midland 38..trouble or not..

[pda]

as the title says......................

I have a midland 38 in my series landrover, I have been trying to talk/chat to others on my way to work 3 days this week, on channel 19 my daily drive is 12 miles on country roads along side the A14 Ipswich to Stowmarket Suffolk.

about every mile or so I try "19 for a copy".....nothing
the rig shows full strength bar while I talk & hold the mike bar & shows TX on the display..once I let go & wait for some one to reply I see RX on the display & sometimes 1 or 2 bars light up on the strenght bar display......

now is it no one wants to talk or is there something wrong with my midland 38 (brought from ebay)

I do somethings hear voices talking for a split second or two but can't seem to talk to them

my set up is

midland 38
trucker 80 on a gutter mount
external speaker

I do get white noise & it goes away with 1/2 to 3/4 squelch adjustment...

any ideas/tips

Paul

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full throttle until you see god...........then brake....................................

[hotmetal1000]

1/2 to 3/4 squelch adjustment is a lot if you are talking about turned up. Try turning your squelch all the way down and ask for a copy and see if anyone comes back to you.

[stampman]

TRY GOING THROUGH CHANNELS and see if you can hear anybody i presume you have had an swr meter on it as 38's can fool you full display on set but not transmitting at the rear so check the swr

[pda]

I am going to check the swr once my new swr meter turns up this week.


Paul

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full throttle until you see god.....................then brake..........................

[pda]

tried with swr meter the aerial is fine............

channel 19...swr is 1.4
channel 40... swr is 2.0
channel 01...swr is 1.1

so the aerial is good I did speak to someone the other day & I have heard people on other channels ranging from channel 01 to channel 22 & even a Italian on euro channel 34 last night....

I just think there are not many "breakers" in my area

Paul

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full throttle until you see god..............then brake.................................

[stampman]

sorted spread the news about cb in your neck of the woods tell every one its cheaper than the phone