Does it help to put inquiring minds at ease to know, when the guy about a year checked my SWR he used one of these.
and that is how he knew or felt the stinger/whip should be longer.
-
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.
-
Retevis is giving away Radios for the New Year and Every Member is Eligible. Click Here to see the details!
cobra 29
- Thread starter crmzendrgone
- Start date
Ok so I have taking 3/4 off the top(a 1/4 at a time) and my reading is now:
Ch 01 - sitting right on the 2
ch 20 - sitting right on the 2
Ch 40 - right above the 2
Now I know there is everyone's' opinions on the accuracy of the built in meter. I feel that the CB I have has not been tweaked in a bad way, that said I feel I can trust the close to accurate reading. . . Sorry thinking out loud.
My question is should I continue to trim a 1/4 at a time or stop and wait till I can purchase an external SWR.
Thanks! Josh
Ch 01 - sitting right on the 2
ch 20 - sitting right on the 2
Ch 40 - right above the 2
Now I know there is everyone's' opinions on the accuracy of the built in meter. I feel that the CB I have has not been tweaked in a bad way, that said I feel I can trust the close to accurate reading. . . Sorry thinking out loud.
My question is should I continue to trim a 1/4 at a time or stop and wait till I can purchase an external SWR.
Thanks! Josh
i cant ever reccomend anyone to use and go by the external meter
much less trim.now if ya could use/borrow someones and IF they
read faily close to the same ya might be able to. but i wouldnt
trust that meter without seeing an external meter reading the same
or very close to it.
much less trim.now if ya could use/borrow someones and IF they
read faily close to the same ya might be able to. but i wouldnt
trust that meter without seeing an external meter reading the same
or very close to it.
i dont like these swrs theres usuaslly a curve .where either ch. 1 or ch.40
is slightly higher than the other.and that tells ya weather to trim or
lenthen antennas.heres what my swrs are iun my mobile
1-1.3
40-1.2 [slightly lower]
see the [curve] ideally 1.1 on all 40 is ideal however usually
not achieved including mine.but i talk on 36-40ssb mostly so im happy
so looking at swrs im wondering if the built in meter is accurate or something else
Ok. I actually talked to someone on the way into work. Told them I'm new to the whole CB thing and he said just call out or whatever he said basically there are some people local to me that are willing to help.
I know the one guy who set me up awhile back, knows his stuff. A lot of the people on the CB know him and agree.
so that being said I am trying to get ahold of him cause of how close he is. and then go from there.
Again thanks guys, you all have been very helpful and patient with me
Thanks, Josh
I know the one guy who set me up awhile back, knows his stuff. A lot of the people on the CB know him and agree.
so that being said I am trying to get ahold of him cause of how close he is. and then go from there.
Again thanks guys, you all have been very helpful and patient with me
Thanks, Josh
hotrod,
thanks for posting your experiences.
i think you are right about certain mods affecting the SWR circuit.
need to think more on this and may have to adjust my view on the internal meter thing.
just for the record, i think we all agree that every CB'er needs to own an SWR meter.
crmzendrgone,
your results sound to me like a coax problem, but you wont know until you cut that whip down to 36" and start tuning it from there.
these antennas are made for a specific whip length, and if that whip length doesnt get the SWR down, then you have a problem.
changing the length of the whip to one that wasnt intended for that antenna wont cure the problem.
if, after cutting the whip down to the proper length, you still cant get the SWR to about 1.5 or better; then you have a problem.
the biggest causes of these problems are due to bad installation and bad mounting location.
since your antenna is a magnet mount, that pretty much eliminates the installation, and since you have it on the roof of the vehicle, which is the best possible mounting location, that pretty much eliminates that.
this leaves the "kinky" coax as the most likely cause, but again, you wont know that until you start using the correct length for the whip.
cut it down to 36" and try tuning again.
as hotrod stated, there should be a curve to the SWR.
like 2 on channel 1, 1.5 on channel 20, and 2 on channel 40.
an SWR that is 2 or above and is about the same across the whole band says that the problem isnt just due to small tuning errors.
good luck,
LC
thanks for posting your experiences.
i think you are right about certain mods affecting the SWR circuit.
need to think more on this and may have to adjust my view on the internal meter thing.
just for the record, i think we all agree that every CB'er needs to own an SWR meter.
crmzendrgone,
your results sound to me like a coax problem, but you wont know until you cut that whip down to 36" and start tuning it from there.
these antennas are made for a specific whip length, and if that whip length doesnt get the SWR down, then you have a problem.
changing the length of the whip to one that wasnt intended for that antenna wont cure the problem.
if, after cutting the whip down to the proper length, you still cant get the SWR to about 1.5 or better; then you have a problem.
the biggest causes of these problems are due to bad installation and bad mounting location.
since your antenna is a magnet mount, that pretty much eliminates the installation, and since you have it on the roof of the vehicle, which is the best possible mounting location, that pretty much eliminates that.
this leaves the "kinky" coax as the most likely cause, but again, you wont know that until you start using the correct length for the whip.
cut it down to 36" and try tuning again.
as hotrod stated, there should be a curve to the SWR.
like 2 on channel 1, 1.5 on channel 20, and 2 on channel 40.
an SWR that is 2 or above and is about the same across the whole band says that the problem isnt just due to small tuning errors.
good luck,
LC
Ok not to :bdh:, but I put the stock whip back in the mount; buried it in and (I know I need an external meter but I am using the internal until funds allow for an external one. plus I guess it is a good teaching tool for me now.) backed out of my drive way and checked the SWR
Ch1 between the S and W in SWR on the top line
Ch 20 sits right on the S
Ch 40 Needle sits in between the W and R
My question is, is that good cause I am not seeing any decimal points??
Thanks!!!!
Ch1 between the S and W in SWR on the top line
Ch 20 sits right on the S
Ch 40 Needle sits in between the W and R
My question is, is that good cause I am not seeing any decimal points??
Thanks!!!!
Last edited:
thats great!
what you are seeing is about a 1.3 to 1.5 SWR.
i wouldnt even mess with it anymore.
now, you may want to check it a few more times after moving the coax around a bit to see if that changes it.
if not, you're all set.
there must have been something weird going on when that other guy checked your SWR for you.
maybe he doesnt really know the right way to do it, or maybe his meter is way off.
who knows, but at least you've got it working well.
now its time to finally enjoy all your work.
LC
what you are seeing is about a 1.3 to 1.5 SWR.
i wouldnt even mess with it anymore.
now, you may want to check it a few more times after moving the coax around a bit to see if that changes it.
if not, you're all set.
there must have been something weird going on when that other guy checked your SWR for you.
maybe he doesnt really know the right way to do it, or maybe his meter is way off.
who knows, but at least you've got it working well.
now its time to finally enjoy all your work.
LC
Cool!
Here is another bit of info I remembered. Forgive me it was about a year ago.
Ok the thing is he was checking my SWR on a radioshack CB that I had installed previous to my now Cobra.
So does that matter or is the SWR solely for setting the SWR to the antenna and not the radio??
Here is another bit of info I remembered. Forgive me it was about a year ago.
Ok the thing is he was checking my SWR on a radioshack CB that I had installed previous to my now Cobra.
So does that matter or is the SWR solely for setting the SWR to the antenna and not the radio??
Cool!
Here is another bit of info I remembered. Forgive me it was about a year ago.
Ok the thing is he was checking my SWR on a radioshack CB that I had installed previous to my now Cobra.
So does that matter or is the SWR solely for setting the SWR to the antenna and not the radio??
typically no. id say it was the long stinger . cause your swr now has a curve . like it should
providing your meter is fairly close.keep the long stinger measure it. i had a wilson 1000 and
i did need a longer stinger .i had to get wilsons 66inch whip. stock the 1000 has a 62 inch whip.
if its 62 inchesd or shorter then forget it wont work .hopefully the 62 inch will work 4 u.loosecannon
thanks for kind words i only what i know from nearly 20yrs on cb and moonlighting at friends shop
Last edited:
hotrod,
he has the lil wil that needs a 36" whip, which is what he put back on it and is working well.
i think he had a 62" whip from a 1000 or 5000 on there before.
josh,
radios are all 50 ohms out, unless someone has really screwed it up inside, so once an antenna is tuned with one radio, it should work for all your other radios.
oh, and welcome to the wonderful world of CB, which stands for Constantly Buying or Constantly Broke. LOL take your pick.
LC
he has the lil wil that needs a 36" whip, which is what he put back on it and is working well.
i think he had a 62" whip from a 1000 or 5000 on there before.
josh,
radios are all 50 ohms out, unless someone has really screwed it up inside, so once an antenna is tuned with one radio, it should work for all your other radios.
oh, and welcome to the wonderful world of CB, which stands for Constantly Buying or Constantly Broke. LOL take your pick.
LC
HAHAHA, I believe it!
So my dad who I barely talked to is a HAM radio guy and is telling me I should get my licsense. Should I even though I don't have a HAM radio?
it would start you on a path of learning about radios, so in that respect it would be a cool thing.
you can buy a shortwave radio for under a hundred bucks, and you can listen to the ham bands on it. start looking at garage sales. this way you can see if it sounds like something that interests you enough to warrant buying a ham radio in the future.
hey, your dad's a ham, ill bet he has a radio or two he'd be willing to loan/give you so you can get your feet wet.
you can go to www.qrz.com and take their practice tests until you feel confident enough to take the test for real.
its not that hard once you start getting into it.
you will find that everyone has their own unique opinions on this subject, as some are die hard "CB guys" and others are into only ham radio. many radio hobbyists are into both.
start looking around the ham sections of this forum and see if it intrigues you.
LC
you can buy a shortwave radio for under a hundred bucks, and you can listen to the ham bands on it. start looking at garage sales. this way you can see if it sounds like something that interests you enough to warrant buying a ham radio in the future.
hey, your dad's a ham, ill bet he has a radio or two he'd be willing to loan/give you so you can get your feet wet.
you can go to www.qrz.com and take their practice tests until you feel confident enough to take the test for real.
its not that hard once you start getting into it.
you will find that everyone has their own unique opinions on this subject, as some are die hard "CB guys" and others are into only ham radio. many radio hobbyists are into both.
start looking around the ham sections of this forum and see if it intrigues you.
LC
oh i didnt mean for the lil wil .he got that straight and working fine from what
i see. i meant for the wil 1000 he wants to upgrade in future.if that whip
is longer than 62 inches he can use it on the 1000 if needed.the one
wil 1000 i had needed a longer whip.only reason i posted that. sorry
for confusion.
josh welcome to C.B. you could get a ham licence. but id do what loosecannon
said get a shortwave radio with ssb capabilities. i like the seangean 909
then you can listen.also talk to your dad see when he talks then go
over there and just listen .ham radio is more formal and there radios
are VERY expensive but better quality.enjoy
- No one is chatting at the moment.
