Antenna tuning ?

My only issue ever with a skipshooter was the wrap fading from neon orange to pink. Should have heard the crap for a pink antenna lol

 

81 inches fits that truck perfectly without going above a 13'6" height restriction.

 

It seems to me that an SWR meter is a good tool for tuning an antenna that is used and designed for 11 meter. Although it is not as good as a $250 antenna analyzer which might show that the lowest SWR is not achieving the exact best resonance from the antenna, it is normally true that the lowest SWR set from the meter (at or below, say, 1.5) will get you really close.

I'd love to have an antenna analyzer. But I also love having the $250 and knowing that a $25 SWR meter tuning an 11M antenna gets me 99% there to realizing what the antenna can do for me in my truck on the road.

In other words, SWR isn't the ultimate value to shoot for, but it's close enough for truck driver work.

 

You can go with the 6' firestick that will bring the total antenna height to 13' 2" if I remember correctly. You should look at getting a Hustler HD antenna spring (the one with the center bulge) if you go with a 6'. The 4' seems to be doing good enough for you thou. A 5' would be ideal no spring needed. If you use a spring with an antenna that tall make sure you get the HD (not the straight one).

 

Just playing Devil's advocate but SWR is one of the few parameters that can actually harm your radio, so you'd darn well better know at least where you stand re SWR

 

Thank you, thank you! SWR isn't the end all, be all, but 90% of the CB shops don't check for anything else. BTW I get a 1.13 swr and .54 resistance. Can't find a shop to check the other crap. Not bad out of 1 5' pos firestick.

 

I’ve had cb’s in 8 vehicles over 22 years. Only one did I put an analyzer on to check. The rest I just use an swr meter and a Bird 43 to measure reflect. If I am at 1 percent reflect on total output, I call it a day. My current truck is a 2017 Cascadia with a 6 foot skipshooter on the door, 18 foot of coax, talks DX and local well. It shows 1% reflect so I am satisfied. Antenna flexes some, so I put a piece of pvc painted to match to keep it from going past vertical, swr’s stay in check.

 

You may consider doing like I posted in the picture above. A piece of 3/4 inch pvc fits over the stud and absorbs most of the wind. It has some wiggle room so the stud isn't absorbing all the windload.

 

I have 5's with no issue so far. You can use a bulged HD spring. Don't use the straight spring or your antenna will be pointing at your trailer going down the road.