Iam trying to figure out which radio to buy for my semi. Presently I'm looking at the cobra 148GTL and am wondering if the ssb are compatible with most other radios.
As you can probably tell I have very little knolage when it comes to cb radios so am looking for a little help.
I have a cobra 29 soundtracker now but guys I run with have uppers and I just want to be sure that what I buy is compatable.
Thanks.
ssb compatability
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nomadradio
- Technical Helper
- Posts: 78
- Joined: Saturday 21st Aug 2004, 16:17
- Location: Louisville, KY USA
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Umm, "SSB" and "upper channels" are NOT the same thing, really.
Now, the stock new-in-the-box Cobra 148GTL will cover ONLY the legal channels 1 through 40.
And it's a SSB radio. SSB, or Single Side Band is just a way of splitting one channel into two, sorta.
SSB tends to deliver better range than AM for the same transmitter power. That's the main reason it exists, is to get more miles per Watt. You need a SSB radio to receive the signal from a SSB transmitter. If you listen to a SSB station on an AM receiver, they sound like a muffled Donald Duck talking.
There are numerous AM-only radios that have extra channels above 40 and below channel 1.
You will tend to find that most of the activity above channel 40 is on SSB. If those are the folks you want to talk to, you're really looking for two features here.
1) SSB
2) extra (not-legal) channel coverage.
The 148GTL won't do the extra channels out of the box, but can be modified without too much trouble. Well, not "too" much if you've done it a few dozen times. Might not be a good "first" radio modification project.
The other radios that come with all the extra channels are not legal to sell as CB radios. Mostly they will be described as "10-meter amateur" radios. They will be 'crippled' at the factory to prevent the radio from transmitting on CB frequencies. Makes it technically legal to import and sell.
The end user gets the radio "un-crippled" after buying it, to get the CB channels 1-40, bands below 1 and above channel 40.
Plenty of folks will conflate "Upper" sideband, or "USB" on the radio's front panel with "Upper" channels, above the legal 40 channels.
Two separate features, 'SSB' and 'extra channels'.
73
Now, the stock new-in-the-box Cobra 148GTL will cover ONLY the legal channels 1 through 40.
And it's a SSB radio. SSB, or Single Side Band is just a way of splitting one channel into two, sorta.
SSB tends to deliver better range than AM for the same transmitter power. That's the main reason it exists, is to get more miles per Watt. You need a SSB radio to receive the signal from a SSB transmitter. If you listen to a SSB station on an AM receiver, they sound like a muffled Donald Duck talking.
There are numerous AM-only radios that have extra channels above 40 and below channel 1.
You will tend to find that most of the activity above channel 40 is on SSB. If those are the folks you want to talk to, you're really looking for two features here.
1) SSB
2) extra (not-legal) channel coverage.
The 148GTL won't do the extra channels out of the box, but can be modified without too much trouble. Well, not "too" much if you've done it a few dozen times. Might not be a good "first" radio modification project.
The other radios that come with all the extra channels are not legal to sell as CB radios. Mostly they will be described as "10-meter amateur" radios. They will be 'crippled' at the factory to prevent the radio from transmitting on CB frequencies. Makes it technically legal to import and sell.
The end user gets the radio "un-crippled" after buying it, to get the CB channels 1-40, bands below 1 and above channel 40.
Plenty of folks will conflate "Upper" sideband, or "USB" on the radio's front panel with "Upper" channels, above the legal 40 channels.
Two separate features, 'SSB' and 'extra channels'.
73