dieselhound

I am a truck driver. I have a Galaxy 99 with a Texas star 667V. I am putting out about 800 watts. I blow SMOKE! What you want is a good metal antenna. I use a Wilson 5000. Wilson make a few others. Use a good coax. I use Belden mini 8 with amphenal connectors. Your co-ax should be 18 feet. That is the ideal length. If you can't use 18 feet make sure its an increment of 3. Such as 3,6,9,12,15,18 feet of coax. If you are not using an amp yet and you want a cheap way doing it this is what you want- 18 feet of coax, A FRANCIS antenna, plug and play. If i wasn't talking with power , thats the way to go. You won't need to tune it or nothing. If you have more questions please ask. I'm not sure where you are at but, I can find a radio shop ANYWHERE. I will tell you where to get your stuff.

Ironmike4x4

*Thread hijack*
Someone told me that if you run an amp that you would have to have an oil cooled antennae? I'm pretty sure he was pulling my leg, but is there even a such?
*Hijack off*

dieselhound

Yeah, they have those oil in the coil antennas. To me thats just junk. The Francis antenna is a cheap, good, and tough antenna. Its fiberglass-so if you brake it no big deal . They are only 10 - 15 bucks. I like the 5 foot one.

Merlin

Ditto - there are at least a couple of oil in the coil antennas out there (don't know if they are still made anymore). I have heard stories of the oil-filled part actually overheating and exploding when too much power is pushed through them. Not sure how true that may be because I've never witnessed that myself, but if a 102" whip can get hot enough to light cigarettes off the tip, there may be sometherliing to that story.

Merlin

Merlin

If hooked up improperly, an amp can probably hurt your radio (and you too, if you get shocked). What is probably a more likely scenario is your radio hurting your amp if you push too much drive into your amp.

Many of the big boys use cheap(er) radios at keydowns instead of the fancy exports because the fear of frying their radios at the line by RF from their competitors.

Other than that, if used properly, an amp should probably not really shorten the life of your radio.

Merlin

dieselhound

Merlin, you are right. Actually it lengthens the life of your finals because you won't be use them wide open. I use a Galaxy barefoot most of the time. When I want to talk trash or just be heard I'll hit my switches. I have my kicker tuned to my radio. It works fine with .5 swinging to 3 watts into my kicker. I could pump up the input but,it cuts down the swing and thats where its at. Most people don't evan know about the other bands so my radio probably won't work for most. Simply put- its too expensive just to stay on CB ch. 19. I wish I had $1.00 for every time I stopped at radio shops. Worse I wish I had half the money back!