Wednesday, March 25, 2009

RX Recieve boost on Cobra 29 and Uniden PC 78

Here is a very simple was to use 1 or 2 components to add super recieve boost to a Cobra 29 or Uniden PC78 CB radio.

Parts + tools required:
CB radio (duh)
Soldering pencil 15-40w. Do NOT use a large gun.
Small solder like .032" 60/40 mix or similar mix.
22-24guage wire
220k to 470k ohm 1/4 or 1/2watt resistor.
Simple SPST switch or existing switch on radio.

Disconect the power cord from the radio. Dont do any work with it plugged in, just in case.

1st find pin 14 on the PLL of the radio. Do this with the radio upside down, front facing you.
you will see that Pin 14 is a blank pin with no traces, or it may have a small capacitor on it going to the large ground trace.
Solder a wire to that, being very carefully not to use too much heat or leave it on too long, as the PLL chip is very fragile.
Attach this wire to your switch with about 4-8" of wire, depending where your switch is located. If using an existing switch read below. I prefer to use the pointless CH9 switch.

On the other side of the switch connect your resistor. Be sure to trim the resistor so it doesnt have a long leg to where it may touch anything else.
On the other side of the resistor, add about 6-8" of wire.

Now find Resistor R11. You will need to tap the wire onto this resistor on the end of the resistor closest to the BACK of the radio. If you test it, you should get about + 0.8volts from here. This is going to supply the power for you receive boost.

Thats it! 2 wires, a switch and a resistor.
The reason you need a switch is cause this is going to be VERY sensitive and you should only use it when you need it, cause strong signals may peg your meter.
I got results of a signal of 2db with the boost off. I flipped it on and it jumped to 10+db.
This doesnt just increase the meter reading. It boosts up the actual receive and makes it so much louder and clearer.

I recomend using the 470k ohm resistor as the 220k may be too high, and the 470k is plenty for any of my customer's needs.

This should work on all the Cobra 29 models.
Cobra 29 WX
Cobra 29 LTD
Cobra 29 Classic
Cobra 29 ST
or any other variation, Except the older D858 PLL chip.
It also works for the Uniden PC 78 models or any variation.

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Sunday, March 8, 2009

Send a text message via E-Mail

Free Email To SMS Gateways (Major US Carriers)

Carrier Email to SMS Gateway
Alltel [10-digit phone number]@message.alltel.com
Example: 1234567890@message.alltel.com
AT&T (formerly Cingular) [10-digit phone number]@txt.att.net
[10-digit phone number]@mms.att.net (MMS)
[10-digit phone number]@cingularme.com
Example: 1234567890@txt.att.net
Boost Mobile [10-digit phone number]@myboostmobile.com
Example: 1234567890@myboostmobile.com
Nextel (now Sprint Nextel) [10-digit telephone number]@messaging.nextel.com
Example: 1234567890@messaging.nextel.com
Sprint PCS (now Sprint Nextel) [10-digit phone number]@messaging.sprintpcs.com
[10-digit phone number]@pm.sprint.com (MMS)
Example: 1234567890@messaging.sprintpcs.com
T-Mobile [10-digit phone number]@tmomail.net
Example: 1234567890@tmomail.net
US Cellular [10-digit phone number]email.uscc.net (SMS)
[10-digit phone number]@mms.uscc.net (MMS)
Example: 1234567890@email.uscc.net
Verizon [10-digit phone number]@vtext.com
[10-digit phone number]@vzwpix.com (MMS)
Example: 1234567890@vtext.com
Virgin Mobile USA [10-digit phone number]@vmobl.com
Example: 1234567890@vmobl.com

Free Email To SMS Gateways (International + Smaller US)

These are all I could find from Wikipedia and other sources. If you’re aware of any other ones please share them in comments and I’ll add them to the list.

Carrier Email to SMS Gateway
7-11 Speakout (USA GSM) number@cingularme.com
Airtel (Karnataka, India) number@airtelkk.com
Airtel Wireless (Montana, USA) number@sms.airtelmontana.com
Alaska Communications Systems number@msg.acsalaska.com
Aql number@text.aql.com
AT&T Enterprise Paging number@page.att.net
BigRedGiant Mobile Solutions number@tachyonsms.co.uk
Bell Mobility & Solo Mobile (Canada) number@txt.bell.ca
BPL Mobile (Mumbai, India) number@bplmobile.com
Cellular One (Dobson) number@mobile.celloneusa.com
Cingular (Postpaid) number@cingularme.com
Centennial Wireless number@cwemail.com
Cingular (GoPhone prepaid) number@cingularme.com (SMS)
Claro (Brasil) number@clarotorpedo.com.br
Claro (Nicaragua) number@ideasclaro-ca.com
Comcel number@comcel.com.co
Cricket number@sms.mycricket.com (SMS)
CTI number@sms.ctimovil.com.ar
Emtel (Mauritius) number@emtelworld.net
Fido (Canada) number@fido.ca
General Communications Inc. number@msg.gci.net
Globalstar (satellite) number@msg.globalstarusa.com
Helio number@messaging.sprintpcs.com
Illinois Valley Cellular number@ivctext.com
Iridium (satellite) number@msg.iridium.com
Iusacell number@rek2.com.mx
i wireless number.iws@iwspcs.net
Koodo Mobile (Canada) number@msg.koodomobile.com
LMT (Latvia) number@sms.lmt.lv
Meteor (Ireland) number@sms.mymeteor.ie
Mero Mobile (Nepal) 977number@sms.spicenepal.com
MetroPCS number@mymetropcs.com
Movicom (Argentina) number@sms.movistar.net.ar
Mobitel (Sri Lanka) number@sms.mobitel.lk
Movistar (Colombia) number@movistar.com.co
MTN (South Africa) number@sms.co.za
MTS (Canada) number@text.mtsmobility.com
Nextel (United States) number@messaging.nextel.com
Nextel (Argentina) TwoWay.11number@nextel.net.ar
Orange Polska (Poland) 9digit@orange.pl
Personal (Argentina) number@alertas.personal.com.ar
Plus GSM (Poland) +48number@text.plusgsm.pl
President’s Choice (Canada) number@txt.bell.ca
Qwest number@qwestmp.com
Rogers (Canada) number@pcs.rogers.com
SL Interactive (Australia) number@slinteractive.com.au
Sasktel (Canada) number@sms.sasktel.com
Setar Mobile email (Aruba) 297+number@mas.aw
Suncom number@tms.suncom.com
T-Mobile (Austria) number@sms.t-mobile.at
T-Mobile (UK) number@t-mobile.uk.net
Telus Mobility (Canada) number@msg.telus.com
Thumb Cellular number@sms.thumbcellular.com
Tigo (Formerly Ola) number@sms.tigo.com.co
Tracfone (prepaid) number@mmst5.tracfone.com
Unicel number@utext.com
Virgin Mobile (Canada) number@vmobile.ca
Vodacom (South Africa) number@voda.co.za
Vodafone (Italy) number@sms.vodafone.it
YCC number@sms.ycc.ru
MobiPCS (Hawaii only) number@mobipcs.net

UPDATES:

If you can’t find a gateway for your current provider here, check out following links:

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Thursday, March 5, 2009

CB Echo board audio problems

As a CB tech, I have worked on lots of radios, and I have had to fix many hack jobs.
One problem I have come across a lot lately is echo boards not working right.

The main problem I see is a echo board that requires 8volts, but the hack tech hooked it up directly to 12-14 volts. This can blow the board, but luckily most of the time it just makes it squeal and hum. If it takes 8 volts, its as simply as tapping into the 8 volt regulator. 95% of radios have this on the board.
Most Cobra radios use TR23 for 8 volts.
Most Galaxy radios use Q37 or TR41 for 8 volt supply.
They are the large transistor in the front right of the radio, when the face is towards you, component side up.
Simply use a volt meter and tap there. Walla, No squeal, No Hum.

The next problem is the adjustment for the echo time.
For some reason, some boards wont do a slow echo. If you turn the speed to the left of center, it turns off. This is a problem with the board setup, but it can be solved easy.
Simply remove the Ground/Shield wire from the time pot, and relocate it to the Ground/Shield of the Amount pot. This will allow the adjustment to be turned down all the way, and have slower echo.
Sometimes this will create a hum when its all the way down. If so, add a .1uf capacitor to the now empty left pin of the speed pot, to either the 2 ground/shield wires or to the metal frame of the pot, where there may be another capacitor located. This should remove the hum when you turn the speed all the way down.

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