Help with my "base" setup

[saeger]

I have a Cobra 19 DX IV that I modified to dead key 6 watts and swing 40; according to the person who posted the modification on another forum.

I have a 1/2 wave vertical dipole made from two 104" pieces of electrical conduit and a PVC connector

I have the mobile CB hooked up to two 12 volt adapters (2.5 amps total)

I receive well but can only talk for a few miles.

What am I doing wrong?

[Sheriff Bart]

first thing you can try is getting a power supply of about 14 amps or more. That will increase your power output.


73's

[Night Crawler]

I'd like to see that modification.

[drdx]

Regardless of how much the radio is doing, the 2.5 amps isn't enough to power the radio. You didn't mention the height of the dipole but that, low swr, quality coax, etc. are all important as is your location. A vertical dipole really needs to have the feedline coming away from the antenna at a 90 degree angle (so it is perpendicular to the plane of the dipole) for good distance to feed well. You might be better off turning that dipole into a groundplane with a few radials instead of the dipole idea. If you're stuck on the dipole, feed it as described and make sure the side of it fed with the coax center is pointing up. -drdx

[doctor]

Follow DRDX on his suggestions, and get a power supply, also make sure your swr is low like 1 to 1, if it is to high it will reduce your transmitter output also.


doctor/795