In my area like many others the cb use is very low, however some evenings I can hear stations that are in with the noise.in the past have been able to make contact with stations 100+ ,miles away, but with these stations I can only make out a few words and not able to contact these stations. I'm running a magnum 257hp, sigma4, on a 20ft mast, set on the ground. static level is pretty low. and I'm using lsb. I guess I could raise my antenna to try and improve my recieve, or try a beam, but was curious if someone had any oher suggestions. I don't think a recieve preamp will help as the stations are right at background level. I'm really just curious where they are, and how far away. I . have a good 8ft ground. rod. using rg 213 coax 50ft. any suggestions as what to try next? I'm guessing the stations are 80 to 100 miles away. don't hear them alll the time just enought to make a effort but not a huge effort. the 257 seems to have excellent recieve so doubt a different radio will help.