Midland Alan poor Tx

Hi I have a Midland Alan 48 in my truck I can hear other people ok but they say its all muffled anymore than 400m away roughly. The Cb was a 2nd hand unit and the antenna is a 6ft stinger and a mag mount. I brought a new mic and people could hear me! Maybe I should have brought new and could cut my losses and do just that. Any help gratefully recieved

The problem could be both. Stinger aerials are poor performers anyway, and Midland radios don't have a great reputation either in my experience. Have you or anyone else checked your setup? Just a thought.

Ask other drivers what they use, you don't have to spend a fortune and second hand doesn't mean bad, you just need to find what suits you and your truck.

Hi Hamish,


Are you saying your modulation problem is now OK thanks to a new mic? (Just trying to get a clear picture of the problems.)

As for 'muffled' more than '400m' away is that just the audio or the actual signal level falls off?

Doing my best to help from afar with limited information here. There is always the obvious problem of people having their FM deviation cranked up internally so if someone has a factory set deviation others then usually complain that you're 'quiet'.

As for Midland quality or reputation they have been making radios for donkeys years and sell worldwide so would've gone bust a long time ago if they were of such poor quality.

I hope you get to the bottom of the problem but I know for most replacement is the only viable option in as far as time, hassle and extra incurred costs. Worth checking your setup with someone else if you can.


All the best,
Victor

I have had a Alan 48 in the past and my one put out less than 3 watts and had muffled audio....I soon got rid,perhaps a poor example but I have heard a few bad reviews.

I never tried a power mic.....perhaps that would of done the trick for the audio..

Thanks for your replying. I've been working on containers for the last 6 months so not used it as I was cab hopping but know I'm back on the tippers tomorrow so will have another play. Having spoken to the other drivers previously they mostly use Thunderpole units with stinger antennas. I quite like the look of the President taylor style units. Another driver said he was using a Sirio 2000 aerial but mounted to a tri magnet base with a 90° connector so not all the aerial sticks out the top. He said that works well.

Victor wrote:

Hi Hamish,


Are you saying your modulation problem is now OK thanks to a new mic? (Just trying to get a clear picture of the problems.)

As for 'muffled' more than '400m' away is that just the audio or the actual signal level falls off?

Doing my best to help from afar with limited information here. There is always the obvious problem of people having their FM deviation cranked up internally so if someone has a factory set deviation others then usually complain that you're 'quiet'.

As for Midland quality or reputation they have been making radios for donkeys years and sell worldwide so would've gone bust a long time ago if they were of such poor quality.

I hope you get to the bottom of the problem but I know for most replacement is the only viable option in as far as time, hassle and extra incurred costs. Worth checking your setup with someone else if you can.


All the best,
Victor

Hi Victor

I've brought a Swr meter to check my antenna to see what readings I have. I'm not sure what affect this might have (being a newbie). When I'm talking to people they say sometimes it's fine other times it's just bitty. I previously changed the microphone which made it better so I'm hoping it's just the antenna needing setting up. 

Hamish

Hi Hamish,

Sounds like you're onto a good plan there to sort out your woes. 

There's a million and one sites out there with details of how to setup/check your SWR and always worth a search on the old YouTube. Saves me from typing a how-to here as well.

Don't fall into the trap of finding the elusive 1:1 SWR reading, just try to get it as low as you can remembering that even a SWR of 2 means you are still running at 90% efficiency. Anything below 2 and above 1 will be just fine.  

Once that's done you can go on to check out your setup such as your connections or the coax just by simply giving them a little 'wiggle'. Don't manhandle or yank at the connections, just a small wiggle is fine. The reason I state checking after you've setup your SWR is that if the antenna has a poor SWR or bad grounding your coax, radio, microphone etc. all become part of the 'antenna' and you touching coax and connections will make you part of the 'antenna' as well changing your readings. 

It's not all as difficult as it sounds, just simple connections. I think an RF connection or SWR problem is most likely your issue and the change of mics changed your RF path as they like to have audio on them not RF. (Just be grateful you don't run higher power and experience a microphone 'kiss' - that's RF biting back through your lips!!)

I do hope you get sorted out there Hamish and as I mentioned before it's difficult helping from afar but hope it's all of some help.
Let us know how you get on.


All the best,
Victor

I used my Swr meter at the weekend and found I have a ground problem as had high readings on all channels. I tightened up the base bolt under the rubber pad. I'm going to test it after the bank holiday. I'm considering if it still is a problem whether to buy a gutter mount instead of a magnetic mount.

Hamish

I checked and tightened the base nut bit still have high swr

Have you adjusted the whip length for the lowest possible SWR across the band? If not then do so and if the readings are still high then start looking at issues of grounding.

73's Gary.

Hi
I tried to shorten it but still had a high reading. It was knocked off a few times I think it has a broken coax cable perhaps. I've brought a high end sirio now. It has much better readings 1 - 1.2. I've also bit the bullet and also brought a new President Barry 2 which is on the way shortly.

Hi Hamish,

Glad to hear that you've been getting somewhere with it all mate.
It can be frustrating trying to sort out problems but seems you are solving issues bit by bit with replacement of items.

I hope the Sirio antenna serves you well and you have fun with your radios.


All the best,
Victor