CB Radio Beginners Guide. Part 3. Understanding and adjusting the SWR . Mobile

[@richardmillican7733]

Your tip on marking the antenna "throw" is brilliant! I've been into radio since pre 27/81 and that's a new one on me!! I'll be fiddling with my swr on all my mobile antennas now! If it stops raining!

[@sutitigi]

Very good advice for new cb stations, i can remember way back in 1980, when i 1st was told about this, along with a HORNBEY TRAIN SET POWER PACK, it went up in a puff of smoke. 56CT004

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Yeah i rem we trued anything to get on the air. I rem a girl used a scalextric psu and she sounded like a darlek.

[@PeterMaddison2483]

@@CB-RADIO-UK You told the story earlier, loved it, her mum was horrible. I wonder what the outcome would have been if she had been nice to you... ;-)

[@hydrocrab74]

Great informative video. Nice to see someone teaching newcomers as it can be a little overwhelming trying to get started. 👍

[@AEZAEZEL-187]

İ have a Antron A-99 antenna and my too long RG 58 coax cable gave me a out 1 out of 1.5 which is ideal but after i ordered a 15 meter coax cable from amazon i got a 1 out of 1.1 swr and even after a cheap swr meter i saw the needle did not leave the 1 mark so shortening the coax cable gave me a low swr!!! Thanks for sharing this video Fred!!!

[@ejbeekeeper4360]

Again, nice video! The best way for adjusting the swr is to park your car where there are no buildings or other cars around and close your doors. You can use aluminium as a groundplane, infact all metals can be used. But for a mag mount ofcourse you need steel or the magnet will not stick.

[@jetblack6953]

Straight forward and very well explaned Fred.

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Thanks Steph

[@Rallyrob]

Very very helpful thank you so much I am back on the air I was on the air back in 1980s a lot has changed from then 👍

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Great to hear!

[@GazzaJollyRoger8152]

Nice tips mate! 73s from stateside!

[@TheBronk9]

Enjoying the tutorials, on number 3.

[@lespaul886]

One thing you overlooked,Every time you change the length of the antenna always recalibrate using the forward on the meter, all in all a very good guide for newcomers to the hobby best 73

[@edstar83]

Copy that.

[@Greg-et2dp]

Fred in the shed I learn lot from you about CBS

[@StewartDD]

That fridge magnet looks like something else 🤣🤣

[@PeterMaddison2483]

I thought that too.... Oooo Matron 🤣

[@MowerJunkie]

Great video! I really liked the way it was put together, and it should be very helpful to a beginner. Thanks for doing what You do, 73's

[@Greg-et2dp]

Fred in the shed you and your wife have a merry Christmas 🎅 🎄 and happy new year 🎉 😊 😀

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Same to you Greg

[@ronleblanc9832]

excellent presentation

[@Greg-et2dp]

Fred in the shed I like your utube videos 📹 😀 👍

[@stevefox3763]

I got lucky with my homebase and got the antenna down to 1.1 in 3 adjustments, i used a VNA on my car which has a drilled hard mount in the roof (mag mounts are terrible!) and did a live calibration and got it down to 1.1 but like fred, would have accepted anything 1.5 or lower.

[@driftwoodtube01]

Hello Thank you for the video. It was well presented. Im soon to be purchasing a mobile cb so thank you. My query is is 19 the only channel used for a call channel. We used to use 14 for a copy back in the day. Cheers

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Hi. Yes its the 19 nowadays the 14 is seldom used.

[@Greg-et2dp]

When my dad put in a CB in his van he never adjusted the swr when we went on trips then we used the CB

[@jimgargas2480]

Great info!

[@lifeafterlifeproductions]

I just set up a cb in the car and had a few magmounts to choose from. I thought i would choose a little wil that alot were talking about and its an antenna that is discreat. Unfortunitly i couldnt get it SWR. I than try to swr it on my metal balcony and it still wouldnt set, so i used a pni antenna with a base coil that i was already used on my metal balcony and it did swr set ok and changed to a stinger on the balcony. Funny enough the stinger wouldnt swr on the car either. Im only back on cb in the last week after over twenty years. I had contact the first day i set up from a radio opperator in the city and all seems to be good but he did say that cb is really not very much used, maybe being able to drive around in the car, i will find pockets. I did get a free magmount with a PNI cb, which claimed that the swr is already set, claiming all you need to do is pop it on the car and away you go. Maybe its swr set in the country it was made but it wasnt very good on the swr meter and it cant be adjusted. I do appriciate channels like yours which encourages people back to cb and thankful to you for encouraging me back to radio after twenty or so year.

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

HI. Thanks for the comment. Some of the cheaper antennas do claim to be SWR set but there is no such thing. On your balcony you could try running out 3 or 4 ground wires from the base of the antenna which may help reduce the SWR.

[@lifeafterlifeproductions]

@@CB-RADIO-UK Yes the balcony is good and getting swr right down as the balcony is basically all metal, so im getting good grounding thankfully. The car was abit more difficult. I was wondering, remember years ago, cars used to drive around with earthing strips on the back of their car, most of them had them for decoration but some used them to draw static build up and provent static shock, i was just wondering would these help with grounding antennas on cars?

[@stevefox3763]

if you are prepared to drill your roof, throw away the mag mounts and fit a proper hard mount, you will get the swr way lower and you will also get out better, the change when i went from a mag base to a drilled mount was huge!

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Yeah i rem the earth straps on the bumpers. I think it was supposed to do with car sickness ? Doubt it would help ground plane or SWR.

[@lifeafterlifeproductions]

@@CB-RADIO-UK I was wanting to ask you, Have people turned over to using side bands more. I have being driving around and the Fm band is completely silent here. I did pick up one person, the day i set up a cb in the house and he said the side bands have more side activity on them. Im only new back to it all, so i not really caught up to what things are like now compared to 25 years ago. I was thinking of buying a CRT radio you featured on one of your videos, maybe after christmas.

[@brianstone4172]

Fred please tell me how to switch off echo on my SS6900 can't find in inventory menu . Great watching you and picking up tips thank you

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Hi Brian. Is it not the second control pot E-Tone next to the Vol/SqQ

[@brianstone4172]

@CB-RADIO-UK yes got it thanks Fred

[@Don.E.63]

Fred, great videos, question, where should you put the swr meter when running a burner? Before the burner or after? Thanks in advance.

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Good question of much debate. See here. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nmq3cnqPm7Kaj7c

[@alanj349]

Most mag mount threads are 3/8unf or so239

[@malcolmnorthfield1020]

Thanks but you didn’t put the jump lead into the radio. Again thanks for your video . Seeing in your main rigs I saw a yeasu there so went and got one second hand. Not being able to have a homemade rig. Now using a 10 meter pole next to my car. Really enjoying using the yeasu. Thanks again 🎉🎉 hope to talk on the 305 sometime sorry I’m not a cold weather person. Hawkeye 26DR 547 Keep the shine up?.

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Cheers Malcolm thanks for the support. Good DX.

[@drs3055]

Thank you for awesome training vids - I am a cb newby!!! I have a new portable Midland with a Lil Wil mag ant. I will use it as a portable and on my F150 pu truck. 1. When using on my F150 pu, do I need to tune on Chans 1, 20 and 40 or just chan 20? 2. If I need to trim ant when tuning, how do I do this? 3. Once tuned, can I move to my other vehicle a Subaru Forester without needing to tune? Thank you.

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Hi. Get a basic reading on channel 20 first and adjust the antenna for the lowest SWR reading on that channel. Then go between channel 1 and 40 and split the difference on those 2 channels for fine tuning. Most CB antenna whips are the correct length and do not need to be cut. If you need to trim on i would trim from the top. I have cut them down before to make a dipole using the cutting part in pliers. Yes if you change vehicle or even more the antenna to a different location on the 150 you will need to retune. Enjoy your radio.

[@drs3055]

@@CB-RADIO-UK Thanks much for responding. When tuning, I started with Ch 20. After “setting” it read 2.6. The reading for Ch 1 it looked to be 1.1. Ch 40 read 3.7! I trimmed the top of antenna as I couldn’t move antenna down. After trimming Ch 20 it reads 2.5, Ch 1 reads 1.3 and Ch is 3.2. Am I correctly doing the the right thing right?

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

To be honest ive only cut down a mobile whip to make a dipole. You have some quite high readings. If your using a mag mount try moving it to a different location. It seems your lacking a metal connection for the ground plane.

[@drs3055]

@@CB-RADIO-UK I wanted to keep you updated as I suspect others might learn from my learning from you. I chose to snip another 1/4 of an inch from the top of the antenna (lil Will mag base and antenna). I recalibrated Channel 20. This number changed to ~2.5. I then recalibrated Channel 1 with that number reduced barely noticeable that it is 1.1. Recal’d Channel 40 - result was 2.0. I think this is good enough even though Channel 20 is the highest?

[@mattcameron9349]

I've had no end of trouble getting a low SWR on my drill-mounted antenna on my campervan (a 2011 Transit Connect) I suspect it is due to the presence of a solar-panel on the roof. I've used CB for over 30 years and previously have had difficult installations on fibreglass bodies, but have never experienced anything like this. The only way I can get anything usable is to use a LONG (5 foot!) top-loaded antenna. Mid or base-loaded? Not a chance! Modern vehicles are getting increasingly difficult...

[@M7EUP]

Hi Fred. I’m new to the channel, does the SWR need altering between fm, am and sSB? Also, if you have a variable power rig will this affect swr as you change it?

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Hi. No once you tune your SWR it will be the same in all modes. FM AM SSB etc. In theory the SWR will not change with increased power but personally i find it climbs if you add a fair bit more.

[@gray_wolverine63]

Thank you😊

[@clanmac66]

Hi, I've just found this channel and had a CB back in the day and thinking of starting again. Can you tell me what you mean by 305? Thanks.

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Hi. The 305 is a radio group that meet regular on 27.305 MHz channel 30. See more here. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rZiqh56Yj5ato80

[@davekettle6220]

the antenna you were using looked like an old Cherokee half wave. dave

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Its well old. A Hot Rod 200

[@SteveM109r]

Fred, I bought a PNI Escort 8000L radio, for car use, and im averaging an SWR of 2, but my range seems to only be about 100 meters ! According to my SWR meter (similar to yours), I have a transmit power of about 2 watts. I know how to increase this internally, so do you know if I increased this to 4 watts, it would give me better range ? I keep seeing people talking (on KZbin) around the 6 - 10 kilometre range, yet, I can't be heard at the end of my street ! The other radio, at home, is a president Randy 3, on high power. Any advise would be greatly appreciated

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

I would look at improving the antenna before you go inside the radio and twiddle. Iam not sure what antenna you are using but people get great results from the both the Sirio 4000 and 5000 series.

[@Perthshire]

How's yer swaaaaaarrrrrrr

[@mickbroad9973]

Fred whats goung on with 305 group in the morning? I can usually listen in but havent heard anything since mid december?

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Hi Mick. Not sure myself as iam always at work.

[@mickbroad9973]

@@CB-RADIO-UK ok fred im currently in bed with covid so have plenty of time for the radio lol

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Sorry to hear that Mick. Drink plenty of water and i hop you feel better in a few days.

[@daiena_rabinovich]

I hope the built in swr meter in the radio is reliable 🤔

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

I prefer the older type myself. The ^900N built in SWR seems pretty acurrate.

[@MrSIZEMIK]

Ain't seen Freds video's for a couple of years now, but as a semi-pro, cos my field is in computers, i have some idea, , your wondering, what the hell is an SWR, SWR stands for "Standing Wave Ratio", the transmitting signal travels along the antenna (FORWARD) and refects at the end, returning down the antenna (REFECTED), the forward signal interferes with the reflected signal causing constructive or deconstructive interference, differant lengths create differant phases along the antenna, when a peek meets a peek there is double amplitude an max emission, and when a peek meets a trough there is zero emission, an SWR ratio of 1:1 is perfect constructive interference, where the cycle appears STATIONARY on the antenna, creating a perfect waxing and waning electo-magnetic field, as the electric field collapses, the magnetic field increases and vice versa, , ,Without that load absorbing energy, the energy instead appears as a high voltage or high current somewhere which may not be equipped to handle it, , So basically, an ideal 1:1 SWR will produce a low 50ohm resistance match where the antenna does work, the SWR is relatively constant along the feedline, the impedance will vary along the line unless it is perfectly terminated (that is, the SWR is 1.0 : 1). This is an important concept for impedance matching, because with a high SWR, the impedance at the final output transistor load inductor could be mainly higher, or lower than 50 ohms, and produce a high currant that damages the finals, , , PS - a 1:1.5 SWR = just a 4% loss \ a 1:2 = 11% loss \ and a 1:3 = 25% loss

[@adriangreen6462]

Hi Fred what about swr on upper side band ?thanks

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Hi you check and set on FM. Cannot check SWR on SSB.

[@grahamwardandcd1594]

Will I get back to skip on magmount and wip on my thunder pole tx

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Well its hard to say. I think on a mobile whip and standard 4 watt power it will be a challenge. However this summer will be a VERY good time for skip. People have made 1000km contacts on just 1 watt.

[@joerowland7350]

One thing you did not tell them ìs A coax get it empedens is from the distance of the shield from the conductor so if the coax get a dent or flat spot it have a empedens bumps most newbies want have a antenna analyzer n vna but this can b seen on them I have got new coax n it had this Wright from the shop Great video n really nice you to be help people on the air n back on the air 👍 73 n good dx n9prf 2fb2112

[@antonyhenson8969]

Have you done a base antenna

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Sure have kzbin.info/www/bejne/oZDSlWaHoteIidk

[@grahamwardandcd1594]

I've got a thunder pole tx what would swr need to be on. Uk FM . Am 40 and. EU. FM. And am

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Ideal 1.5 or lower. Once over 2.0 it can effect the performance. Approaching 3.0 is the danger point.

[@grahamwardandcd1594]

@@CB-RADIO-UK how do I get it write on the radio

[@TheBronk9]

Why is the cable not shield to stop the SWR?

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

The coax has an earth mesh to help block local interference. The SWR reading is an indication of the tuning of your antenna.

[@paulm0hpd319]

It's not the reflected power causing the radio to heat up and cause damage its the impedance the radio sees and high reactance, reflected power adds to the forward power back to the antenna. Swr is not a direct measurement of loss ,the feedline determines that ,for example if the feedline was lossless no matter how high the swr was all the produced power will be radiated by the antenna

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Great. Thanks for the info. It will help other.

[@paulm0hpd319]

@@CB-RADIO-UK yeah it does get confused by many hope others look into it further

[@8.2deck]

If you're using an amplifier do you hook it into your amp instead?

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

You can do as long as your SWR meter can handle the power. In theory the SWR should not change so i would adjust without extra power.

[@8.2deck]

@@CB-RADIO-UK thanks I wasn't sure if it would change with different power levels

[@grahamwardandcd1594]

Fred. Can. I lev. My swr meter. In line. All the time

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Hi if you like you can.

[@grahamwardandcd1594]

@@CB-RADIO-UK will it do any damage if I do

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

No not at all. In theory it will slightly reduce the receive and power output but not by much.

[@KQ4KXA]

I just got a new tram 3500 mag mount antenna on top of the car and i use an external meter got it as high as it can go and it still wants me to increase the height to have matching SWR. Also i checked my power output on a stock uniden bearcat 980 ssb it shows 4 watts on channel 1 and only 1 watt on 40 any reasons why im stumped?

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

I do not know the Tram range as they are not popular in the UK. The 1w output is worrying though. Found this. tram-browning 3500 CB Antenna Verified Purchase Installed the antenna and adjusted adjusted antenna so SWR was about 1.4. My radio was receiving ok until I keyed the mic to transmit. After mic was unkeyed the receive was doing some weird stuff on the s meter where it was bouncing up an down, and the receiver would not receive until I powered down the radio and re-powered it back up. Then the same thing would happen again, after transmit there was no receive and meter acting up. I finally figured out that something was wrong with the antenna. I used a multimeter and checked for continuity at the antenna coax connector. There was continuity between the shielding and the center. I checked it about 10 times because I couldn't believe a brand new antenna would be shorted, but YES it was! I first thought it was the coax connector shorting the cable out, so I pulled it apart and NO it was not the connector. So the next thing to do was rip apart the antenna, which I did. Everything is glued and sealed and was not fun to take apart. Well, well, well, look what I found...The factory soldered the center lead and the shielding to the base of the coil, A DIRECT SHORT SOLDERED TOGETHER! I re-soldered a new cable on the antenna because the connector was basically destroyed by checking it. I'm very upset that a brand new antenna was shorted from the factory, and I will never buy another Tram product again. Your mileage may vary.

[@KQ4KXA]

@@CB-RADIO-UK I had the coax run down and through the passenger rear door since I never have anyone else in the car with those readings so I thought I would just try running it a different way and did through the hatch to the front of the car and now got the readings 1.1 match and made a contact to Barbados from North Carolina so not sure why but having a shorter run on the coax made the SWR have 2 different readings

[@KQ4KXA]

@@CB-RADIO-UK ok one more question the antenna is good but now my radio is only doing 1 watt I checked using other mics and power is ran to a fully charged battery pack any idea if the radio is going bad?

[@willie2333]

Sir this is my first radio I have a crtss9900 v4 I am having a problem setting the swr I have a swr meter also atu100 please bear with me when I key the mic on fm ch 1 I do not have time to set the metre to calabrate as this is appearing on screen after about 2-3seconds swr hi can you explained how to around this thanks in advance.

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Hi. Yes what is happening is that your 9900 is detecting an SWR of greater than 3 and cutting off to save damage to the radio. I am not 100% on the ATU100 tuner but most radio tuners do need at least a semi tuned antenna to work with. You going to have make sure you have the SWR lower than say 2.0 on the SWR meter before you attach the tuner. It then should work. If after you attach the tuner it sets off a HI SWR warning then its not compatible.

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Also double check any patch leads for direct shorts.

[@willie2333]

@@CB-RADIO-UK do I raise the whip or lower the whip antenna is at its lowest just now .

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Depends how your SWR is showing. If your getting HI SWR both high and low you have a short

[@awwboo88]

I'm trying to find the black piece the whip goes into. Wut is that called mine just broke and can't find anything online

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Its called the "loading coil". Be easier to buy a new one with a whip.

[@awwboo88]

Thanks

[@jamesmullen730]

ty

[@19TC504]

when you connect the cable to the meter you put the little cable on the antenna connector in the shack hahaha but whe get your point of the video

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

LOL. Very good spot. Yeah i did notice it in the editing but i wondered if anyone would pick it up.

[@zukispur5493]

I still find the old potato trick works best🌚

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

New one on me ? What was it ?

[@grahamwardandcd1594]

Lol. U can't keep car window all the time if it's raining Fred 😂

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

LOL very true :-)

[@James_Bowie]

Fred, you really need to practise pronouncing al-u-min-i-um 🙃

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Or allum-me um as our USA friends say :-)

[@James_Bowie]

@@CB-RADIO-UK Make that al-oo-min-um 😉

[@grandpaandlucas7054]

i spotted my new grant next to the table. fred must be doing a xmax wrapping video hihi

[@Perthshire]

hihi?

[@grandpaandlucas7054]

@@Perthshire its an amateur thing

[@KnugenMooMoo]

I'll send this video to my boss he got a Mclaren Senna GTR 🌝 then you can't say that no mclearn owner watches you 🤣

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

LOL that is AWSOME :-)

[@KnugenMooMoo]

Knowing my boss he probably drill a hole through the mount and his roof and then bolt it to his roof 😄