I can here people on my CB radio but they can't here me is it my antenna?

Question

I've been using my radio for about a year. I always tried to talk to people on it and nobody would talk back. I finally found somebody with a cb at a gas station and asked if he could hear me. He said no and when he talked through it i could hear him fine. Is this a problem with my antenna? I have a 108 inch whip. And my CB is plugged in through a cigarrete lighter. Am I not putting enough power to the antenna or do i just have a bad mike?

Answer 1

Well, it still could be your antenna.  Just because you can receive, doesn't necessarily mean you can transmit.  Yes, it also could be your mic.  Not knowing what kind of a unit you have, is there any way to monitor your modulation or measure SWR?  You can try this, connect a 50 ohm wirewound 10 watt resistor across the output connector and connect a VOM across the resistor.  Push to talk and monitor your VOM for needle movement when you modulate or talk.  An O'Scope(w/x10 probe) would be preferred in place of the VOM.  The amplitude of the signal with and without modulation will tell you if you have a carrier and a carrier with modulation.

Answer 2

It's your mic. If you can hear them, it is not your antennae. Whether it;s hot wired into your fuse box or your cigarette lighter, It's still 12v. You can eliminate the antennae and power supply.