I clicked on the video become I had the same radio in high school. It was the 23 channel version and I want to get a 40 channel version to play with now. It was such a great radio.
The tuner is OK to use in this situation. I have exactly that same radio that I bought in the late 1970s. I still use it frequently it is a great talker on side band. Thank you for the video very informative
Back in the 70's all the home base stations usually monitored ch 14... as a traveling band, it was better than GPS! Just get on 14 and ask directions! about 20 people couldn't wait to respond!
Wow....A Lafayette SSB-140 Base Station that I had back on my CB Radio days in the 1970's. I had mine paired with an Expander 500 Base Station Microphone and transmitted on a Starduster 1/4 wave base Antenna on top of the roof the Building I lived in Crown Heights Brooklyn....Thanks for the walk down memory lane looking at that Radio. ..Had mine Modified tho to upper and lower frequencies. ..Awesome Radio...Thanks.
Jim Davis when I get time I have two of the Lafayette SSB base stations and a mobile sideband in need of recapping first, then troubleshooting and tune up!
Very nice, I have a SSB 140 as well. I like it for SSB the most. I use the Range boost mic with it. Thanks for the video, and I hit all your buttons, and stop in sometime for a coffee Old Radio Night. Your new friend, 21 in S.C.
That's right CB is not dead kippah talking from the 1122 Wingnut radio out here in Panama City Florida I'll be standing by channel 38 (27.385) lower sideband📡🔊👊👀👍
I'm not a fan of the straps , so I made my own from those conduent holders and a set of two long steel screws with bolts . I made two sets . Top and bottom. Not sure what you call the holders , but they hold conduent to the wall. They are in a square "U " shape and have holes about ever half inch or so. I can send you some pictures.
It is a vertical dipole which very likely is 70 ohms, with the 50-ohm load it should be 1.5 :1 even if you could adjust the whip and bottom pipe so it works as well as can be expected. If the coax was poor quality or especially long a lower SWR might be read, but likely would be a false reading. The antenna in my view works as well as the design calls for. GOOD job. No additional radials are necessary, it has both sides of the dipole in tune,
Suhail Abdulaziz I actually have two identical radios! I got one on eBay in non working condition and this one from a local ham club for $50. I want to go through them and recap the electrolytic capacitors then go through and check and calibrate all the signals and functions. I also bought a radio shack mobile SSB not working that needs the same work! One base at home one at the cottage and one in my van!!!!
Bob, Sounds like the metal roof would provide issues with ground plane wires so get you a MFJ No. 910 mobile antenna matcher. Have one on my homebrew long wire. Works great. 1.2:1 on 1 and 40. Great videos. 73's 107 Dallas Texas mobile. 👍
Scott Wiseman thanks for the comment. I think the radio has died, I seem to get no modulation on the meter any longer. I bought it as a “fixer upper” and found it worked, although maybe marginally! So, maybe I’ll have a troubleshooting video on it, for sure I will re-cap it first!
Answer to comment you left on my video..... Bob, I dont think you need a tuner I think you need to add some more ground (counterpoise), the way your SWRs are I also think your antenna system needs a bit more length. If you add a tuner your radio will see a better SWR but you are not fixing the real problem, your very close at a 1:5 Good JOB.
breakerbroke23 yeah I’m just not sure where to bond the ground rod wire to the antenna, ideally I’m thinking up the middle of the bottom mast. Of the dipole and directly to the antenna mount at the base of the whip, basically the center tap of the dipole
breakerbroke23 I built a similar antenna long ago out of the same antenna mirror mount on a bracket on the ridge of the roof and four ground radials attached to the mirror mount laid out 90 degrees apart down the slope of the roof and SWR barely twitched! I can’t do that now because I have a new all steel roof so I figured it would mess up the antenna
You could make an antenna matcher by putting a pico farad cap and a .???uH choke in line with yer antenna line and try to match the impedance to the radio. It would just take some experimenting. Is that a single sideband radio? If so I'd be modifying the PLL chip to go above 40 channels where it is a lot more quiet.
This is pretty good! Nice job on the antenna and the video. I like the design but not being able to tune the antenna is a major problem. Antenna match boxes don't fix the problem (they just protect the finals of the radio or amp). The problem is radiator length. Some people work "skip" on the channels above (and below, unfortunately) the 11 meter band (CB) and being able to adjust the length, while not easy, can be necessary. Trimming the length of the whip isn't so bad but cutting the mast pipe while it's mounted is a no go. Also, getting that whip mount apart with all that silicone caulk you put in is going to be a nightmare. I would forego the sealant since it really traps water/moisture in the connector anyway. Just my opinion. I've built quite a few antennas for 2 meter, 10 meter and FM Broadcast bands and the one thing I've learned is to make it serviceable. Is anybody still on CB anymore? I found this while looking for homebrew CB antennas and am thinking about putting one up. Anyhow, sorry for the long winded comment. Thanks for putting this up.
E W no problem, I love getting feedback and knowing someone is actually seeing my videos. Seriously, the SWR is low enough not to be an issue for what I want it to do. I sealed it all with caulk to keep water out of the coax connectors creating corrosion and increasing resistance. Thanks for watching and commenting!
For the most part sideband is vertically oriented unless you have a very expensive antenna.I talk skip on sideband all the time with only an Antron A99.
It’s the intro to a song I wrote back in 1989 and recorded in my basement with my band called “Fourplay”, a four piece band... our hook was we did a lot of medleys of four songs by each popular band. Our drummer wrote lyrics
My son thought he heard it before but couldn’t nail it down who it was Band and it song. He asked me and I said maybe familiar but don’t know. Is it original music then or a remake of a song. If so what song since I thought I might have heard it before. Although I am older and have heard so many songs. Thanks !!
I did this back in the early 80's when I was 12. Didn't have a hand holding UA-cam video or the internet help. I just used my head and thought about it. What's next. A video on tieing shoe laces?
Northy Did you view the preceding video where I actually design and build the antenna? There I discuss the design concept and show actual construction. If you missed that you missed the reason for this test and demo final segment. Thanks for watching.
Isn't a true dipole supposed to be isolated in the middle ???? A SO-239 would be in the plexiglass isolator would separate the top of the dipole wire which is your 102" whip, from the bottom wire of the dipole.... I may be wrong in saying this, but I can pick up the Superbowl, AKA channel 6 with a coat hanger inserted in the center of my SO-239 on my CB radio........ Don't get me wrong Mon Ami, I am not trying to down your theory in any way at all....... If you can talk and receive 8 or 10 miles, then I want to try this also to do a test ........
Boo LuQuette the two elements are actually isolated, the mirror antenna mount has a plastic insulator between the whip and the base bracket, so the mast is the lower ground element attached to the cable braid by the connector sleeve and the whip is connected to the center conductor, so I have the positive 102” whip as the live element and the 102” mast is the ground
@@bobsbarnworkshop I understand been there years a go I made all kinds of antenna systems for cb and ham put that radio to it full potential!!! my fist base back in the day was a ssb140 it turned out to be one of the best radios I ever had that and a GE Super Base I have 5 of them.If you want to learn more about radio get your ham licence, there's nothing wrong with or about 11 meters I talked a lot of DX all over the world from my base station and truck seal. For years I had a cb shop and did lots of work and mods but it kind of went down hill everyone got away from cb for some reasons or another but I think it will come back again in the 70s just about every car or home had a cb and you had to have a call sign I still remember mine.. lol
@@bobsbarnworkshop I'm not putting down your ant sys at all,you are right its fun to build you have a great radio get some gain on the ant is all. build a 11m ringo or a J pole if you lik to make things also if you know any hams get them to help you get your licence of you dont have one you will wish you did it years a go..over the years I have built a lot of beams,loops worked on repeater systems and towers,but what ever you do have fun it's great to see people building things its all touch and go or if it quits throw it in the trash. Great job on your 102'' base ant. I have a 102 on all my trucks and cars for the past 35 years. lol
Allan Varner thanks for your comments, I’m not really much of a radio guy but my friend is a ham with decades of experience, so his suggestions were how I designed this. I have four 102” whips I got from a project at work, they came from US Marine LAV armored vehicles! So I designed around what I had. Years ago I built a similar antenna using a mirror mount, 102” whip and four 102” ground plane wires tapped and screwed to the mirror mount. I mounted the base on the peak of my roof then stretched out the ground plane wires at 90 degrees down the slope of the roof. That antenna had basically zero swr! I would have done that again but now I have a steel roof so I figured it would couple to that so I went higher with the new design. I have a similar production vertical at the lake camp, been there for 20 years.
UPDATE!: we had tremendous winds the other night and all day and the antenna still stands! Trial by fire I guess!
I clicked on the video become I had the same radio in high school. It was the 23 channel version and I want to get a 40 channel version to play with now. It was such a great radio.
I actually have two of them! I am going to recap them both, 50 year old electrolytics fail frequently!
The tuner is OK to use in this situation. I have exactly that same radio that I bought in the late 1970s. I still use it frequently it is a great talker on side band. Thank you for the video very informative
Back in the 70's all the home base stations usually monitored ch 14... as a traveling band, it was better than GPS! Just get on 14 and ask directions! about 20 people couldn't wait to respond!
Wow....A Lafayette SSB-140 Base Station that I had back on my CB Radio days in the 1970's. I had mine paired with an Expander 500 Base Station Microphone and transmitted on a Starduster 1/4 wave base Antenna on top of the roof the Building I lived in Crown Heights Brooklyn....Thanks for the walk down memory lane looking at that Radio. ..Had mine Modified tho to upper and lower frequencies. ..Awesome Radio...Thanks.
Jose Feliciano I actually have a second one that doesn’t work as well but I’m going to re-cap both of them and start troubleshooting
great videos bob watched both the build and this one. 142 central NY waving
Jim Davis when I get time I have two of the Lafayette SSB base stations and a mobile sideband in need of recapping first, then troubleshooting and tune up!
Very nice, I have a SSB 140 as well. I like it for SSB the most. I use the Range boost mic with it. Thanks for the video, and I hit all your buttons, and stop in sometime for a coffee Old Radio Night. Your new friend, 21 in S.C.
That's right CB is not dead kippah talking from the 1122 Wingnut radio out here in Panama City Florida I'll be standing by channel 38 (27.385) lower sideband📡🔊👊👀👍
Wingnut Trailblazer I’ll be on Cape Coral February 10 to 27 doing my winter music ‘tour’. I’ll be entertaining at lots of local hot spots and resorts!
I have 2 of the Lafayette SSB 140’s. This one works and the other not so much. First I’m going to recap both and then go through them both
I'm not a fan of the straps , so I made my own from those conduent holders and a set of two long steel screws with bolts . I made two sets . Top and bottom. Not sure what you call the holders , but they hold conduent to the wall. They are in a square "U " shape and have holes about ever half inch or so. I can send you some pictures.
It is a vertical dipole which very likely is 70 ohms, with the 50-ohm load it should be 1.5 :1 even if you could adjust the whip and bottom pipe so it works as well as can be expected. If the coax was poor quality or especially long a lower SWR might be read, but likely would be a false reading. The antenna in my view works as well as the design calls for. GOOD job. No additional radials are necessary, it has both sides of the dipole in tune,
Beautiful Radio
Suhail Abdulaziz I actually have two identical radios! I got one on eBay in non working condition and this one from a local ham club for $50. I want to go through them and recap the electrolytic capacitors then go through and check and calibrate all the signals and functions. I also bought a radio shack mobile SSB not working that needs the same work! One base at home one at the cottage and one in my van!!!!
Bob, Sounds like the metal roof would provide issues with ground plane wires so get you a MFJ No. 910 mobile antenna matcher. Have one on my homebrew long wire. Works great. 1.2:1 on 1 and 40. Great videos. 73's
107 Dallas Texas mobile. 👍
Scott Wiseman thanks for the comment. I think the radio has died, I seem to get no modulation on the meter any longer. I bought it as a “fixer upper” and found it worked, although maybe marginally! So, maybe I’ll have a troubleshooting video on it, for sure I will re-cap it first!
The radio has lost output so a re-cap and testing is due!
Answer to comment you left on my video.....
Bob, I dont think you need a tuner I think you need to add some more ground (counterpoise), the way your SWRs are I also think your antenna system needs a bit more length.
If you add a tuner your radio will see a better SWR but you are not fixing the real problem, your very close at a 1:5 Good JOB.
breakerbroke23 yeah I’m just not sure where to bond the ground rod wire to the antenna, ideally I’m thinking up the middle of the bottom mast. Of the dipole and directly to the antenna mount at the base of the whip, basically the center tap of the dipole
breakerbroke23 I built a similar antenna long ago out of the same antenna mirror mount on a bracket on the ridge of the roof and four ground radials attached to the mirror mount laid out 90 degrees apart down the slope of the roof and SWR barely twitched! I can’t do that now because I have a new all steel roof so I figured it would mess up the antenna
You could make an antenna matcher by putting a pico farad cap and a .???uH choke in line with yer antenna line and try to match the impedance to the radio. It would just take some experimenting. Is that a single sideband radio? If so I'd be modifying the PLL chip to go above 40 channels where it is a lot more quiet.
This is pretty good! Nice job on the antenna and the video. I like the design but not being able to tune the antenna is a major problem. Antenna match boxes don't fix the problem (they just protect the finals of the radio or amp). The problem is radiator length. Some people work "skip" on the channels above (and below, unfortunately) the 11 meter band (CB) and being able to adjust the length, while not easy, can be necessary. Trimming the length of the whip isn't so bad but cutting the mast pipe while it's mounted is a no go. Also, getting that whip mount apart with all that silicone caulk you put in is going to be a nightmare. I would forego the sealant since it really traps water/moisture in the connector anyway. Just my opinion. I've built quite a few antennas for 2 meter, 10 meter and FM Broadcast bands and the one thing I've learned is to make it serviceable. Is anybody still on CB anymore? I found this while looking for homebrew CB antennas and am thinking about putting one up. Anyhow, sorry for the long winded comment. Thanks for putting this up.
E W no problem, I love getting feedback and knowing someone is actually seeing my videos. Seriously, the SWR is low enough not to be an issue for what I want it to do. I sealed it all with caulk to keep water out of the coax connectors creating corrosion and increasing resistance. Thanks for watching and commenting!
For the most part sideband is vertically oriented unless you have a very expensive antenna.I talk skip on sideband all the time with only an Antron A99.
Wow!!!!! a Lafayette CB!!!!! (Is that your adolescent CB?)
What is the song at the beginning of the video ?
It’s the intro to a song I wrote back in 1989 and recorded in my basement with my band called “Fourplay”, a four piece band... our hook was we did a lot of medleys of four songs by each popular band. Our drummer wrote lyrics
My son thought he heard it before but couldn’t nail it down who it was Band and it song. He asked me and I said maybe familiar but don’t know. Is it original music then or a remake of a song. If so what song since I thought I might have heard it before. Although I am older and have heard so many songs. Thanks !!
@@brucetutorow6551 No, it's all original... It sounds sort of like Molly Hatchet...
I did this back in the early 80's when I was 12.
Didn't have a hand holding UA-cam video or the internet help.
I just used my head and thought about it.
What's next. A video on tieing shoe laces?
Northy Did you view the preceding video where I actually design and build the antenna? There I discuss the design concept and show actual construction. If you missed that you missed the reason for this test and demo final segment. Thanks for watching.
1.5:1 SWR reading is not 0.5% power reflection... it's more like 4%.
Isn't a true dipole supposed to be isolated in the middle ???? A SO-239 would be in the plexiglass isolator would separate the top of the dipole wire which is your 102" whip, from the bottom wire of the dipole.... I may be wrong in saying this, but I can pick up the Superbowl, AKA channel 6 with a coat hanger inserted in the center of my SO-239 on my CB radio........
Don't get me wrong Mon Ami, I am not trying to down your theory in any way at all....... If you can talk and receive 8 or 10 miles, then I want to try this also to do a test ........
Boo LuQuette the two elements are actually isolated, the mirror antenna mount has a plastic insulator between the whip and the base bracket, so the mast is the lower ground element attached to the cable braid by the connector sleeve and the whip is connected to the center conductor, so I have the positive 102” whip as the live element and the 102” mast is the ground
A 2:1 SWR is 11% reflected (lost) power. At least 3 minutes are lost in crap - that's as far as I got.
Rick Via I have 1.2 so I’m happy. You’ll have to watch the video before this one of how I actually constructed it and the design concepts I used.
@@bobsbarnworkshop Yep that changes it.. 11/ 10 meter vertical dipoles are coll antennas.
why not use a antorn or big stick or a /58 wave p500 you can drive around all day and get them for free from the good old days of cb
Allan Varner I had all the parts laying around except for the coax... so why not build one? No fun in just putting up a pre made one!
@@bobsbarnworkshop I understand been there years a go I made all kinds of antenna systems for cb and ham put that radio to it full potential!!! my fist base back in the day was a ssb140 it turned out to be one of the best radios I ever had that and a GE Super Base I have 5 of them.If you want to learn more about radio get your ham licence, there's nothing wrong with or about 11 meters I talked a lot of DX all over the world from my base station and truck seal. For years I had a cb shop and did lots of work and mods but it kind of went down hill everyone got away from cb for some reasons or another but I think it will come back again in the 70s just about every car or home had a cb and you had to have a call sign I still remember mine.. lol
@@bobsbarnworkshop I'm not putting down your ant sys at all,you are right its fun to build you have a great radio get some gain on the ant is all. build a 11m ringo or a J pole if you lik to make things also if you know any hams get them to help you get your licence of you dont have one you will wish you did it years a go..over the years I have built a lot of beams,loops worked on repeater systems and towers,but what ever you do have fun it's great to see people building things its all touch and go or if it quits throw it in the trash. Great job on your 102'' base ant. I have a 102 on all my trucks and cars for the past 35 years. lol
Allan Varner thanks for your comments, I’m not really much of a radio guy but my friend is a ham with decades of experience, so his suggestions were how I designed this. I have four 102” whips I got from a project at work, they came from US Marine LAV armored vehicles! So I designed around what I had. Years ago I built a similar antenna using a mirror mount, 102” whip and four 102” ground plane wires tapped and screwed to the mirror mount. I mounted the base on the peak of my roof then stretched out the ground plane wires at 90 degrees down the slope of the roof. That antenna had basically zero swr! I would have done that again but now I have a steel roof so I figured it would couple to that so I went higher with the new design. I have a similar production vertical at the lake camp, been there for 20 years.
It's about the build .. it gives a sense of self acheavement.
Didn't recalibrate when he went from 40 to 1. Yikes.
I've reset and tested it on all channels, I just went through it fast for the video
Ch.11 is another skip channel.
Another idiot . He is whisper ing a lot can't understand