A always go by the "seat of the pants" figure - a watt per mile.  It's 
generally true as far as *REALIABLE* communications.  Everytime I say 
this, I get floods of stories from guys banging their fists on the table 
telling me about how they takled skip and all that jazz.  Being a Ham 
Radio operator, trust me, a watt per mile is the normal range.  In town, 
it may be reduced though due to buildings and such.  Do yourself a *BIG* 
favor and spend the $50 or so for a K40 antenna.  It recieves better, 
transmits better, etc.  Using an SWR meter, I tuned it at about 1.2:1 
across all 40 channels.  Even if you don't have the antenna adjusted 
right, I still got the absolute worst reading of 2.1:1

Hope I've been of some help...

Oh yes, with my K40, I generally get 6 to 8 miles reliably...

On Mon, 17 Jun 1996, Linda J. Bartnik wrote:

> Hey all,
> Now that I've got my new cb toy, I was wondering what the useful working range
> would be.  It's a 4-watt transmitter with a whip antenna, a bit more than 3 feet
> long.  any ideas?  Oh, by the way, it's mounted on top of a bus :)
> 
> Sean
> 
> 

 ______________ Nebraska:  The Good Life-"I guess that's why we have the
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