Tram 3500 SWR

[Ensnared]

In the recent past, I heard of a friend of mind say that it is necessary to drop the stinger in the antenna base so that it hits bottom, then check the SWR.

The instructions for the Tram 3500 say to hit bottom and raise it a bit. The Tram instructions resulted in an acceptable match.

I might add, I am setting this radio up with: a) power wires attached to a cigarette plug in; b) the aforementioned Tram 3500 which comes with a 5 inch magnet with a rubber boot on the bottom.

When I ask for a radio check, using my Cobra 25, with the aforementioned install, I always get good reports, getting out fine.

Question: "Which is right, putting the stinger on the bottom or pulling the stinger up?"

 

[mmckenna]

Question: "Which is right, putting the stinger on the bottom or pulling the stinger up?"

Neither, if you want to do it correctly.

The 'right' way to do it is to use an SWR meter and adjust the antenna to the correct length to give you the lowest SWR.

Their instructions sound like they are aimed at a consumer that doesn't have access to an SWR meter, or the knowledge to use it to tune the antenna. Not to bust anyone's chops, but Tram is low end consumer/ham stuff, and they market towards those users. I'm sure you know how to use an SWR meter and likely have one. Follow their instructions, then hook up the SWR meter and adjust as necessary.