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confussed???
- Thread starter ryan_m
- Start date
hi ryan,
lots of good info here.
here are some things to think about.
if i am repeating any of the previous posters, please forgive me.
you have a pickup truck im guessing, and you have a three foot antenna mounted to the bumper, meaning that your antenna barely sticks up past the bed of the truck if at all.
did you know that only the part of the antenna that is above the metal of the vehicle radiates your signal outward?
your antenna is reacting with the metal of your truck.
dont bother buying an SWR meter unless you are going to put the antenna in a new location. i guarantee that your SWR is high right now, and no amount of tuning that antenna is going to lower them.
radio installation is a series of compromises between aesthetics, performance, and available money.
to have a long range, the antenna must be above the vehicle, looking very obnoxious, and must be about 5' or longer.
does your rollbar have one of those nifty brackets on the top?
if so, mount the antenna there.
if not, use a "luggage rack mount", which bolts around round surfaces.
at the very least, get a "stakehole mount" and mount the antenna to the rear corner of the bed.
now, firestik antennas suck in my opinion. they use the coax as part of the "matching system", so you have to use the right length of coax or the antenna wont work right.
you will have to find out the model number of your antenna and order the right coax harness.
as for your coax connector, try this:
get a voltmeter, and set it to read continuity (short circuit).
on this setting, when you touch the meter leads to eachother, the needle should deflect all the way to the right, or if its digital, it should read 0.00 or something like that.
anyway, remove the connector from the radio, and reomve the other end of the coax from the antenna. go back to the connector you installed.
touch one lead of the voltmeter to the center pin, and the other to the outer ring.
are they connected?
they should not be.
if all is well there, hook the antenna end of the coax back up to the antenna.
now, at the connector you installed, touch one lead of the voltmeter to the outer ring, and the other lead to a known good vehicle ground.
are they connected?
they should be.
other than that, make sure that your RF gain on the radio is all the way up.
it should be left all the way up all the time unless someone is right next to you and is actually pegging your needle all the way to the right.
then you turn it down a bit until they are further away, and turn it right back up to maximum again. it is your receive sensitivity control.
want to learn alot about CB's and CB installations?
go to ebay and buy a book called "the screwdriver experts guide to cb repair"
by lou franklin.
it will teach you so much it will make your poor newbie head spin, but its written in a very easy to understand style.
best book for a beginner hands down.
be careful though, after you read it you will correcting all your CB buddies and getting into all kinds of arguments with them.LOL
the book is right, they are wrong.LOL
ok, there ya go.
have fun, and post back the results of your testing.
we will be here WHEN you decide to buy a new antenna.LOL
later,
LC
lots of good info here.
here are some things to think about.
if i am repeating any of the previous posters, please forgive me.
you have a pickup truck im guessing, and you have a three foot antenna mounted to the bumper, meaning that your antenna barely sticks up past the bed of the truck if at all.
did you know that only the part of the antenna that is above the metal of the vehicle radiates your signal outward?
your antenna is reacting with the metal of your truck.
dont bother buying an SWR meter unless you are going to put the antenna in a new location. i guarantee that your SWR is high right now, and no amount of tuning that antenna is going to lower them.
radio installation is a series of compromises between aesthetics, performance, and available money.
to have a long range, the antenna must be above the vehicle, looking very obnoxious, and must be about 5' or longer.
does your rollbar have one of those nifty brackets on the top?
if so, mount the antenna there.
if not, use a "luggage rack mount", which bolts around round surfaces.
at the very least, get a "stakehole mount" and mount the antenna to the rear corner of the bed.
now, firestik antennas suck in my opinion. they use the coax as part of the "matching system", so you have to use the right length of coax or the antenna wont work right.
you will have to find out the model number of your antenna and order the right coax harness.
as for your coax connector, try this:
get a voltmeter, and set it to read continuity (short circuit).
on this setting, when you touch the meter leads to eachother, the needle should deflect all the way to the right, or if its digital, it should read 0.00 or something like that.
anyway, remove the connector from the radio, and reomve the other end of the coax from the antenna. go back to the connector you installed.
touch one lead of the voltmeter to the center pin, and the other to the outer ring.
are they connected?
they should not be.
if all is well there, hook the antenna end of the coax back up to the antenna.
now, at the connector you installed, touch one lead of the voltmeter to the outer ring, and the other lead to a known good vehicle ground.
are they connected?
they should be.
other than that, make sure that your RF gain on the radio is all the way up.
it should be left all the way up all the time unless someone is right next to you and is actually pegging your needle all the way to the right.
then you turn it down a bit until they are further away, and turn it right back up to maximum again. it is your receive sensitivity control.
want to learn alot about CB's and CB installations?
go to ebay and buy a book called "the screwdriver experts guide to cb repair"
by lou franklin.
it will teach you so much it will make your poor newbie head spin, but its written in a very easy to understand style.
best book for a beginner hands down.
be careful though, after you read it you will correcting all your CB buddies and getting into all kinds of arguments with them.LOL
the book is right, they are wrong.LOL
ok, there ya go.
have fun, and post back the results of your testing.
we will be here WHEN you decide to buy a new antenna.LOL
later,
LC
Ryan,
You said in your first post that you cut the coax to get it through the roll cage.
Before you start buying new and bigger antennas, what is the vehicle and application? Is this vehicle for off-roading? If it is, is the type of off-roading you're doing something to consider before putting up a real big antenna? These are important considerations. Sometimes what is "optimal" from a radio perspective is completely wrong for the whole vehicle purpose. In those cases, you have to decide which compromises you are willing to make. These are all things to think about before buying stuff.
You said in your first post that you cut the coax to get it through the roll cage.
Before you start buying new and bigger antennas, what is the vehicle and application? Is this vehicle for off-roading? If it is, is the type of off-roading you're doing something to consider before putting up a real big antenna? These are important considerations. Sometimes what is "optimal" from a radio perspective is completely wrong for the whole vehicle purpose. In those cases, you have to decide which compromises you are willing to make. These are all things to think about before buying stuff.
