• You can now help support WorldwideDX when you shop on Amazon at no additional cost to you! Simply follow this Shop on Amazon link first and a portion of any purchase is sent to WorldwideDX to help with site costs.
  • Click here to find out how to win free radios from Retevis!

5/8 Wave groundplane 1.5:1 SWR all over the band

Absolutely! 1.5:1 is unacceptable to me. Too much reflect that can damage my equipment.
73, 677

Not in the slightest. 1.5:1 is not going to damage your equipment especially if you are not running an amp. Nope,not gonna happen. Just speaking from over 40 years in radio where I have run over 2:1 at 100 watts for extended periods of time.
 
I agree Capitan.
I had one of the first export radios that came out, the 360 FM and that radio would work into a 2:1 SWR all day long.
Now, if you are running a transistor amp full tilt balls to the wall hi voltage overdrive..... Yes reflect can be a problem.
But that is a whole different animal.
But for 99% of the CB stations 2:1 is very tolerable.
10-roger on the oil filled dummy load getting out.
I worked DX one time on 100 feet of unhooked coax because a friend said it was impossible.
Guy in Texas gave me a 5x9 signal report.
73
Jeff
 
Absolutely! 1.5:1 is unacceptable to me. Too much reflect that can damage my equipment.

Well i feel stupid. It was a bad jumper. Sorry guys and thanks for all of your help!

73, 677
I feel you don’t understand SWR and how they affect the radio very clearly. I run all day long with SWR over 2.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: jessejamesdallas
Ha! Buddy of mine was getting out great local on his homebrew mineral oil dummy load.....he didn't realize it at first, but that load under the bench was loud and proud.:whistle:

I have a local who did live about a mile from me and we have worked Dummy Load to Dummy Load several times but we were both running a Kilowatt and we never had a breaker or worked anyone else.He is three miles away now and we can no longer do it.

SIX-SHOOTER
 
  • Like
Reactions: Captain Kilowatt
LOL yep you got me

Edited it... happy now?...lol
giphy.gif
 
Working DX contacts is rarely a good indicator of how well an antenna works on 27 MHz.
Mother Nature rules the roost when the band conditions are open.
Many many years ago I got hooked on DX when I had a 23 channel Midland SSB radio and a radio shack mag mount stuck on top of a cooler that was on top of the mobile home I had.
Stock bare foot radio, no Amp, no peak and tweak, the cycle was up and the band was blown open almost every nite. I consistently talked to a guy in Montana over a period of several weeks.
That radio was not capable of more than 15 to 16 watts peak on SSB.
And I am also sure that mag mount was not that efficient.
On another ocasion we were staying at my in-laws place for several weeks on vacation.
I took a radio, a 100 watt amp and MFJ antenna tuner with me.
Hooked to the 300 ohm twin lead feeding a big VHF/UHF TV antenna on top of the house. I worked all over with that set up for the whole time I was there.
The radio was seeing a almost flat swr.
The tuner was working into high SWR.
The effective radiated power was very low I am sure.
But it worked well enough to talk both to the locals and DX.
The antenna can be terrible, but if the band conditions are good, 27 MHz can be worked with very small amounts of radiated power.
Ask the guys who play QRP for fun.
This is why I love 10 meters so much.
Same property's as 11 meters.
And 12 and.
..... So on.

73
Jeff
 
Working DX contacts is rarely a good indicator of how well an antenna works on 27 MHz.
Mother Nature rules the roost when the band conditions are open.
Many many years ago I got hooked on DX when I had a 23 channel Midland SSB radio and a radio shack mag mount stuck on top of a cooler that was on top of the mobile home I had.
Stock bare foot radio, no Amp, no peak and tweak, the cycle was up and the band was blown open almost every nite. I consistently talked to a guy in Montana over a period of several weeks.
That radio was not capable of more than 15 to 16 watts peak on SSB.
And I am also sure that mag mount was not that efficient.
On another ocasion we were staying at my in-laws place for several weeks on vacation.
I took a radio, a 100 watt amp and MFJ antenna tuner with me.
Hooked to the 300 ohm twin lead feeding a VHF/UHF TV antenna on top of the house I worked all over with that set up for the whole time I was there.
The radio was seeing a almost flat swr.
The tuner was working into high SWR.
The effective radiated power was I have no idea.
All of that was actually the twin lead going to the TV antenna at that point.
But it worked well enough to talk both to the locals and DX.
The antenna can be terrible, but if the band conditions are good, 27 MHz can be worked with very small amounts of radiatied power.
Ask the guys who play QRP for fun.
This is why I love 10 meters so much.
Same property's as 11 meters.
And 12 and.
..... So on.

73
Jeff
I've heard of people using TV antennas for 11m before, not a good match. Had old guy in Mobile, Al. who used one. He could talk local and DX. He was about 20 miles away and we could sometimes make contact with him from the 76 Impala w/ a mag mount on roof with a 148.
 

dxChat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
  • @ kingmudduck:
    Hello to all I have a cobra 138xlr, Looking for the number display for it. try a 4233 and it did not work
  • @ kopcicle:
    If you know you know. Anyone have Sam's current #? He hasn't been on since Oct 1st. Someone let him know I'm looking.