CB Radio Set Up Advice

[Bullwinkle]

Peaking the radio is getting the max power out of it. Tuning is getting the SWR signal set properly. Some radios have this built in where you can adjust it, but not all. Not sure how accurate it is either.

In most cases, just get a quality antenna and you are fine. If you are into going hi-tech, you can get antennas that allow for adjustment to set the radio up perfectly. Most often, you will find these setups when people are into spending alot of money on their radio. I am one of these people that like to have the more than legal power HAM radio converted to CB use, and all the exact setup. If you want something like this, get some recommendations for CB shops in your area that can do the work and do it well.

[kc0rey]

Originally Posted by Sportsoutlaw

Peaking the radio is getting the max power out of it. Tuning is getting the SWR signal set properly. Some radios have this built in where you can adjust it, but not all. Not sure how accurate it is either.

In most cases, just get a quality antenna and you are fine. If you are into going hi-tech, you can get antennas that allow for adjustment to set the radio up perfectly. Most often, you will find these setups when people are into spending alot of money on their radio. I am one of these people that like to have the more than legal power HAM radio converted to CB use, and all the exact setup. If you want something like this, get some recommendations for CB shops in your area that can do the work and do it well.

Most (not all) CB SHops are bad news. A few are very good.....

No CB radio has a antenna tuner built in. WHat you are talking about is a built SWR Meter that will allow you to check your SWR. These built in meters are usually very inaccurate and should be considered relative.

ANy CB antenna can be tuned, even those cheap junk ones.

I am one of these people that like to have the more than legal power HAM radio converted to CB use

For now, this too will change and it may cost you thousands of dollars in fines.

I'll bet that is exactly what you wanted me to say...........Happy to help!

[Bullwinkle]

Originally Posted by kc0rey

Most (not all) CB SHops are bad news. A few are very good.....

No CB radio has a antenna tuner built in. WHat you are talking about is a built SWR Meter that will allow you to check your SWR. These built in meters are usually very inaccurate and should be considered relative.



I'll bet that is exactly what you wanted me to say...........Happy to help!

Definitely have to be careful which shops you choose. There are a couple that I would deal with, luckily once is only a 45 minute drive from my house.

I worded the swr thing improperly, what you said is what I meant. I have always had adjustable antennas.

Yeah, it can definitely get you in trouble. I was always lucky though, and never really abused the power. I didn't go overboard and run a linear (sp?) or anything like that. Just a radio out of box, converted for CB use. If I go back out on the road again like I am thinking about, I may look into getting licensed for ham radio operation. It is something that has always been of interest to me.

[buck and a half]

Was told just tonite if you want to locate your interference problem,unscrew your coax at the antenna and point it close to the sources to check,like fan heater motor,alternator etc,it will get louder when you find it,get a 4700,capacitor,35 volts and hook it on your positive and negative wires leading to the noise source.radio shack sells these capacitors. my son and I just met a technician out of midstate maine here,been working on radios for 20 years,learned alot from him in two hrs of gabbing,he said he will check out this site and help out if he can, I told him about your posts here corey also,which are very interesting.ya enjoy the super bowl,my pats are lost in space this season.

[buck and a half]

if you have a noise coming thru your cb,take the coax off the antenna end,and point it to your alternator,fan motor etc,the noise will tell you what to filter. you do not filter the radio,you filter the source in most cases,go to radio shack and buy a 4700 capacitor,35 volts,put one lead on neg and one lead in pos,that should take care of the problem,just passing some info,I am just a driver like most of you. Do not ever key up your cb with the antenna disconnected to find the noise. just point it to your suspect area and you will locate the interference. Years ago we wired our cbs with the bigger more insulated coax cable that is used on base systems in the home. That used to work and shield alot of noise,Corey knows if this is true,hes the one i read alot .

[buck and a half]

I just woke up,sorry for the duplicate,better get another cup of coffee.

[americanmadeford]

Thanks for all yalls help.

I got my Uniden 68XL hooked to my Wilson silver load today. I found a hole under the cab to run the coax in. Works well so far. I need to go to radio shack and get another coax before i can tune it.


Under the cab the coax cable is fairly exposed. I guess an auto parts store would sell some sort of tape or something to protect that?

[MUSTANG]

I ran my coax almost the same way you did and if your worried about it being exposed go to the auto parts store and get whats called split wire loom that will fit on your coax. If you look under you hood you will see what i am talking about its a hard plastic that is split down the middle so you can protect your electrical wires. I use split wire loom for a lot of things even in the house, for instance running computer wires, looks a little neater. Good luck

[americanmadeford]

I went out a got some of that, thanks ^^


Now for another problem. I can't get my SWRs down. Right its around 3 or 4


I tried a couple different grounds, differ power sources, even put the radio in a different vehicle to see if it was the ignition system. I tried adjusted the tip of the antenna to. What else can I do to get the SWRs down?!

BTW, Im running 20 ft of 50ohm coax.

[americanmadeford]

I ran a ground to the frame, still extremly high SWRs. I don't know what else to do