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FAQ
FAQ: CB (Citizen's Band) Radio Answers
  1. Do I need a licence to use a CB radio?
  2. What are the CB radio power and frequency requirements in India?
  3. Is there any license I can get or buy that will allow extra CB channels or higher power?
  4. What is sideband?
  5. What is the Roger Beep, RF Gain & Mic Gain ?
  6. What does the squelch do? And what is ASC?
  7. What type of transceiver do I need?
  8. What type of antenna do I need?
  9. Where should I mount my antenna?
  10. What is a groundplane?
  11. What is the impedance for a particular CB antenna?
  12. If I want to use a mobile CB as a home base station, what will I need?
  13. Is it possible to get a handheld/portable CB radio?
  1. Do I need a licence to use a CB radio?
  2. No. In the Indian Market usage of CB Radios that comply with the applicable WPC requirements is allowed without a license. The importer or manufacturer however must have an ETA from the WPC in order to sell CB radios in India. President has received ETAs for its CB portfolio in India and would be pleased to provide this information if needed.
  3. What are the CB radio power and frequency requirements in India?
  4. In India the maximum effective power for CB radios is 5 watts and the frequency band for CB Radio ranges from: 26.957 to 27.283 MHz. We attempt to keep our site current but you may visit the relevant WPC site to see the government regulations regarding CB radios.
  5. Is there any license I can get or buy that will allow extra CB channels or higher power?
  6. No. CB radios in India have the following restrictions:
    - Operate only on the 26-27 Mhz CB channels,
    - They must be WPC type approved for CB use,
    - They have up to 5w AM/FM output power, license free

    For usage outside the above parameters the WPC must be consulted.
  7. What is sideband?
  8. Sideband, also known as single sideband (SSB), is a more effective use of the existing channels on a CB radio. By operating on a narrower band, the effective range is increased; however, the signal does not sound as clear as an AM or FM signal. When using sideband, you should also use the clairifier in order to clear up the sound of the transmission.

    With SSB long range communication on a temporal basis can be possible with another SSB user-however, the probability of this type of propagation is strongly affected by geographics seasonal and atmospheric conditions.
  9. What is the Roger Beep, RF Gain & Mic Gain ?
  10. The Roger Beep is a short duration single-tone or multi-tone signal that is sent when you release the push-to-talk button on your mic. This was originally intended to give a true confirmation to the receiving station of when the other person was finished talking, especially during weak signal and SSB reception.

    The RF (Radio Frequency) Gain is a facility to increase or decrease the sensitivity of the receiving signal. Your RF gain control should always be turned up full unless there is a station that is very close to you and their modulation (when they speak) is distorted which means they are probably too close to you. So, by turning down the RF Gain, you will be able to hear them more clearly. As all things are relative, If you turn your RF gain down, you will reduce the sensitivity regarding the incoming weaker stations.

    Mic Gain: is your microphone's transmit "volume control", & can be lowered to reduce background noise, or if your voice is really loud. Normally, this is turned up full however, if you are close to another radio user, you might sound distorted to them as you would be "over driving" your voice, so you would need to turn this down when speaking to close stations.
  11. What does the squelch do? And what is ASC?
  12. The squelch quiets the background radio noise (static) when there is no signal present.

    ASC: Automatic Squelch Control is a patented technology that automatically cut the background noise, so you would never have to make a manual squelch adjustment or check the noise level.
  13. What type of transceiver do I need?
  14. It depends on your needs and preferences. CB radio transceivers have different available modulations such as AM, FM and SSB. Additionally, they have wide range of features such as RF Gain, Memory, Scan, etc. Therefore, initially you should identify which features are important to you. Once you do that selecting the right transceiver is relatively simple. Click here for a list of high quality President transceivers. President also provides a Comparison tool that allows you to easily compare the features between the various models.
  15. What type of antenna do I need?
  16. That depends on which type of installation you are going to be using. There are a number of different types and styles of antennas for mobile or stationary installations, including magnetic mounts, gutter lip mounts, trunk lip mounts, mirror mounts and permanent mounts. For high efficiency in emission & reception, a well designed branded antenna is strongly recommended. Click here for a list of high quality President antennas.
  17. Where should I mount my antenna?
  18. The best place to mount the antenna is in the center of the roof of the vehicle.
  19. What is a groundplane?
  20. Most mobile antennas are actually only half of the effective antenna, the other half is the body of the car or truck. This "other half" is also known as the Ground Plane of the antenna. If the Groundplane isn't adequate or large enough, poor SWR readings and performance will result.
  21. What is the impedance for a particular CB antenna?
  22. All of our CB antennas have roughly 50 Ohm impedance to match the output of the CB radio. The impedance is not critical as 25 Ohms to 100 Ohms is acceptable; however, the best signal transfer occurs at 50 Ohms, so every design is optimized very close to 50 Ohms.
  23. If I want to use a mobile CB as a home base station, what will I need?
  24. You would need a good base station CB antenna and a regulated power supply to convert the 220V AC power to 12V DC power. You will need to select a power supply that provides at least as many amps as your radio requires.
  25. Is it possible to get a handheld/portable CB radio?
  26. President offers the Randy II model in handheld/portable format for outdoor use. Please click here for details