squelch or rg gain to cancel it out but then its hard to hear friends talk.
If the noise is coming from the 12 Volt power system, an in-line power filter (Magnum makes a good one), should help. If the noise is coming in from the antenna system, try to separate any coax and antenna mounts from the source of the noise or the power wires feeding the strobe.
This is an article on the General Lee that I enjoyed
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thanks, dig the board so far. more qustions to come.

Your welcome, glad to hear it, and bring it on!