How to tune your CB Antenna for the best SWR and Range
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- Опубліковано 12 лют 2017
- Erik From Farpoint Farms Shows you how to get the most out of your CB radio by adjusting your antenna for the lowest SWR readings, and making sure you have a good ground. By doing so, you will have adjusted you system for the longest range your radio can get!
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I know this video is old, but I’ve been watching all your antenna/cb/pirate radio stuff and you are just a gem. So kind, thorough, great attitude, just extremely helpful all around. Thank you so much 🖤
Wow, thank you!
Always good to see honest & easy to understand old school advice and information, even if it's 4 yrs old.
I've been thinking about buying a cb radio and watching your videos is actually very encouraging. Now I just need to look for a good deal and go from there. thanks for taking the time and sharing your knowledge, greatly appreciated! 👍
I don’t know how I came across this video yours out of all the “how to tune” a cb videos I’ve watched. Your magnet mount truck with those little Allen’s and explaining the grounding solved all of my issues I was having thank you so much!
Hands down, best and most informative cb setup video on the net. Great job!
Of all the cb videos your video was the most detailed and understandable. I appreciate the Cb lesson. Your the man!!!
Thanks!
I really appreciate your videos. It has been 25 years since I have run a CB, but looking at your videos decided to get back in the game. Ended up with the bearcat 980 SSB and The Antron 99. Went with the Wilson 1000 magnet on my pick up.Thank you again.
Ah man. No love for Firestik? They're the only American manufacturer of antennas left. 🙁
All great advice, good job, to add to what you shared, be sure to avoid ground loops by tying all your grounds together they can be very dangerous. I found out about ground loops the hard way on my first job by laying my arm across a tele co frame ground and the buildings cabinet ground which shot a 180 volts ac across my arm, I was very lucky.
It has been a long time since I had a CB. Got it on order Uniden Bearcat 980 and it will be a base for now. Thanks for the great video. I hope to see more.
I just found your channel, and will be up all night now watching your videos lol.
Ohms/ resistance is the Omega symbol. The arrow with a line by it is actually the diode test. The number you see is the voltage it takes to open the diode. When testing a real diode, this will only work one direction, hence the symbol. Great video on cb, I hope you're still in it, you've inspired me to get back into cb. I want to teach the kids about radioing, and cb is where I started, so, thanks!
I'm still around. Love to play with these old radios!
Thanks Erik for a great video !! Great job on the grounding wire. It can’t be over emphasized. My guess is that 50% or more people don’t have a ground wire and stakes in the ground. It’s a major issue and everyone should have proper ground set up. Thanks again for excellent presentations. Good luck and I’ll keep watching you!! God bless.
This is Jim your videos on cbs are great keep keep up the good work.
Eric, great video. One of my longest CB conversations was from here at the NJ shore to an oil rig off Louisiana and to Kentucky both from using a short RadioShack mag mount antenna on my water heater and stock radio the same week !
Crazy! I loved those random long distance chats.
I absolutely love running the 102" SS whips! I run a 21' coax and get almost a perfect match. Mounted on top of the bed rails just behind the cab of my pickup.
Thank you for your videos
@Greg Ferguson it will work great! Best CB antenna I've used. The height helps reach out farther than a cheap fiberglass whip.
I've been able to reach farther than anyone else to get ahold of another group when we were out wheeling in the forests. Running that antenna and a Uniden Grant radio with a 21' coax.
@Greg Ferguson Awesome. Let me know how it goes.
Good stuff. I've been going down the HAM road, but just dug my CB out of a drawer for the car. I even had a K30 in there. Who knew it was a decent antenna??? For my HAM work, I have a Rig Expert 230--an antenna analyzer. I needed to move the dip to the right on the graph significantly. I had to take almost 3/4" off. Now I'm in the sweet spot of the CB range. Thanks for the help!
Welcome back to the hobby!
You're like the EricTheCarGuy of CB radio's. And your name is Eric! Haha great videos man they have helped me alot!
Thank you for all the information! I'm thinking about getting started with a cb so I really appreciate all you have shared with us.
Thank you and good luck with the CB hobby
Yet again, an awesome video, rife with excellent information. You have inspired me to set up a CB base station. I've recently found my fathers' vintage Pace P5453 SWR meter made in Harbor City, Calif., USA. Thank you. A+
That is awesome!
Hey Eric thank you for sharing have a great holiday man yeah SWR is very important to me
I'm running a Cobra hand held CB in my Jeep Grand Cherokee with the included Firestick stub antenna. I took your advice and moved the magnetic mount to the center of the roof and it improved reception exponentially!
Glad to hear it!
Use a 102 in whip for best range, or a wilson 5000 magnet mount. They work great. Ground the panels on the car and it will help range. Use impedance matching and choke coils to improve matching. Cars all have issues with common mode current coming back in the cable. You want it really right, then match it for impedance.
I just got a Pansonic 40 channel cb. It works fine, just trying to find someone out on the lonesome road
Very informative. I learned a lot this evening. Thanks!
I found that mobile CB antennas work best in the middle of any vehicle ( except motorbikes 😀). The settings ( readings from the swr) tends to be quite low & the transmitting & receiving is as good as anyone can get. Anywhere else on the vehicle & I personally found i had nothing but, trouble from it & I ended up advising others to do the same thing with their mobile antenna. Many already had done it but, there was quite a few that had problems with finding a suitable place for it. & I will always highly recommend the middle of the roof of the vehicle. YES! it can be very awkward if it is a high sided van or soft top ( convertible). But, were possible top middle is definitely the very best place for it. The reason for this is the signal will radiate equally out. If it is fitted anywhere else on the vehicle the signal will be oval or uneven in some way. This is one of the consiquences of putting the antenna elsewhere on the vehicle. But, that is upto that person's own personal choice of location of their mobile antenna. & also a very uneven swr reading.
Great videos, I just found you and I watched 2 videos and you make them very easy to understand ,I also hope to see some of your auto Mach videos , so from Pittsburgh take care.:)
Keep up the detailed videos. My attenna is finally under 2 swr. Thank you.
You just made me decide to buy a cb radio, very informative video, thank you
Take a look on Ebay, you can find some great deals on used SSB radios there.
Welcome to the hobby! Don't get discouraged if the first time you turn on your radio all you hear is static. Sometimes places can be dead for a while, but keep that radio on and keep flipping through the dial and I'm sure you'll find a crew that chats in your area.
many thanks for this video, i'm waiting on my cb/antenna and swr meter to arrive and found your video really good as a study ahead of actually trying. subscribed :)
Glad I could help!
I’m just getting into CB and you have been the most informative person I’ve ran across. I can’t find any shoes that sell ANYTHING to do with CB or HAM. I sure can’t find a SWR meter on eBay for $10-$15.....Let’s talk about PA speaker under hood of my truck. I was able to buy a 15 watt, 105db speaker. It’s mounted and factory 35mm cable ran to cab where sits my Uniden pc78LTW ready to go but I don’t have a mobile antenna!!! So I haven’t turn it on yet to try speaker because I believe you said it can harm my cb I just stole for $40 on offer up. I’ve got brand new Silverado, suggestions???????
Outstanding work. Just subbed. Currently battling with the cobra in my apt.
thank you for the sub.
Hey, thanks for making these vids and sharing information. It's very helpful.
Ran a 102 since the 70s. Put washers under it to raise it for your SWR's.
If lightening is coming, unplug the equipment from the wall, disconnect the coax and put the end, INTO a Jar(Fruit Jar) , till the storm is over.
nutin like 102" inches of pure man hood! yea c`mon!! that's what i run on my truck
The lightning bolt traveled through thousands of feet of air to get to your antenna because it's literally billions of volts potential. Do you REALLY THINK that a fruit jar will mean anything to that lightning bolt once it reaches the tip of your coax inside the house/car? That lightning will jump clear across the room if there's something over there providing a low resistance path to ground. 🤷🏼♂️ Same with cars and lightning bolts; people often say that the car keeps you safe because the tires are insulators. That lightning could not possibly care less about 1" of rubber and polymer. 😸 Have you seen what a tree looks like when it gets hit by lightning? The wood (insulator, though not as good of an insulator when it's wet live wood) literally explodes due to the flash steam and wood gas production blowing it apart from inside out and then the stump and shrapnel proceed to burn from that point onward.
TL;DR If your antenna gets hit by a good lightning bolt, there is nothing you can do.
Great vid. I just bought a Tram 300 mag mount for my vehicle. Decades ago I ran an Ugly stick and also a skip shooter
Great video Eric on the proper way to set up and ground an antenna. Now get back in the house and get next to the fire and get warm. LOL.
Man, I was FREEZING the day I shot this.
@@FarpointFarms I could tell Eric. It showed. LOL. Love your videos. Just waiting for the next one.
I super appreciate the education and helping guys get started
Glad I could help!
Great Information/vid. I didn't hear you mention about location with mobile unit when you set SWR. I understand you have to be in a clear area to set it (like away from trees / buildings ect.)
Thanks for all the great, useful info.
Imo i think the k40 steel whip mobile antenna works very well.
Swr is excellent and reception is great
As well as transmitting.
Also the k40 both dual steel whip and fiberglass twin antennas too..
Very nicely done! Made a lot of sense even for a newbie.
Thanks for taking the time to make these great videos
And thank you for watching.
If it's better at the low end but not good enough, it's a bit too long and trimming can help. If it's better at the high end it needs to be longer. One antenna I used to have was useless with a range of a few hundred feet! A base load with short whip.I replaced it with a 9'' helical whip which was awesome. Years later, I opened up the base, reversed to coil wires, and it worked flawlessly. (a factory "oops")
An excellent video well explained. Thank you Sir. A+ Greetings from Washington State. We are also freezing our B***s off here during Winter.
Thanks. Learning lots from your efforts.
Glad to hear it!
OuachitaJack, keep the good videos coming.
what would you suggest grounding the radio to ?? Sorry I am a first timer and setting up a Uniden bearcat 980 ssb in my home.
Thanks
as always, very informative and a pleasure to watch and learn. Regarding the chassis ground on the back of the base station.. where does one attach the ground that leaves the radio chassis?
You explain so well i thought you were a teacher :)
Keep up with the good work and hope you get a new camera in the future :D
I have a new camera, sorry this video was so bad, but we UA-camr's have to start somewhere!
You do a great job explaining!
Thanks for sharing this video with us.
I tend to use a lot of mag mount antennas. But whatever type of antenna you are using, unless you have a specific reason for doing so, you want the SWR to be exactly the same on CH1 and CH40. You should then get your lowest reading on channel 20, which is next to 19, which is what people use on the road. Your SWR will change as you change channels. The reason for that is that an antenna can only be perfectly resonate on one frequency. The further away from that frequency you get, the higher your SWRs will be, and the less efficient your antenna will be. The old 23 channel radios were easier to get a low SWR on across all the channels, because you had fewer frequencies to cover. IMO, anything over 1.5:1 is unacceptable. No, that is not high enough to damage your radio, but you are losing most of your output signal. At 1.5:1 you are transmitting under 3 watts instead of close to 4. That's a huge loss. IF you operate mostly on SSB, on the higher frequencies channel 35 -40, then you may want to tune your antenna to work better on those higher frequencies. But remember if you do, you will have an unacceptably high SWR on the low frequencies like channel 1. With CB, (and ham) everything is a compromise.
you mentioned in your video about grounding the radio , what gauge wire should i use to get the best ground when grounding radio
Another great video! Thanks again!
I have a question I installed my Cobra 29 above the rear view mirror in my Jeep Wrangler JK. I went direct to the battery for power and ground for the cb, i have a rear bumper antenna mount that I added a ground strap to the frame to the antenna mount. Ive tuned the SWR on channel 1 and 40 and its pretty low around 1.5 The cb picks up incoming transmissions no problem. It's the second I key the mic while the engine is running my gauges in my jeep go nuts, the wiper goes off and my dash lights up like a Christmas tree. I cant figure out why this is happening. Have you come across this problem? Any help would be great.
Eric Just saw you Video on CB radios great Video man I really Enjoyed the Video Looking Forwards to other Videos more on other options on Communications things you may know and I may not know? But keep up the good work Man Love your Videos and Yes there are some really Nice People watching you Videos thank you and Aloha from Hawaii LOL
What are my options for the ground on the lug for the back of the mobile cb radio that I’m using for my base station?
Ok I want to make sure I’m correct , I have a 4 door cab pick up. I was going to set the Stryker towards the back of the cab right in front of the 3 break light, I was thinking I should have it centered as close as I can on the vehicle. I was told I should center it on the cab roof not center of the entire truck , what are your thoughts?
Hi Eric, I always get confused as to where you actually attach the ground wires. Do I stick the wires directly to any part of the antenna or to the mast itself and into my ground rod? If lighting hits my antenna, won't it travel through the coax cable? Please help. Thanks. By the way my mast is directly sunk into the ground, does that also help?
Was talking with another driver and we got the CD calibrated but no matter what we do the swr is staying at 0 ...this is using a factory Cobra 29 classic with the built in antenna .... driver said I have a serious problem with it any idea what I could do or do I need to do anything to it
Great Videos man, I am a NC Native myself.
Right on
I need help. Been 40 years since I last used a cb. I bought a new Cobra 29LX & a K30 mag mount antenna. I am putting it on a 2018 GMC truck. I have moved the antenna around the roof, can only tune the radio on the lower chanels, & get an antenna warning on the radio. The SWR's Re between 1 ,& 1.5. Just keep getting antenna warning.
I have my ground wire connected to my 8 foot copper mast which is then connected to my copper plumbing. Is that ok, or should I run the ground cable up to the A-99 itself? My SWR is 1.1 on channel 1 and 1.4 on Chanel 40.
I have a question Hope you have an answer I have a uniden bearcat 880 hooked up in my garage to a Browning flat coil 1500 watt miramont antenna wip. I run my antenna diagnostic on my radio at channel 40 it says pass once I get the channel 16 or lower it fails SWR on channel 1 is about 1.7 SWR on 40 is about 1. I have also stuck ground plain wires on the antenna that is on my roof the browning coil antenna. I just don't know why antenna diagnostics on lower channels gives me a fail upper channels pass can you help me with this.
When you said on the trucks antennas on the toolbox or somewhere else, I put mine on the mirrors (my mirrors are West Coast).
I need help. I have a 102 inch antenna on my truck with a uniden 76xl cb. Problem is it's near perfect mounted at near top of my back rack but is to tall. I lowered it a foot & isnt that great of swr although it's still under 2. Any suggestions I dont want to have to have antenna 14ft high to work perfect if I can help it.
Hi, like the video. I am thinking of installing a set on my Tacoma. I have a fiberglass shell on it that is even with the cab height. I don't want to mount the antenna on the hood, shell or on the rear quarter panel. I park it inside my garage, so I can not mount it to it's full height unfortunately. I want to mount it on my rear bumper so I can it a decent ground. I saw Firestiks " No Plane plane" antenna". What are your thoughts / suggestions. Thank you Farpoint Farms :)
I love your CB radio videos. Can wait to see your low power FM radio station videos. Any chance of GMRS radios videos
Great vid man. Lots of useful information. Keep the vids coming
I am getting ready to install and tune a cb. I could only get a 9foot cable to connect the tuner. Will that change my info. Also I got a magnetic antenna. That doesn't need a ground if is attached dry to the roof. Thanks for the videos👍
im new to radio, just got my tech license .. KD9GRP, was looking at this cobra and the Galaxy Dx 979F in your opinion does one stand out above the other... and on ebay there is a guy selling the galaxy with a clarifier mod....locks your TX/RX together, is this a good option??? Just getting ready to buy a cb, and wanted your input, i am currently operating a icom 5100 d star. Thanks for any advice 73s
Did some of the CB units come with that built into it or did you always need separate tool? Thanks for another helpful vid Eric. You answered my question in the vid. I had couple times with bad alternator whine, used filters and all too.
What is the cause when you can't even calibrate to the set line.... Or around the same swr but over 3 ? How do I get them down ? Cut more of the whip off?
Hey eric...first off ur channel is great...keep it goin...i have a question about grounding ur antenna...i understand that the copper wire goes from the grounding rod 2 the antenna via clamp...but how does the copper wire attach 2 the antenna itself...any help with a reply or video would b greatly appreciated...
I'm looking into putting a CB in my chevy S10, anyone got any advice on a good radio and antenna setup? I got a flexible budget around a couple hundred bucks. Should I put the antenna on the roof or bolt it into the bumper/bed?
My swr is through the roof I’ve tried a lot of different antennas and different cords. My power plug plugs into the cigarette lighter. Will that affect it. Ya know not having it wired up to the battery?
Could you do a video on where exactly the ground connection is at on the base antenna( and zoom in for me) also on the back of your cb you just mentioned in your video please, thanks
Will a tuned antenna work on all other cb radios without having to retune?
I don't understand moving the antenna up and down a half inch when you can drive up a mountain 8000 feet?
Downside to mounting it behind cab versus on bumper?
Your video is way better then the other ones I've seen. I was definitely worse off after seeing them until I seen yours which you explained everything very well and made it easy. So I'd like to thank you for that. But I do have one question. How do you adjust a whip antenna? Like a fire stick or something similar?
I'm getting a pl259 connecter for my handheld Cobra 38wxst Handheld. What antenna can I run off my apartment balcony or up in a tree?
Can you tune a handheld antenna
You're a Nice Guy! Thanks!
so this is what Negan does outwith the Walking Dead....
Great videos!
Love it, but wait.... Does this mean 1/2 of your stuff belongs to me??
Still use my Uniden PC122xl. Great little radio on SSB. Was paired with a Falcon 2400 diapole antenna and sounded great for a homebase setup....then I moved and lost the antenna...😕
I understand how to tune a antenna. But how do you lower swr's
@farpoint farms how do you tune a antron a99 antenna
Chrysler use to put extra ground straps on the hood of there vehicles to help reduce the back ground noise ,would doing something like this on the trunk help for a magnet mount antenna
To adjust the102 is washers like tuning rings, or trim length on tip
There is a way to adjust a 102 inch whip but most can't do it! There is a fitting for the whip to adjust it, and different size springs to use with it. Most only the pro do that. To keep good condition put silicone grease on connection. I have worked for years on radios in Lighting Alley South Florida. YOU CAN NOT OVER GROUND! You are right about grounding things! The better you ground the safer you are! If you happened to be talking on the radio when lighting this Near! And you didn't ground things YOU WILL FEEL IT! most of the time you will Not get hit but anything with in a 1/4 to 1/2 mile can do damage to an ungrounded radio and could hurt you. Years working on GE and Motorola mobile and base radios. A drect hit will burn all the wires out of your coax and may leave the rubber looking OK! I saw that once. The radio was well grounded and it had very little damage.
Where does the grounding wire get attached on the base antenna? BTW another great video thank you.
Did hear you say you're in NC? If so were? I'm wanting to in stall a CB in a motorhome. Need some help!!
Knowing how I was 20 years ago. I should have learned more about radio communication before I pressed that PTT. I don't remember how many CB Radios I had, but now that I think about it, my antenna was a joke, I'm surprise that was able to talk on the radio.
I'am Your Newest Subscriber Great Videos
Enjoyed the video!
Glad to hear it!
Awesome video
Bought at truck stops. like piolet, loves, flying J, and Chevron stops. Meters, antennas and radios.
Excellent video I have one question though will look brown work well if it has been spliced
I think maybe Auto correct messed up your question. What was that again?
Ok, I am set up and I can hear but they cannot hear me. So I need to get a 2.1 SWR somehow.
I have an NMO base drilled through the roof of my Volvo wagon. I scuff sanded the bottom side of the roof, most to bare metal but there may be a little primer left, but left the paint alone on the outside. After fiddling with the antenna length, I have pretty much a flat 1 on Ch1, a 2 on channel 19 and right around 3 on channel 40. I would like to get 40 lower, but I’m concerned about going too low, is that possible? Like if I keep lowering the antenna till Ch 40 gets to 1.5, will it make 1 go below 1:1? Is that possible? I don’t want to make the antenna too short. Thanks.
Minor adjustments. It takes a while to really dial one in.
Thanks for this!
I believe the maximum wattage limit should be raised to 25 watts to 50 watts. An old amateur radio operator showed me the difference long ago. He tuned a 10 meter frequency and transmitted out on 15 watts he had a bit of trouble getting a contact but did get one the other operator was very accommodating and stood by for the experiment. The other operator said the signal was clear but low. The operator on my side then switched to 40 watts and asked for a clarity report again and the other operator said the difference was incredibly good. Then the operator on my side went to 5 watts and the other operator said the signal was almost lost in the background noise. He asked the other operator to go to channel 40 of the CB band and switched to LSB. The test was then from 12 watts to 1 watt. The difference was evident again. The 1 watt was not even heard on the other end.
I think that they could raise it, the laws were set in a time where there was tons of traffic on the radio, it would help today to get a longer range to be heard
Hey Eric, great videos! I was wondering if you could tell me if its ok for the swr meter to show above 2 in the mid range channels like ch 18 through 22 for example? I'm under 2 on channel 1 and 40. Thanks and merry Christmas!
Not great, but not going to blow up the radio. Try and get it unde 1.5 if possible.