New Driver needs advice on CB and antennas

THAT can happen radio does strange things One cant say a CB will get 1 mile or one million .....

 

Don't get fooled with those "IDIOT WHIPS" as I call them. All those antennas that have wire rings, and big fat, oil filled coils. They are designed to remove money from an idiot's pocket, more than perform their intended use. Wilson is a good brand of Antenna, as well as Firestick, and some others.

The matching of an antenna is critical, if you want your CB to perform well. The cable should be in lengths of 9 feet. 9,18,27,.....is what you want. You want the shortest length that will do the job, to the nearest 9 foot. It has to do with the wavelength of the CB radio waves. Next, the antenna is best to be a 5/8 wave (5 eights wave), as opposed to a 1/2 wave, or a 1/4 wave. All that means is that the length of the wire used in the making of the antenna, is 5/8s of the length of a full single wave on the CB frequency.

MAtching the antenna requires adjusting the length of it, usually an eighth of an inch at a time, and it requires an SWR meter to do it. Any CB shop can help you match an antenna, and it will be well worth the few bucks it might cost you. Basically speaking, a properly matched antenna throws out all the signal, while a poorly matched antenna will reflect some of the signal back into the radio. This causes bad performance, and more often than not, will damage the CB radio.

Google search phrases like "matching an antenna" or "Blown finals in a CB", and you will get plenty of information on the subject.

***NEXT***

Don't worry about spending a ton of money on a radio. If you want a good solid radio, you can get one of those ones from cobra that are about the size of 2 packs of cigarettes put together. Those radios don't look so good, but they do the job very well, as long as they are attached to a well matched antenna. You can get a nicer radio, if you know what you want. The Cobra 29 is the industry standard, and kicks butt, if properly tuned and matched. I myself run a Cobra 148 GTL, which talks on sideband. I have been in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and talked to a guy at the Baltimore Tunnel on I-95. That is not typical, but it does happen with a sideband radio quite often. But that stuff is better left till after you have used a CB for a while, and understand what is involved better.

And please, for God sake, never listen to a CB shop guy who wants to sell you this good radio, because that other one over there is trash. If it's truly trash, then why is it in his shop? A lot of CB shops will also have used equipment, which can save you a lot of money. Just be sure the shop stands behind what they sell.

 

There is no reason to make the cable (coax) a given length.

A 5/8 wavelength antenna for CB would be about 22 feet long.

http://signalengineering.com/ultimate/verticals.html

Leon
(kc0iv)

 

I have heard the Wilson 5000 is one of the best out there, and its not a huge antenna

 

Point it down and be a cool supertrucker. Nevermind it messes up your polarization.

 

change your antennas out to either francis or firsticks around the 4 to 5 foot range, you will find your range will improve dramatically.

 

I have had alot of good luck with my Uniden 880 paired with a wilson 2000 trucker antenna...

 

Here's my 2 cents....

First off, a good starter radio would be a Cobra 25 or a Uniden PC 68. Both offer exceptional performance in a medium sized package without all the bells and whistles. Both radios can be had for under $100 brand new, and even less if used. Yes there's other radios on the market, some of which can get you in trouble with the FCC if you don't know what you're doing with them, but I'll save that for another post. The Cobra 25 or the Uniden 68 are all you need.

Next you need good coax. RG8X is ok. I like LMR-240UF but that's probably a bit of an overkill on a truck install plus usually you have to buy it online or at a ham radio outlet. Don't use cheap lossy Radio Shack coax. You want as much signal as you can to get to the antenna. Also you only need as much coax as it takes to get from the radio to the antenna. The wives tale of "you need 18 ft of coax" is purely a myth.

Then you NEED a good antenna. Notice I capitalized "need" in this sentence. The antenna is what will make or break your radio. For a truck, I recommend a Wilson 2000 trucker. It's a center loaded whip style antenna, not a garbage fiberglass wound antenna.

As for 1/4 wave over 5/8....either will work, the difference is 1/4 wave sends more of a signal up and a 5/8 sends more of a signal to the sides. I would use 1/4 wave in the mountains and a 5/8 in the flat lands of Kansas, because mountains, buildings, trees, etc. all hinder your range.

Once you have all of this, you need to have the antenna tuned to the truck, by ensuring the SWR stays as low as you can go. You tune the antenna by shortening or lengthening it until you get it to an acceptable SWR level. SWR is a measure of how much power is radiated out of the antenna as opposed to how much goes back down into the radio and not only is wasted, but also causes damage to the final output transistor of the radio. You want the SWR at 1.5:1 if you can. If it's 2.0:1, it's satisfactory. 3.0:1 and higher and you have issues and need to address the problem before it gets worse.

HTH.

 

Three keys to a good system are in order (my preference), good ground, a good antenna, and a good mic. I run a Wilson 2000, Roadking 56 mic, and made sure my ground was good. My personal experience indicates simple is -always- better. I personally would stay away from anything but a simple no frills 29 or similar. At least until you want to start getting into the big radios.

My system isn't the best out there but it's works mighty fine for me. I am running an old Galaxy 44, RK56, Wilson 2k, and Silver Eagle 350 amp. I shoot skip fairly well like the some of the big boys and can easily be heard in Jersey.

One of the very best things you can do is talk to a CB shop. If the person behind the counter is willing to teach you without pushing for big sales, he will likely direct you properly into a decent set up for minimal money.

Good luck!

 

Well I don't claim any technical expertise, but there is nothing wrong with a good fiberglass antenna. I've run them, Francis, Wilson, Skip Shooter and a couple of others for years. Also have used a Wilson 1000, 2000 and 5000, and tried a Monkey Made for awhile one time. (the Monkey Made is more broad banded than the rest, but that is not important if you stay in the CB band.) A 102" steel whip is a great performer but is not real practical because of its length. If properly tuned the average user won't tell the difference between the fiberglass antennas and the Wilson 1000, 2000 or 5000. Now if you get a friend to help and really put them to test, I'm sure you would see a slight difference. But day to day use, any of these would give you good service if tuned properly. My preference in the fiberglass antennas is 4.5ft to 5.5ft in length.........longer is always better! The fiberglass antennas are cheaper to replace as well. Unless you are wacking them on trees, they will last several years before needing replacing. ...... (I used a set of co-phased fiberglass antennas on a 88 Pete for about 8 years with excellent results (and a tuned up Cobra 25)

P.S. Application plays a part as well. In the Freightliner Cascadia I'm driving now, it is easier to get a good SWR reading with the top loaded Skip Shooter (5ft) than the Francis 5.5ft or the Wilson 2000.....guess which one I'm using

Since somebody already brought it up, I'll make a comment. Because of the imperfect grounds on trucks these days, coax length can make a difference in your SWR reading. It doesn't fix the problem of why your SWR is high to start with, but it can lower your SWR reading, making it safe to go ahead and use your radio.