palomar 225 ( I can't tell the differance from bare foot)

[Jonathan_lemoine]

I have a cobra 29 that I modified. (1 watt dead key, 15 watt swing. stock final) And i recently aquired a palomar 225. I also have a Dosy libra 631 swr/watt/modulation meter. I have this setup as my base station. Anyway the meter says that (with the amp on) I have a 30 watt dead key swinging to 150 watts. Not to bad. atleast so I thought. I can't notice a differance. I have another cobra 29 also putting out 12 watts or so in my car. There is a hill 50kms away that I can talk to my wife on while i'm in my car. It doesn't seem to matter if she has the amp on or off it sounds pretty much the same. I can't really notice a differance. the signal is still weak. Shouldn't it make a big differance?

[Jonathan_lemoine]

OK. I tried it again. There is a difference but its minimal. I have a theory though. Maybe my radio is out of alignment and most of the power is going out across 10 channels. I think that might acount for it. I'm getting a scope in a few months I hope so that should help. assuming I can teach myself how to use it.