SWR meter

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Joined
Mar 30, 2003
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Location
Beaufort SC
so im finishing up installing my cb radio but i dont have a swr meter to tune my antenna. does anyone have one that they can bring to tellico with them?

im just trying to save money wherever i can

thanks

-Thomas
 
nobody? how did you guys tune your antennas?
 
Well we really don't use antennas much. We really use our small handheld radios. So much easier than using the CB and our group really doesn't split up on the trail. It's something we really need to invest in but we really haven't.
 
last call before i spend the $35 on radioshack
 
i went ahead and got one. i will bring it to tellico with me so anyone can use it that needs to.
 
Sorry to dredge up a VERY old thread, but it's gotta save server space, right? (Besides, someone's gotta use the search button :flipoff2:) I'm gonna be wiring up my CB and antenna before OTMT, wondering if anyone has a SWR meter that they'd be willing to let me borrow or bring to McNabb with them?
 
I don't know if I'll make it to OMT, but I have two...I can see if my neighbor who's going could bring it?
 
I have one too and can bring it (along with Carp's new stereo) to the next meeting or OTMT (I will be there on Saturday). The key to a good SWR reading is good grounding of the antenna. I have a couple of tricks on that.

See you then!
 
Quick question regarding CB's. I installed a cobra cb and a 4' firestick antenna. What type of range should I be able to get with this? Also I am having a problem where other people can hear me clearly but I can not hear them at all. Any thoughts??
 
Sounds like a CB adjusting party at OTMT. Thanks to those that are offering to bring the SWR. This will be very nice!

BZEP, using the SWR and adjusting the CB will probably help you out a bunch.
 
Brian,

5 miles if you're really lucky. As far as being heard but not hearing (sounds like marriage), its probably in your antenna. If your firestik is mounted to an ARB, then ground may be an issue because the powder coat makes it hard to get a ground. This will show up in your swr reading. The solution is easy, just run a wire from the underside of your antenna to one of the holes in your frame and secure it with a bolt.

If its not your antenna, it could be you are transmitting on one channel and receiving on another.

Finally, something to consider . . . amateur radio license. Super easy, loads of power, cheap radios covering all sorts of bands. $10, easy test.

I know our answer has usually been that its not needed since we hang together on the trail, but I can recall the last trip to Cullowhee when we were all sitting around the fire friday night. LandTank was spinning yarns and drinking YaegerMeister, JP was making a duct tape sculpture, and Steve was planning a small revolution in his subdivision.

Meanwhile our hero, Marshall, was leading the really late crew to the Friday campsite. He was lost somewhere between Pettycoat Junction and Hooterville. We could hear him on the FRS radio (being received through a little more powerful handheld), but we couldn't communicate back with him to guide him in. SO, we were having a good time listening and drinking beer! FRS just isn't that strong. Had we all been on HAM, communications would have been a breeze.

Also, HAM is good just in case the worst happens inasmuch as we could get real help faster if someone was in real trouble (read here heart attack). Little cell coverage in holy land, Tellico, etc. Hit the repeater, declare emergency traffic, and the MAMA Copter from Asheville could be there in 20 minutes . . . . As I get older I think about these things.:hhmm:
 
Looks like we're gonna have a radio clinic around the camp fire...which is a good thing. I know zero.
 
I will bring one. I had Heather's, but my cat peed on it, so I owe her a replacement. [note: cat with a "c", the 4 legged kind, not the 5'2" red-headed kind.]

I was going to reply that I have one, but then I thought "where is that thing" and was going to go look out in the garage. I never would of found it. And if Cat peed on it, I wouldn't want it back. Wait, I mean a "c"at.

:flipoff2:
 
Brian,

5 miles if you're really lucky. As far as being heard but not hearing (sounds like marriage), its probably in your antenna. If your firestik is mounted to an ARB, then ground may be an issue because the powder coat makes it hard to get a ground. This will show up in your swr reading. The solution is easy, just run a wire from the underside of your antenna to one of the holes in your frame and secure it with a bolt.

If its not your antenna, it could be you are transmitting on one channel and receiving on another.

Finally, something to consider . . . amateur radio license. Super easy, loads of power, cheap radios covering all sorts of bands. $10, easy test.

I know our answer has usually been that its not needed since we hang together on the trail, but I can recall the last trip to Cullowhee when we were all sitting around the fire friday night. LandTank was spinning yarns and drinking YaegerMeister, JP was making a duct tape sculpture, and Steve was planning a small revolution in his subdivision.

Meanwhile our hero, Marshall, was leading the really late crew to the Friday campsite. He was lost somewhere between Pettycoat Junction and Hooterville. We could hear him on the FRS radio (being received through a little more powerful handheld), but we couldn't communicate back with him to guide him in. SO, we were having a good time listening and drinking beer! FRS just isn't that strong. Had we all been on HAM, communications would have been a breeze.

Also, HAM is good just in case the worst happens inasmuch as we could get real help faster if someone was in real trouble (read here heart attack). Little cell coverage in holy land, Tellico, etc. Hit the repeater, declare emergency traffic, and the MAMA Copter from Asheville could be there in 20 minutes . . . . As I get older I think about these things.:hhmm:

Thanks for the info, looks like I am going to pick up a SWR and see if I can get this thing to work. Thanks again! :beer:
 

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