Can Someone Help Me Tune A Cb Antenna?

[AirOpsMgr]

If all you are trying to do is get out a mile or two (line of sight), don't worry about SWR, your radio (if factory) is only putting out the legal 4 watts and performance gains will be negligible.

If you have a tuneable antenna (one that you can shorten or elongate), and the antenna is somewher other than the mid-point of your vehicle, then you can grab a SWR meter and tune it in based on it's location on the vehicle - but again, with standard power input/output, your results will be negligible.

To be honest with you, if you're just running a standard radio, it's more hassel than what it's worth - yeah, you'll be able to listen and talk maybe a few more hundred yards, but that's about it.

(If you decide to go hardcore, there are calculations regarding the length of your antenna coax, excess being coiled to reduce or increase SWR, shielded power connections, etc, but for a standard 4 watt rig, it's not worth it.)

As for magnet-mount antennas, I suggest a piece of cheese-cloth or similar material; even 4 watts of transmission power will give you a nice little rust circle if left attached too long.

 

[Old_School]

After looking at your setup, a mile or two is about all you can expect. The radio should be fine, but short, mag-mount antennas just don't do well at those frequencies. Best to get a trunk-lip mount or something similar. You have to establish a physical ground plane with your vehicle. A proper antenna will get you 5-15 miles, assuming decent band conditions (i.e. No skip, little interference from your vehicle, and low atmospheric noise.)

 

[05k20z1]

Thanks for all of your advice guys. I was able to purchase a SWR meter and tuned it to 1:1 SWR. The only thing now is to test it out with a friend for range testing. If you guys are curious what a $55 CB radio could do I can post results whenever my buddy gets his radio in also.

 

[GAgunLAWbooklet]

Glad you found an SWR meter. I've had cheap radios without an SWR meter in them, so I bought a $20 unit from Radio Shack.
I would have let you borrow it if you didn't buy one of your own.
For what it's worth, I've also had $100 trucker's CB radios like the Cobra 29 with dual 40" (or whatever that size is) top-load Firestick antennas, solidly clamped metal-on-bare-metal to vehicle components, with SWR's down to 1:1.1, and I STILL could not reliably communicate with others beyond a mile. Sometimes I could be heard by them out to 3 or 4 miles, but not normally. Even when these were friends and really wanted to talk with me as long as possible, and I know they had their squelch down to let in even weak signals, and even when we had switched to a CB channel with nobody else using it (not channel 19). A mile is about all you can count on.

For the portable car-cigarette-lighter models with magnet mount antennas, they are usually good to half a mile.

For hand-held CB walkie talkies, whether they use telescoping metal antenna or the "rubber duck" antenna, they're only good for about 300 yards and line-of-sight. Get behind a building and it's 100 yards.

All of the above refers to restrictions on your ability to TRANSMIT. When it comes to receiving, you can hear other people's powerful and well-tuned radios for several miles away on a clear day, and sometimes you'll get "skip" from the clouds that carry the signal dozens of miles on cloudy days or nights.

 

[AirOpsMgr]

Glad you found an SWR meter. I've had cheap radios without an SWR meter in them, so I bought a $20 unit from Radio Shack.
I would have let you borrow it if you didn't buy one of your own.
For what it's worth, I've also had $100 trucker's CB radios like the Cobra 29 with dual 40" (or whatever that size is) top-load Firestick antennas, solidly clamped metal-on-bare-metal to vehicle components, with SWR's down to 1:1.1, and I STILL could not reliably communicate with others beyond a mile. Sometimes I could be heard by them out to 3 or 4 miles, but not normally. Even when these were friends and really wanted to talk with me as long as possible, and I know they had their squelch down to let in even weak signals, and even when we had switched to a CB channel with nobody else using it (not channel 19). A mile is about all you can count on.

For the portable car-cigarette-lighter models with magnet mount antennas, they are usually good to half a mile.

For hand-held CB walkie talkies, whether they use telescoping metal antenna or the "rubber duck" antenna, they're only good for about 300 yards and line-of-sight. Get behind a building and it's 100 yards.

All of the above refers to restrictions on your ability to TRANSMIT. When it comes to receiving, you can hear other people's powerful and well-tuned radios for several miles away on a clear day, and sometimes you'll get "skip" from the clouds that carry the signal dozens of miles on cloudy days or nights.

Granted, but hearing someone (if indeed they break squelch) is really worthless unless they can respond (and honestly, after a mile or 2 on the road, you aren't really gaining anything) - have you ever been on a major highway with 20 miles of reception at your disposal? Most of
us just squelch it all out anyway

 

[05k20z1]

Alright guys, I finally had a chance to test it with a buddy of mine tonight both using 2 ft mag mounted antennas and 505/520lx....and the results after tuned SWR is about .91 miles in a straight line distance through buildings, trees and other radio interference since we were like 2-3 main roads away. I was impressed that our basic setup could have that range. I'm pretty sure I can get another mile if it was flat road with no obstructions and interference.

 

[fbprepper]

Go up to exit 164 on i85n. Turn right and go into the store parking lot. Wolfman has a cb shop there and he can tune it for you. Just take all your stuff with you.I am a truck driver and go there regularly. He is good and cheap!