Cb Help Please

So I have a cobra 29 the digital one not the classic, I had it peaked and tuned with a 5' firestick antenna that has also been tuned.

Now my question is how do you set the squelch and rf gain? Also since the antenna has been tuned and so has the radio what's the point of the swr/cal knob on the radio?

I really should asked the guy at the cb shop but it didn't really cross my mind at the time.

I have the Harley edition of that radio. I just set the rf in the middle and turn the squelch to the left till you get static then back right till it just stops. It seems to work fine. Be careful with the channel knob they are pretty delicate

Will do any idea how far out it'll go with that antenna and radio?

I started a similar thread about a week ago. Cobra 29 is the lowest possible starter radio that was recommended & seems to have a "out of the box" range of about 5 miles. Another TT user (Justin (Jakebrake)) claims to receive at over 100 miles.

His recomendations are the antenna you have & a fire-wite coax cable. Maybe contact him for specs?

*fire wire coaxel cable

Sorry to double post...no options to edit thread.

Not a problem I know almost nothing about CBs so everything helps I have mini super 8 right now was what I was told was the better wire I'll look into the fire wire and see what I can find as well. I'm still confused as to what the knows are for seeing as I paid for the cb guy to peak and tune it, all I really know is he took the plate off tinkered with the internal a little put it on a meter a couple of times, walked outside put the antenna on the truck, turned the screw on top a couple times hooked it up to set swr and when it was 1:1 I believe he said he took it off and said it was good to go lol

5 miles is about what you'll get out of that setup and it's really all you'll need to be honest. You can get some crazy reception at times if you pick up a "skip". Atmospheric conditions funnel the radio waves and there are times where you can hear someone several hundred miles away. Just realize, the person you're hearing probably has a pretty big radio with a lot of power.

5 miles is about what you'll get out of that setup and it's really all you'll need to be honest. You can get some crazy reception at times if you pick up a "skip". Atmospheric conditions funnel the radio waves and there are times where you can hear someone several hundred miles away. Just realize, the person you're hearing probably has a pretty big radio with a lot of power.

That's about all I want just so I can hear about road conditions and such before I'm right on it.

What about the knobs? I'm still not clear on the best way to set the squelch or gain or what the point of the cal/swr knob is for because they took the radio apart when they tuned it also hooked it up to a oscilloscope I believe

Sounds like you used a good radio tech. I had a really good tech I know look in mine when I had a channel knob issue. He told me he could tweak it a little but not much like he could with a galaxy radio. That said knobs from right to left. Swr: Should be set already leave it alone Delta tune: 11 o'clock RF gain : 3 o'clock Dyna mike: 3 o'clock Squelech: Turn left till static then right till it just stops Mine is running all stock with paired dual mirror antennas and hits 5-6 miles most of the time. works well for me. The best thing you can do is invest in a good mic. The stock cobra is ok but there are better ones out there. I use a dyna and i think I paid about 50 bucks or so for it a couple years ago

The distance you can transmit is influenced more by line of sight (LOS) than power. That is, given your antenna height you'll reach the horizon, which in the case of an antenna mounted on semi tractor is between four and five miles. Yes, people get their signal to go longer distances, but that's due to skip as others have mentioned. The FCC's regulation of 4W of power is sensible as that will carry a clear signal to the horizon without problem. You can also find that your CB works much farther distance when you're on a hill - you have raised your antenna height and are now LOS to stations much farther away.

Remember, "it's not how big it is that matters, it's how you use it."