| Author |
Message |
    
Al Cruz (Alc)
| | Posted on Thursday, January 02, 2003 - 01:31 pm: | 
|
Just got a CB for Christmas, but I was told that I need to get the antenna tuned. What's involved and where can I get it done? |
Greg P. (Gparrish)
| | Posted on Thursday, January 02, 2003 - 01:51 pm: |
|
Al,
You can either pick up a cheap SWR meter at radio shack, like I did, for around $19.95, or you can stop by any of the large truck stops that sale and service CB's. PILOT is a major one on the East Coast.
Greg |
streak
| | Posted on Thursday, January 02, 2003 - 03:00 pm: |
|
It is a matter of adjusting the length of the antenna to suit the channels on which you wish to speak.
Ideally the antenna needs to be in its final mounting position on the car with the coax cable running to the radio.
The SWR should if possible be checked at the antenna and then again at the end of the coax.
Have fun.
www.worst4x4.freeservers.com |
Paul D. Morgan (V22guy)
| | Posted on Thursday, January 02, 2003 - 03:08 pm: |
|
Al,
Another option is to nuy your antenna from a local Communications shop. Most of the time, they will tune for free. Check out:
http://www.k40.com/k40cb/tunable_whips.htm#POWER
http://www.firestik.com/CatalogFrame.htm
I am running the K40 4' off my spare tire carrier.
Paul
'00 Pig |
Mark Albrecht (Markalbrecht)
| | Posted on Thursday, January 02, 2003 - 03:27 pm: |
|
Or if you go full red neck, run the 70's style 8 foot whip antenna and you won't have to tune it (8 feet is the magic number -- if I remember correctly) |
Al Oliveira (Offroaddisco)
| | Posted on Thursday, January 02, 2003 - 03:36 pm: |
|
I thought it was 102" but you still need to tune it because of differences in mounting location.
And CB IS full redneck 70's style  |
Al Cruz (Alc)
| | Posted on Thursday, January 02, 2003 - 04:04 pm: |
|
Thanks for all the responses everyone!
Al |
Greg P. (Gparrish)
| | Posted on Thursday, January 02, 2003 - 04:08 pm: |
|
Al,
How did the bracket work out?
Greg
I ended up mounting a 4' Wilson flex on my spare tire carrier. I used a stainless firestick mounting bracket. Don't know what caused it, but my new antenna pulls an SWR reading of 1.1 to 1.2 on all channels. On the prior setup, using a outback expedition bracket and 3' K-40 antenna, the best reading I could get with lots of tuning attempts was around 2.2. |
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