Subj : Re: CB experiments
To : Weatherman
From : Ginger1
Date : Thu Feb 27 2025 08:49 pm
At 12:44 AM on 15 Feb 25, Weatherman said to Ginger1:
We> Generally the CBs here have one meter, it's referred to as an S/RF
We> meter. When transmitting it shows the output signal strength as
We> referenced against an internal standard and when receiving it shows the
We> receive signal strength - again referenced against an internal standard.
Right, so I think this is just the same as on my radio. It's a single meter
- and I imagine the "signal" guage as I was referring to is the receive
signal strength, whereas "power" is the transmit strength.
We> When I refer to "internal" standard, I mean it. There is no industry
We> standard I know of that defines exactly what an S9 received signal is or
We> what a "5" output strength is. Too many variables to go into here to
We> try to explain it. On your radio, with two meters, I can only guess
We> that "signal" would indicate the strength of the received signal and
We> "power" would indicate the transmitter output. Not knowing the model of
We> the radio and then looking up the manual, this is just a guess.
Sorry - I think my initial explanation wasn't very clear - just the one meter
as above. But I now know what this is doing - thank you :)
We> Tuning refers to altering the length of the driven element of the
We> antenna. Making it shorter to try to match the desired operating
We> frequency.
Mine is a shop-bought one, so no tuning required then. Lovely.
Gi> Do Squelch and RF Gain have a role (I have knobs for these on the
Gi> radio).
We> Squelch is used to raise the noise floor of the radio's receiver so that
We> only signals above a given level will be heard. It's essentially used
We> to adjust the receiver so that background static is not heard and so
We> that signals stronger than the squelch setting will be heard.
Ok, so the lower the squelch setting, the more chance I will have of hearing
distant signals, but more background noise too. Makes sense.
We> RF gain adjusts the receiver's sensitivity. Best use of the RF gain is
We> when you are trying to hear a signal but a weaker signal on the same
We> frequency is interfering. By adjusting the RF gain you can make the
We> receiver less senstitive so that the weaker signal is attenuated to the
We> point where it no longer interferes with the signal you're trying to
We> listen to.
Sounds like one I need to play with, in that circumstance.
Fantastic. Thank you for all of this information. Gradually increasing
my CB knowledge!
