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High swr on skip shooter antenna

Cody Dixson

Cody Dixson

Active Member
May 3, 2020
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So I've got my hands on a pair of skip shooter antennas and the swr readings I had at first were 9:1 across all channels. I replaced the coax and now im getting a reading of 2.5:1 on ch1 3.5:1 on ch 20 and 4:1 on ch 40 I have the nails pushed as low as they'll go so shortening the antenna isn't an option anymore any help would be greatly appreciated
73
 
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To help... then you've run out of shortening the antenna - how long is the coax - or I should ask, how wide are the antennas spaced apart?

(Then this forces you to use the right length of coax for proper spacing)

Can't always get 9 feet between them, but if the RG-59 coax is not the right length -equal distance- from the "split" - you'll have to fix that.
 
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I'm currently using a 18ft wilson cophased harness I used a separate peice of of rg8x to tune them separately but couldn't get a lower readings than when I had the nail bottomed out. I then reconnected to the co phased harness and the reading came down by .1 on all channels still not happy with a 2:1 on 19 or 4:1 on 40

The antennas are 5 ft skipshooters if I can't get these to tune I might go with a whip style such as the double barrel skipshooter or trusty ol francis fiberglass lol
 
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Cody Dixson said:
I'm currently using a 18ft wilson cophased harness I used a separate peice of of rg8x to tune them separately but couldn't get a lower readings than when I had the nail bottomed out. I then reconnected to the co phased harness and the reading came down by .1 on all channels still not happy with a 2:1 on 19 or 4:1 on 40

The antennas are 5 ft skipshooters if I can't get these to tune I might go with a whip style such as the double barrel skipshooter or trusty ol francis fiberglasslol
Click to expand...

Hey Cody,
Have you made as certain as you can that both of your antenna mounts are well grounded? Poor or high impedance grounds can keep your SWR reading higher than you would like. How far apart are your antennas? Seems doubtful that your issue is in the Skip Shooters themselves.

73
 
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@Crawdad 10-4 I probably should do some bonding and run a solid ground instead of the mirror mounts acting as the only physical ground. Ill report back once I've done some ground work. My hopes are to put my dx98vhp back in here but it might need to stay a desk unit bearcat 980ssb works well just needs alittle more juice!
 
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Cody Dixson said:
I'm currently using a 18ft wilson cophased harness I used a separate peice of of rg8x to tune them separately but couldn't get a lower readings than when I had the nail bottomed out. I then reconnected to the co phased harness and the reading came down by .1 on all channels still not happy with a 2:1 on 19 or 4:1 on 40

The antennas are 5 ft skipshooters if I can't get these to tune I might go with a whip style such as the double barrel skipshooter or trusty ol francis fiberglass lol
Click to expand...
Generally high swr across the band would indicate poor ground bond or direct short. Break out the ohm meter and get to work. On a side note, I think cophased antenna are a waste of time and a headache to tune, Not to mention very directional. My method of tuning cophased is to use the coax you plan to use, coonect one to a dummy load and tune the other antenna, once best swr is achieved, unhook that antenna and switch the dummy load to that side and then tune the other antenna. Once best/satisfactory swr is achieved, you should then be able to connect both antennas with decent swr. Best of luck
 
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@AA1QD for tuning I used a single peice of rg8x to tune each antenna individually, which wasn't much of a tune, pulling the nails any farther out than bottomed out would raise the swrs. I'll definitely try your method of using a dummy load, I like the idea of tuning off the harness being used. @secret squirrel I purchased the skip shooters from rays cb shop in West Memphis. It's the only place on the road that I pass that had them. As far as damages go its possible, but the antennas look to be in good shape, no lose ends or cracks the only damage was the outer plastic jacket at the base from me using a wrench to tighten them on.
 
West Coast mirror arms on an FLD have bushing at the mount to cab needs to be jumped. (Where the, “run a ground to frame”, thing came from).

If can access to interior portion of that mirror mount, then?

Otherwise, from arm to cab body.

1” W woven braided strap (tinned copper, stainless, brass, etc). “Ideally” with grommet & ends soldered. SS sheet metal screws with I/O star type washer (not bolted).

Also, Door hinges. Cab to Frame (four corners). But arms are critical. Do rest later.

Check BATT Grounds not old.
 
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