swr reading

[mikek71]

got a cobra 29 classic and wilson 5000 mag. on a 2005 durango.
hooked up a radio shack swr meter and got 1.1 on chanel 1 and 1.2 on chanel 40 1.1 on channel 20
great right. unhook meter and turn up power mic when transmitting my antena light will slowly come on
and stay on while mic is pressed. i was told when i purchased my cb 6+ years ago it was tunned up.
if my swr readings are good with meter hooked up and cb ant light stays off.
what should i do when i unhook my meter and the light comes on
the meter on the cb is very touchy. i cannot even get it to calibrate.
can you help

 

[kb2vxa]

OK, rhetorical question; how long is the jumper between the SWR meter and the rig? If it is of any significant length (more than a few inches) there can be a significant discrepancy between it and the internal meter. So, being I trust the external one and not the internal (i was told when i purchased my cb 6+ years ago it was tuned up.) I say when it and the jumper are removed your SWR is as the meter said regardless of what the bells and whistles on the rig say.

"f my swr readings are good with meter hooked up and cb ant light stays off. What should i do when i unhook my meter and the light comes on ... the meter on the cb is very touchy. i cannot even get it to calibrate."
Give the FWD-REF switch a shot of contact cleaner and rock it back and forth a few times, then do the same with the CAL pot. The antenna light is triggered by the REF reading above a preset point so if you're having trouble with the meter that is a likely cause. If that doesn't do the trick chalk it up to the golden screwdriver attack and forget it, you don't need either of them anyway.

 

[DX949]

got a cobra 29 classic and wilson 5000 mag. on a 2005 durango.
hooked up a radio shack swr meter and got 1.1 on chanel 1 and 1.2 on chanel 40 1.1 on channel 20
great right. unhook meter and turn up power mic when transmitting my antena light will slowly come on
and stay on while mic is pressed. i was told when i purchased my cb 6+ years ago it was tunned up.
if my swr readings are good with meter hooked up and cb ant light stays off.
what should i do when i unhook my meter and the light comes on
the meter on the cb is very touchy. i cannot even get it to calibrate.
can you help

Give it a blast of compressed air before you put the contact cleaner to it.
You can buy a can of both that stuff at a computer shop.

 

[mikek71]

thanks
went to cb shop and he said my swr was not calibrated after someone tunned it several years ago
he checked it out and i am putting out 4 watts peaking 22
he also lubed switches (i think)
put back in vehicle and tested swr and it is 1 to 1 as he put it
all working good
i was ready to purchase a new cb this person saved me lots of $
my meter cable is 2 feet
thanks for the help

 

[hockeyshrink]

thanks
went to cb shop and he said my swr was not calibrated after someone tunned it several years ago
he checked it out and i am putting out 4 watts peaking 22
he also lubed switches (i think)
put back in vehicle and tested swr and it is 1 to 1 as he put it
all working good
i was ready to purchase a new cb this person saved me lots of $
my meter cable is 2 feet
thanks for the help

huh?

You "tune" a transmitter and adjust an antenna system to achieve a nominal swr...are you saying the swr of the antenna system was not tested and adjusted after your radio was "tuned"?

"4 watts peaking 22"...do you mean it is transmitting 4 watts on AM and 22 watts PEP on SSB? AM doesn't "peak."

I any event, I'm glad you're happy with it.

 

[kb2vxa]

"went to cb shop and he said my swr was not calibrated after someone tuned it several years ago"
I figured as much.

"he checked it out and i am putting out 4 watts peaking 22"
Either something's wrong with his meter or your rig, (you're probably over modulating, turn the mic down) 4W carrier works out to 16W PEP according to the way the FCC figures it. Funny how they only allow 12 but I'm not about splitting hairs.

"AM doesn't "peak."
Since when? AM stands for amplitude modulation, if it didn't peak there would be no change in amplitude, no modulation. You're being confused by the difference with SSB where the carrier and one of the sidebands is removed leaving a single sideband. Without a resting carrier all that's left are peaks.

"I any event, I'm glad you're happy with it."
Ditto and one more thing, I'm glad you found a competent tech so stick with him and avoid hacks like the one who loused it up in the first place.

 

[DX949]

thanks
went to cb shop and he said my swr was not calibrated after someone tunned it several years ago
he checked it out and i am putting out 4 watts peaking 22
he also lubed switches (i think)
put back in vehicle and tested swr and it is 1 to 1 as he put it
all working good
i was ready to purchase a new cb this person saved me lots of $
my meter cable is 2 feet
thanks for the help

Right on ! good for you ! have fun with your CB.
Thank good it wasn't a Ham rig...them Guy's are known rip off artists (some of them not all, but most of them )

 

[mikek71]

thanks for the help
went on road trip today, cb worked good
i am now going to install my other wilson 5000 in my 2008 impala but i am not sure what king of cb to get
the car has very little space to work with when it comes to mounting a cb
any suggestions on mounting or cb preference i would like to purchase a good radio that is smaller that a cobra 29
thanks
again

 

[thunderbritches174]

you can't get a good one much smaller than cobra 29, IMHO the smallest one worth anything is cobra 25.

 

[JayMojave]

Hello Mike71:

Get a radio with a good ANL (Automatic Noise Limiter) and a good NB (Noise Blanker) so that should you get some engine or other noises from the vehicle it will attenuate the noise somewhat and allow you to receive better. I am sure the Cobra 29 has them in the radio.

The Wilson 5000 are great antennas, I have one myself. They will NOT handle any 5000 watts, as the cheap mass production coax is RG58C is used that will only handle a few hundred watts. Replacing the RG58C with RG142 or RG400 Coax is a inveloved but worthy task.

The skip does come in once and a while so listen in on the channel 36 to 40 on LSB for long distance DX operators. Kind of a kick to listen in.

Good luck with your radio set up there.

Jay in the Mojave

thanks for the help
went on road trip today, cb worked good
i am now going to install my other wilson 5000 in my 2008 impala but i am not sure what king of cb to get
the car has very little space to work with when it comes to mounting a cb
any suggestions on mounting or cb preference i would like to purchase a good radio that is smaller that a cobra 29
thanks
again

 

[mikek71]

got my old wilson 5000 fixxed. had to replace coax
put on top of car and hooked up a old radio shack cb that was tested.
and set swr and got a 1 to 1 set up on channel 20
sounds good no static and was talking to someone a few miles away
my cobra 29 seems to have more noise than the radio shack cb
could having my cobra 29 tunned give me more static
other that turning rfgain about 1/4 of the way and Squelch about 1/3 turn
all is good