how do you improve a C B radios transmission + reception?

Question

I have a radio shack CB and a good antenna..

Answer 1

Take the radio to someone that understands "Peak and Tune".
The radio is 'set' from the factory, but a good radio man can do some fine tuning to factory specs.
A good antenna, that has been matched to the radio, that is, had the SWR, or standing wave ratio, adjusted will help considerably.
From there, there are power boosters, power mikes and lots of other additions, but a good set of antennas and a peak and tune will get your radio sounding much better.

Answer 2

The illegal way is to use a linear amplifier and boost your output beyond the legal 5 watt limit. Doing this, you will create a lot of off-frequency noise (called "splatter") which will disrupt TV and radio reception for miles around. There are substantial penalties if the FCC catches you polluting the electromagnetic spectrum. Easy, but not recommended.

The legal way is to make the most of what you've got. Antennas have a property called reciprocity, which means if you improve transmission properties you also improve reception properties. There are several ways to do this:

1.) Use the largest CB antenna you can find/afford. In general large antennas work better -- everything else being equal.

2.) Mount the antenna as high as possible and well away from ANYTHING that conducts electricty.

3.) Use the heavier (more expensive) RG-8U coaxial cable for your feedline, rather than RG-58. This will reduce resistive losses so that more of your feeble 5 watts actually gets to the antenna.

4.) Purchase a Standing Wave Ratio meter and use it to optimize the matching of your feedline to the antenna's input impedance. This can be a bit tricky and you can burn out the transmitter's output transistors if you get it wrong. Read and understand the instructions that come with the meter BEFORE attempting this adjustment. Getting your SWR below 1:1.5 is imperative for reasonable performance. The antenna's factory calibration is only an approximation, because an antenna's impedance heavily depends on its immediate electrical environment. Obviously, do the SWR adjustment last.

I've assumed your CB is a base station type, with a remote antenna. If all you have is a crappy Radio Shack walkie-talkie, there's really nothing you can reasonably do to improve it. If you're really interested in radio technology, check into Ham Radio. It's much, much easier to get your amateur license these days, as most of the WWII morse code freaks are finally dying off and opening the airwaves to younger guys who love modern technology (computers).

Answer 3

Go to a engineering Hand book( they should have them at radio shack ) and match the length of your antenna to the wave length you are transmitting on (approximate)

Answer 4

Citizen's Band (CB) radio is intended for short range, low cost, easy to get into communications. Because it is line of sight, it barely works for over the road truckers. It has watt limits to keep from interfering with other devices (as is proved by high wattage illegal users blasting into my TV sound.)
If you are interested in longer range communications and chatting with other users, you need to looking into shortwave and the ARRL (Amateur Radio Relay League)

Answer 5

Speak loudly.