JohnnyFingers
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Can I trust the SWR meter that is built in to my mobile radio?
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Built in SWR meter
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DaveJacobsen
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"can you?" Sure.
"Should you?" Absolultely not.
Get a good (not the cheapest you can find) meter; it will serve you well.
btw: welcome to the forums.
"Should you?" Absolultely not.
Get a good (not the cheapest you can find) meter; it will serve you well.
btw: welcome to the forums.
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JohnnyFingers
Member
Thank you for the reply and welcome Dave. I appreciate it
What mobile radio are you talking about? We can all help you find a good SWR meter. Invest in a good one that will last you a lifetime. Also, let us know what frequencies you might be needing to check. That will govern the type of SWR meter that you should get.
Welcome to Radio Reference! too!
JohnnyFingers
Member
I have the Cobra 29 LTD BT Bluetooth mobile CB Radio.
JohnnyFingers
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Also thank you for the welcome K4EET
russbrill
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FPR1981
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No, not unless it's a meter you have checked many times against an external meter and have found it to be consistently accurate.
Funny thing about that, almost every Cobra I've ever owned has had defective meters. Both of my Galaxy radios have defective meters.
But my old Sears Roadtalker 23 has one of the most accurate SWR and S-meters I've ever seen. It's dead on what my handheld units read. Same with that old Midland telephone receiver CB. SWR meter is dead nuts accurate.
Two of the least useful radios in my collection have metering equipment that has stood the test of time. Go figure.
Funny thing about that, almost every Cobra I've ever owned has had defective meters. Both of my Galaxy radios have defective meters.
But my old Sears Roadtalker 23 has one of the most accurate SWR and S-meters I've ever seen. It's dead on what my handheld units read. Same with that old Midland telephone receiver CB. SWR meter is dead nuts accurate.
Two of the least useful radios in my collection have metering equipment that has stood the test of time. Go figure.
It would be bad PR if the manufacturer were to provide something that did not work, so it most likely works at least kinda sorta maybe. Probably not as accurately as a meter used in more "official" test equipment, though.
slowmover
Active Member
Haven’t owned a CB yet where “the inaccurate meter “ caused me to lose RX/TX.
An outboard meter is enough even at the $30 level. Anything below 2.1:1 is adequate. For those running amps, etc, a better device is needed.
1.8:1 I’d still try to get SWR lower.
At 1.4:1, I wouldn’t.
1.5:1 marks the line.
An outboard meter is enough even at the $30 level. Anything below 2.1:1 is adequate. For those running amps, etc, a better device is needed.
1.8:1 I’d still try to get SWR lower.
At 1.4:1, I wouldn’t.
1.5:1 marks the line.
FPR1981
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You have some who will tell you not to run many linears with more than a 1.3 to 1 SWR.
KD8DVR
Member
I would say definitely YES. After all, what is better than determining SWR for a radio than the radio itself? The radio tells you what it sees.
NOW: IF the radio has been modified at all, then the built-in SWR meter will likely be inaccurate. But if it is a stock radio, it will be fine. I've never had any of my radios have issues with the built in meters.
NOW: IF the radio has been modified at all, then the built-in SWR meter will likely be inaccurate. But if it is a stock radio, it will be fine. I've never had any of my radios have issues with the built in meters.
Jehirsh2386
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JonnyFingers I’m going to play on your question a bit if you don’t mind. I pick up a president McKinley which has the build in SWR. I hooked up my external meter and adjusted down to 1.5 on 1 & 40. I then got a wild hair up my you know what and decided to check the SWR on the radios internal meter, which was at 1.4 on 40 and 1.6 on 1, with the external meter still attached and in “ref” mode. I then disconnected the external meter and checked SWR again on the radios meter. The reading were now 2.0 on 40 and 2.2 on 1. Any thoughts?
btw I am running rg8x from antenna and rg58a/u from external meter
btw I am running rg8x from antenna and rg58a/u from external meter
@Jehirsh2386, how long is the RG58A/U jumper that was used between the President McKinley and the SWR Meter?
sloop
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When you adjusted the swr was that a physical adjustment on the antenna or adjustment with an antenna tuner built into the swr meter?
FPR1981
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When I put my Sirio 27 ground plane up, I was getting a 1.1 to 1 reading on channel 1 and 1.25 to 1 on 40 when the antenna was just shy of 10 feet in the air, using a 12-foot section of RG58.
I put it up about 40 feet and added 50 feet of RG8x and I now have a 1.35 on channel 1 and a 1.5 on channel 40. Add 100 watts of output and those figures increase to 1.5 on 1 and 1.8 on 40.
I put a matcher in line and matched it down to an almost perfect 1 to 1. That is an application where a matcher is acceptable. A matcher won't dramatically improve performance with a totally crappy SWR but it does provide some benefit in marginal situations like this.
That's why they advise with a lot of solid state linear amplifiers to be careful running them with an SWR greater than 1.3. That will climb significantly when you add power.
I put it up about 40 feet and added 50 feet of RG8x and I now have a 1.35 on channel 1 and a 1.5 on channel 40. Add 100 watts of output and those figures increase to 1.5 on 1 and 1.8 on 40.
I put a matcher in line and matched it down to an almost perfect 1 to 1. That is an application where a matcher is acceptable. A matcher won't dramatically improve performance with a totally crappy SWR but it does provide some benefit in marginal situations like this.
That's why they advise with a lot of solid state linear amplifiers to be careful running them with an SWR greater than 1.3. That will climb significantly when you add power.
Jehirsh2386
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I am using a 3 ft jumper and the adjustments were made to the antenna. There isn’t any special equipment in line with the setup and the radio is stock. Also for set up info sakes, I have a 4ft fiberglass tunable tip antenna with 50ft of the rg8x with extra figure 8 bound down to radio and stock mic. The power supply is about 2ft away and the coax and power do not cross eachother.
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Jehirsh2386
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Something I forgot to add, the external meter is an astatic pdc1.
JohnnyFingers
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I owe all of you many thanks. I tested my built in SWR against an external SWR mete and man the difference is astronomical. Thank you so much for the help guys
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