Midland SWR new cb user

[cst756]

Just got a Midland 23/126 SWR meter. Has anyone ever used this meter before. If so how do you it. Does the length of the coxial between the meter and the antenna. What do I use the dial between the two gauges for?

Any help would be appreciated

[notatruckdriver]

Not sure on this one as I have a Rat Shack meter. But the way they usually work is you calibrate the meter first by keying up on the channel you're going to be on (I usually use 20 because I run on 19 a lot and not to piss off truckers by stepping all over their mud duck #$$es) and you rotate the dial in the calibrate mode until it touches the edge of the red, then you switch it back to SWR mode and key up again. DON'T SPEAK INTO THE MIC when you do this! When you key up in SWR mode, you want the needle to be as close to 1.0:1 as possible. 1.5:1 is acceptable, 2 is pushing it, 3 and over don't key up anymore until you can get the SWR's down.

[Brickhauler]

It should have a switch that says FWD / REF You want to put the switch on FWD and key the mic. Turn the dial up until the meter goes up to the line marked CAL. The switch the meter to REF and key the mic again, that will tell you your SWR. I have been told the jumper coax wire between the radio and the meter should be 18" long.
You want to check the SWR # channel 1 and channel 40. It its higher on 1 than 40 you will need to make the antenna longer. If its higher on 40 than 1 you need to make it shorter. Tuning the antenna this way gives you the best SWR over all 40 channels. You want to try to get the SWR down to 1.5 or lower.
I used to have a little Midland meter, I don't remember the model # but it had the meter at the top, the switch in the middle and the calibration knob on the bottom. The coax wire hooked in to the top and the bottom.

[cst756]

Thanks for the help. This dial has numbers, I'll try to get a picture.

Heres a picture of the meter I have.

[Brickhauler]

There should be a switch somewhere on the meter marked FWD REF. I don't see one in the picture?