dodgeram, I totally get where you are at with regards to the "more power" thing, and while there is something to be said for going above "stock power"; i want to take this opportunity to let you in on the big secret when it comes to cost/hassle/power out decisions.
When it comes to RF power, you will have to increase your signal by a factor of 4 in order to increase your signal by 1 S-unit in someone's receiver.
This means that if you are putting out 1 watt, and hitting your neighbor with an S-5; you will have to put out 4 watts in order to hit him with an S-6.
To hit him with an S-7, you'll need to put out 16 watts.
To hit him with an S-8, you'll need to put out 64 watts.
This calculation holds true regardless of how much power you started with.
that means that if your radio swings up to 20 watts PEP, and you hit someone with an
S-3; you will have to swing up to 80 watts PEP in order to hit them with an S-4.
To hit them with an S-5, you would have to swing up to 320 watts.
Using this example, it is easy to see that at some point, the money and hassle it would take to get that extra S unit just won't be worth it.
This is why many are telling you not to bother with a small internal amp, and to make the leap to an external amplifier.
I'm going to guess that you have a cobra 29LTD right now. A cobra 29LTD with a good tune up will deadkey 6 watts and swing up to 25+ watts any day of the week if done by someone who knows what they are doing. (many of us can make them do 50 watts PEP, but that gets a bit more involved)
so that would mean that if you spent 30-40 dollars for a good alignment and peaking of your radio, you would swing up to 25 watts PEP.
If that is the case, there is no point in trying to increase your output to 50 watts PEP, as someone on the receiving end would barely notice the 1/2 S-unit increase.
I would recommend a 2 transistor linear amplifier that is external to the radio if this is your situation.
you will get upwards of 150 watts PEP for a minimal investment.
If having the amplifier actually bolted to the radio is a deal breaker in your situation, then i would recommend the RFX150 as others have, because you don't have to modify the inside of your radio much to install it.
with the RFX75, and RFX85, you have to remove the final transistor inside the radio, which means that if you ever want to run the radio barefoot, you'll have to add all that stuff back in.
I would personally never buy another RFX75 because the improvements they made with the RFX85 are vastly superior.
hope this helps
LC
