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CB radio: How many watts can HD stock antenna handle?

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Old 10-08-2011, 05:53 PM
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Default CB radio: How many watts can HD stock antenna handle?

I'm going to add a CB linear amplifier to my Harley CB setup to increase the range. Has anyone boosted the wattage on their Harley CB? Anybody know how much wattage you can send to the stock HD CB antenna without risking frying your amp or CB radio? I'm considering buying a small 100W amp and putting it under the fairing of my 2010 FLHXSE. Can the stock Harley antenna handle that much boost?
 
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Old 10-13-2011, 11:01 PM
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Physically, I would be skeptical of putting 100 watts to the stock antenna.
What size coax is used? What is the VSWR of the antenna system?
If the coax is too small you will burn it up with the amp not far behind. If the VSWR is too high, you will wind up smoke testing your amp.
Legally, 5W PEP is all you are allowed to run. CB is right up against the Amateur 10 meter band and you can potentially cause all kinds of interference to near by licensed stations.
 
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Old 10-20-2011, 06:18 PM
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Your not gonna hurt it with just 100 watts. I've run 500 watts amateur on that style antenna.

Run RG-58u and make sure you tune the swr.
 
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Old 10-21-2011, 09:27 AM
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Give Clay at Clay's Radio Shop a call; he's very knowledgeable about CB generally, and HD CB specifically:

http://www.claysradioshop.com/

Carl
 
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