CB Radio

[JohnnyBoy]

PhilD is right, you need patience. It was damn near impossible for me to do it without removing the A-Pillar cover. Once that cover is removed you can see everything and the whole process will go easier.

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'03 Hummer H2 Adv./Lux. Pkgs. Sunset Orange W/Sunroof
Air Spring Susp. Pkg. + 3rd. row seat & DVD System.
CompuStar Auto Security/Remote Starter.
http://www.haugens.com

[The Rev]

Hi guys,
For those of you who are thinking about installing a CB antenna system, there are some considerations which you may want to look into. To begin, a radio station (whether it is mobile or fixed base) is only as good as the antenna system it is connected to and the antenna system is dependent upon the frequency of operation. CB is located in the HF (high frequency) spectrum and has a wavelength of about 11 meters. Most antennas are cut to 1/4 wavelength, which is about 108" for 11 meters. That is the size you want to be at for a effecient antenna system. Now, the physical size of the antenna can be shortened by coiling the wire either in the base or somewhere along the mast. That's how manufacurers make smaller antennas, not necessarily the best for efficiency, but they work. I know, those big long ones look a bit "country" but that's the price we pay. Another issue when installing your antenna system is SWR (signal-to-wavelength ratio). This is very critical in all antenna systems and you must get and keep this ratio at a minimum throughout your installation and operating frequencies (the band or range of frequencies which you will be operating). SWR is affected by the surrounding materials around the antenna and you have to experiment to achieve the best radiated signal. Get or loan a good SWR analyzer for this job. MFJ Enterprises makes a very good unit and it is easy to operate. It's called the MFJ-259B. If you guys would like more info on antennas, drop me a line and I'll be glad to help.

The Rev

[JohnnyBoy]

I got an SWR around 1.5. The dealer that sold me the radio and antenna did the match for me at no charge. Apparently an SWR of 1.0 is the best. Mine was originaly 1.7 - 1.8, the dealer tuned my tip and played around abit and got 1.5. Good enough for me and for what I use it for. It took him about 5 minutes.

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'03 Hummer H2 Adv./Lux. Pkgs. Sunset Orange W/Sunroof
Air Spring Susp. Pkg. + 3rd. row seat & DVD System.
CompuStar Auto Security/Remote Starter.
http://www.haugens.com

[The Rev]

Righton JB,
That's good Johnny. The "standard" or I should say the benckmark for antenna tuning is a SWR below 1.5. Now there was another thing which I failed to mention before and that was the SWR changes along the band of frequencies that you operate on. When you tune your antenna, be sure to tune it for the middle of the band. That way the antenna will work best there and only be about 1.5 at the upeer and lower ends. If you tune it to a minimum SWR at lets say CH1, then tune to CH40, the antenna will be operating with the maximum SWR on CH40 which may be 2.0 or greater. That means a lot of power will be reflected back into the radio and not radiated into the atomshpere. Since CB is regulated to only 4 watts into the antenna system, your low power output will be eaten up by the mismatched antenna. This means you may be damaging the radio and at some point down the road, you may have to replace it. Low SWR makes all the difference in the world and will give a "booming" signal even to a cheap low power radio. Also, remember that HF radio transmission is greatly affected by the ionoshpere which does most of the work for us in long distance communication. Sometimes when conditions are right, a low power mobile raio will be able to communicate with guys half a world away. Now that's cool too!