Configuring CB radio and calibrating antena
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- Опубліковано 18 жов 2020
- First you will need a CB radio. The best one to get is the Cobra 29 LTD. this is a good choice especially if you are new to CB radios. Secondly, you'll need a CB antenna. I chose the Neilson 2000; from experience, this brand gave me the best range and signal clarity. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments.
I wanted to hear the rest of that Hank Williams song, as well as your informative video.
Valuable information on how to adjust your CB radio and antennas , thank you.
You're welcome
Great video..I learned a lot watching this..💯
Real good looking radio right there
Great info
Thanks Driver
Great video!
Wilson great antenna
Aren't you just the cutest lil dude. 😎
When you changed to Ch 20 you must recalibrate the set point again then flip to swr. I agree you should use an external meter.
I know I am kinda randomly asking but do anyone know of a good website to stream newly released tv shows online?
@Kamryn Kian lately I have been using flixzone. You can find it on google =)
@Jax Aries Yea, I've been using Flixzone for since march myself :)
@Jax Aries thanks, I went there and it seems to work =) Appreciate it!!
@Kamryn Kian Glad I could help :D
This is a great video and I appreciate it but I have a question I have a brand new coax cable I have a brand new Wilson 2000 antenna everything is hooked up correctly but my red light keeps coming on the radio for the internal like you showed in your video I don’t know why Mike’s coming on everything is brand new and hooked up correctly would you have any reason to why
The red-light means there is a short in your antenna connection. If you are sure the coax-cable is not looped in a coil and not nicked/shorted and all connections are OK, then the most likely culprit is the hookup of the external antenna to your truck (where the coax hooks up to the external-antenna). There is a plastic washer for insulation that comes with the connector. I’d look there first. The second thing that comes to mind is the antenna wire is not touching the base (i.e. your radio does not see the antenna). Let me know if you have questions.
I'll keep my strker antennas
What if the truck comes with internal atenaas
I do
I have used Wilson , Workman 102 " whip and lots others brands too of antennas to plus of different companies plus use Radio Shack, Midland , Uniden, Cobra, Galaxy plus many others types for all my 34 years in CB radio on base to mobile set ups ! Plus some radios never had get tech work on ever and still use today lots ! Have one Radio set by Tech in USA truck stop and still going perfect too!
What’s your point?
@@robertmanning5212 got have radios work right and not to blow them with bad SWR !
Rf gain is recieve,crank it wide open on the highway but turn it down in trk stops..mic gain is the sentivity of mic but you should almost be eating it when you speak anyways..When you calibrate,re do same process for each ch not 1 and 40 at same time.....Your antenna is a base shaft,load coil,top mast and whip..Oh its wilson not nelson antenna nor are they the best,top load is better for range,those are mid load...
Doing the calibrating does nothing for antenna,its setting radio up to see if ant is long or short...When you do your antenna adjustments,go back and do the calibrations again and test 1/40 to see if you need to adjust antenna anymore..
If my antenna is glowing red when pressed how do I know what the problem is? I've been messing with the antenna all day and nothing has changed
How much power are you putting out lol, or did your antenna catch lightning 🤣
@@Isydia lol dude idk I know nothing about these things honestly
@@Isydia I finally found a good position for my antenna I think I press the mic and it blinks then goes off
@@Isydia apparently I blew the speaker somehow had to get an exchange
what coax cable you using, whats a good coax in your opinion
I used the one you find at TA truck stop. The cable type will not make a difference as long as it's not coiled up so cut it to length. From my experiments the single factor that really made a difference was the type of antenna and the calibration of the length of the antenna wire.
The coax cable u get from truck stops are sometimes decent but if u hook em to a dummy load and a spectrum analyzer it wont read 1.0 if it higher than that with a dummy load coax junk possibly due to the pl259 connector on ends or way coax is made i run 9ft 8x coax with hand soldered on connectors i get 1.0 on analyzer and 1.5 swr with my set up on mirror mount the trick to better range recieve and transmit good coax and good antenna setup
Some antennas require 18’ of coax. Most big trucks do, routing the coax through the door and out to the antenna studs. Pickups and vans can use 9’ of coax. Being half of 18’ they tend to work well. By the way, if you hook up two antennas on a pickup, have only one actually connected to the radio. One coax to one antenna. ONLY. TWO ANTENNAS ON A PICKUP WILL INTERFERE WITH EACH OTHER.
Multi-strand coax is preferable to single strand. Beldon is a good brand and the only name I can think of right now. No disrespect to other fine quality brands.
There are cables that are sold as ultra low loss. I don’t have a working knowledge on those. I know they exist but I would question the cost vs benefit you might get in a mobile situation.
I can’t get my antenna light to go off
This means you got a break in your wiring from the back of your radio all the way to your antenna. You need to trace it. I would first start with the connector from the antenna to the chassis. Make sure you are not shorting the connection and the plastic washer/connectors are in the right order. If that checks out see if you don't have a break in the cable snaking through the door hinges to the radio. Hope that helps
Is the antenna grounded?
The antenna hookup kit to the truck body includes a plastic washer to prevent it from touching the chassis of the truck.
That rf button should be at max to bring in that receive did you know that ?
As I am nosy, yes. I want to hear the most information I can. If I don’t want to listen to you I will turn the RF gain down until you disappear or I will shut the radio off.
@@robertmanning5212 this is why they have squelch buttons
Is your your antenna 18 feet apart plus whip that cut up top at set screw and are you use co-phased coax to 18 or 20 feet length to! Also is your Cobra 29 LTD Classic boosted up on wattage plus modulation also received even Finals change from factory orgnail ones too by Tech at truck stop too fix up for you!
My antennas are not 18 ft apart. The coax cable is cut to length so it's not 18 or 20 ft length. From my experience longer cable creates distortion so I cut it to length. My radio is stock and not boosted on wattage or modulation. If you look through the pictures of my tractor on my web site you'll see I experimented with many types of radios and antennas. The single factor that made a HUGE difference was the type of antenna and to cut it to correct calibrated length like I show in the video.
Whoever tells u u need 18ft on single setup that a scam 18ft tricks swr meter to think u have good swrs when u dont if u grab a 9 ft or 12ft piece youll see what i mean
@@TRUCKERWILLY98 Yes you are correct, and that's how I came to that conclusion by experimenting with different cable lengths.
@@Isydia yea been fooling with antennas and cb radio long time got thousands of dollars in hobby lol 😂
@@TRUCKERWILLY98 I hear ya, same here.
Pro tip dont trust radio swr meter use external swr meter radios one are not accurate
My video is a quick setup without spending extra. Just walk in to a truck stop, grab a radio for ~$30 with an antenna and install it right on the lot. It works great and off course, there are many tools and equipment if you want to go real pro.
don't forget ch 20 is now a swr ch too
You can TEST the SWR of ANY channel using a WORKING SWR METER. NOT THE ONES BUILT INTO THE RADIOS! You can adjust a SINGLE CHANNEL to its PEAK PERFORMANCE. MOST antenna systems are adjusted looking at channel 1 and channel 40. If needed, adjust the antennas accordingly. Firestik has some very good info on the subject.
I use a big Italian poweramp / CB booster with auto tunner so no antenna adjustments are needed.
Not helpful
@@robertmanning5212 Why not
You just calibrated on 40. You didn’t check the swr on 40. And you left out 20
1:05 I did channel 40 and channel 1. You don't calibrate 20. If ch-40 and ch-1 are done correctly, ch-20 will be with in acceptable range. So to summarize, calibrate ch-1 and calibrate ch-40 and only check ch-20 to see if it's within acceptable range (the middle channel).
@@Isydia you calibrated 40 I didn’t see you flip to check swr. Have you ever checked it on an swr meter other than the one in the 29? I’ve been in Cb since ‘82 always checked on 20 as well but to each his own. Nice video overall
Who gives a s**t?
To check SWRs you doit with a external antenna meter. You adjust the antennas ti calibrations.. the fact that you think doing this on the radio is the right is not its correct.. I you install a bigger radio your SWR are up the sky.🤷🏽 Just saying
I DONT MAKE ANY CUTS. I JUST RAISE OR LOWER THE WHIP IN TO THE COIL SECTION AS PER THE INSTRUCTIONS.
The wire whip is usually longer then it needs to be on these types of antennas. If you have room for improvement, channel 40 is higher then channel 1, you can continue to lower channel 40 by trimming the whip. Cut with bolt cutters or hacksaw. With bolt cutters beware of the metal shooting off at someone. Pick up cut part and discard. If you cut too much off, raise the whip, snug it, then test it again. When you are happy with the results snug the loose hex nut, using locktite. Then snug the other, also using locktite. DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN THE HEX SCREWS. They WILL strip. Throw away the hex tool they give you to work with as they are garbage and don’t deserve to be with your other tools.
OMG... Your leaving out the most important part. How do you know what to do if your swr is different on 1 and 40?
If the SWR on channel 1 is lower than on channel 40 your antenna is too long.
If the SWR on channel 1 is higher than on channel 40, your antenna is too short.
Yes you are correct. This applies only if you are changing your CB radio and trying to recalibrate your existing antenna. My video (and I highly recommend) using a new antenna when you change your CB radio so the antenna is always too long and you calibrate to keep shortening it to the correct length. Remember you can always shorten your antenna by cutting quarter inch bits from it but you can't add to it. But, nevertheless it's a good point you brought.
Once a cb antenna system is tuned and working properly you can use ANY cb radio on the system.
Omg omg omg our lives are over he forgot the most important part
What will we do?
mic gain should be all the way up max
You did not understood how SWR and calibration of SWR meter works! Also antenna is not going to be calibrated but adjusted/tunned! Calibration of measurement (ie.) is comparison with ethalon…
When you set Cal on channel 1 to arrow on meter then you are ready to measure SWR on THIS channel 1! When you do the same Cal setting on channel 40 then setting changed (even just small change) on channel 1 and it is no longer valid for channel 1! Simply you have to make Cal setting on channel where you are going to measure SWR each time!
So set ch1, make Cal set then switch to SWR and measure SWR when mike keyed. Then switch to ch19 then re-Cal to the setpoint, switch to SWR and measure SWR on ch19. Then redo on ch40. Always you have to re-Cal the setpoint of the SWR meter in Cal position…
Good luck.
Why are you people talking about channel 19? Check one then check 40 once they are tuned, the values are close, then you can look at the midpoint, channel 20, to see how low your SWR is in the middle. As most people are using channel 19 for traveling you could look at that instead of 20. Being close together it doesn’t matter much.