I just picked up an antenna. Anyone got an SWR meter I can borrow to tune it? 
CB Antenna Tuning
- Thread starter Ebag333
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I have a SWR meter you are welcome to use, it has not been used for a long time so its condition is unknown.
Let me know if your interested.
Heron
Let me know if your interested.
Heron
- Thread starter
- #3
Thanks. I'll probably hit you up for it sometime this week as I hope to have it tuned before the run.
Unless you're planning on joining us?
Unless you're planning on joining us?
- Thread starter
- #4
Al fixed me right up. Only took an hour and ten minutes too! 
An hour of chatting, ten minutes of actual tuning.
An hour of chatting, ten minutes of actual tuning.
2ndGenToyotaFan
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Al's a handy guy to have around! 
I got a new antenna a couple of months back and the teck said that it didn't need to be tuned. He said that they are pretuned before packaging. Did you have to adjust it much? Curious I am.
- Thread starter
- #7
Unless you get an antenna designed for no base, they're not pretuned.
Mine was off by a fair amount, I think channel 1 was around 2 and channel 40 was around 1.2 on Al's meter. Considering it's in the red (potential damage zone due to too much power) at I think 2.5, that's a lot of power at the low end of the spectrum (and explains why my reception was so crappy at the high end).
I only had to adjust it maybe .25 of an inch, but that made all the difference in the world.
Do some research on tuning CB antenna's, and placement of them. There's a lot more that goes into it than just slapping it on and plugging it in.
will Heron be at the meeting? I could use the SWR also, my CB is working fine (I think) but what damage can I do if it's out of whack and don't know for sure?
- Thread starter
- #9
You *CAN* burn up your radio, especially if you've got vertical metal near your antenna (such as mounting it on a bumper).
It's probably not going to happen, but it's possible.
I believe Garett has one as well.
Yep, my Dad has a SWR meter that I have access too. Old school but functional.
mine is mounted drivers side mid hood, maybe no worries.
toy350, can you borrow that SWR for the meeting?
toy350, can you borrow that SWR for the meeting?
- Thread starter
- #13
It shouldn't be a problem. You can get interferance from the engine being mounted that close however.
The bigger problem is that your cruiser is flopped!
I was trying to sweep the floor mats out and figured tipping the rig would help.
I am not that versed on the dynamics of the cb. It is interesting that the guy at this "radio shop" Told me that it didnt need to be tuned. We went over the placement and for me it isn't an issue. It basically sits on top of my rear carrier. From what I hear here I will just tune it just for the heck of it and see what it does. Thanks for this...
Keith
- Thread starter
- #16
If nothing else it will balance out the channels, so you'll get more even reception through the channels.
Well shoot this is a lot more complicated than I thought. I was going to adapt an Army PRC radio folding antenna for mine : (
- Thread starter
- #18
Well shoot this is a lot more complicated than I thought. I was going to adapt an Army PRC radio folding antenna for mine : (
You can probably do that, but I'm not sure how well it'll work. My guess is that's a zero base plane antenna, meaning it's not expecting to have a bunch of metal reflecting the signal (or be grounded to). If you're mounting it on top of your rig, and you don't ground it, you should be fine as very little of the signal will be reflected back into the antenna. If you were planning on mounting it on your bumper/hood, the signal might reflect back and either overpower the radio or completely fry it.
That's part of the reason why bumpers (especially the rear) are not a good spot to mount to.
If your main purpose for the radio was to use the actual radio, you can probably pick up an antenna cheap (even a firestick is pretty cheap) and get an adapter (or put one together yourself) to make it work with the radio.
I went the craigslist route not so much for the antenna as for the mount....them suckers cost $40-60+, which is usually more than the antenna! (Plus it's hard to argue with $8.
)
That antena unfortunately will not work well for CB the wave length is very diferent. The "ultimate" would be a 20" stainless steel whip. Cheap, and either half of one full wave length.
Although is that your PRC 19?
Although is that your PRC 19?
CB is 26.965 Mhz to 27.405 MHz Mhz often called ll meters which is 36 ft
1/4 wave would be 9ft or 108 inches
but the antenna mfgs have determined the optimal length for the 1/4 wave whip antenna to be approx 102 inches, works in the middle of the band.
if you are going to be using one channel only, tune the swr to that channel
or tune to a middle channel
here is a link to making home made antennas
Tips and tricks on how to build your own CB Antennas.
Dick WA6EJJ
1/4 wave would be 9ft or 108 inches
but the antenna mfgs have determined the optimal length for the 1/4 wave whip antenna to be approx 102 inches, works in the middle of the band.
if you are going to be using one channel only, tune the swr to that channel
or tune to a middle channel
here is a link to making home made antennas
Tips and tricks on how to build your own CB Antennas.
Dick WA6EJJ