CB Gods hate me .... Ebay LMR 400 is no good?

[niceguy71]

I have an identical one but it looks like yours is painted blue. Mine is stock with some weathering and I'll be painting it cammo to blend into a surrounding forest. I'll post pics in a few weeks when I get all the antennas mounted on the mountain cabin.

I sure hope yours works... I'm flabbergasted that mine is not.... It was never dropped... Gently stored for 33 years... It looks perfect.... But I guess this stuff happens

 

[niceguy71]

I would dissassemble and inspect for corrosion or breakage and reassemble and make sure it is water tight. No reason to try THE RG8 cable as the LMR sounds like it is OK.

I don't think it comes apart???

 

[niceguy71]

HELP....
hi Guys I bought 40 feet of
TIMES ® LMR400UF Antenna Patch Coax Cable PL-259 UHF Male CB HAM RF LOT from E-bay for $109.00 to go from my antenna to my lightning arrestor.... I had a few big guys over today to put up the big mast ( my Coax Seal came in, easy peasy to put on) so I said hold on led me check the SWR on the meter before we spend a couple hours wrestling that thing up... NEVER EXPECTING anything to be wrong..... but the Shakespeare Big Stick is 33 years old ( it was always in its cardboard tube safely in the hay loft of my barn).... but I Better test it.... so we put the antenna on the fence pole ( see picture) and I was getting 9 SWR on a non adjustable antenna??? so I said let me try my 100 feet of RG8 .... I of course was cursing myself for doing such a good job of putting the Coax Seal on the antenna!!!!.... so we took the antenna down and put RG8 on and put it back up... now the SWR was 1.44 ( see picture)... I put my ohm meter on the LMR 400 no shorts.... so I guess I'll contact the e-bay seller I bought it from on July 07 2023 and see if they will replace it... am I missing anything????
Thanks
Steve

Question,,....,. It may.be the antenna... But I just can't believe it.... I feel it's the lmr400.... My pick up trucks antenna seems good and I've talked on it.., what if I disconnect the mobile antenna at the cb...do a swr on it then put a barrel connector onto that then the lmr400 and do another swr test.... If the LMR400 is good ithe swr shouldn't change much???? I will have to leave the door open on the truck and let the 40 feet of LMR400 lay on the ground... But I think that would convince me the lmr400 is good??? Thoughts???

 

[prcguy]

Question,,....,. It may.be the antenna... But I just can't believe it.... I feel it's the lmr400.... My pick up trucks antenna seems good and I've talked on it.., what if I disconnect the mobile antenna at the cb...do a swr on it then put a barrel connector onto that then the lmr400 and do another swr test.... If the LMR400 is good ithe swr shouldn't change much???? I will have to leave the door open on the truck and let the 40 feet of LMR400 lay on the ground... But I think that would convince me the lmr400 is good??? Thoughts???

That would be an ok test but the 50 ohm load test you did would indicate the LMR400 is good.

 

[jwt873]

Have you tried the graphing function of your antenna analyzer? Try sweep the coax/antenna from say 24 to 30 MHz. Is there a resonant point or low SWR anywhere on the graph?

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

That would be an ok test but the 50 ohm load test you did would indicate the LMR400 is good.

And the RG8 is bad/lossey as it reported low VSWR initially.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

I don't think it comes apart???

It must come apart because it ships in sections. I think either 1) You have a 10 meter version as your VSWR test suggests the antenna is short. or 2) some corrosion has set in at the connecting points. 3) Check your SO239 on bottom of antenna for worn, splayed or missing contacts for center connection. 4) The instructions indicate the antenna must be mounted high above any metal objects and you have a metal fence below.

 

[prcguy]

And the RG8 is bad/lossey as it reported low VSWR initially.

It sounds like he tested the LMR400 with a load and it was perfect, then commented the antenna worked with RG8 giving a 1.8 to 1.4:1 match which sounds ok depending on what freq range he was testing. His model Big Stick comes apart in two sections, the 9ft+ base and the top whip and its not intended to come apart any further without damage. There is a rubber boot on his which means its a later version with required high voltage protection after a certain date. Years later Shakespeare changed the design to an end fed and it shipped in 3 sections due to the shipping companies upping their rates for anything longer than about 8ft. Shakespeare never made a 10m version, people just cut down the top whip to resonate in the 10m band.

If I were in MA this week I could get to the bottom of this problem in about 5 minutes using his antenna analyzer.

 

[niceguy71]

That would be an ok test but the 50 ohm load test you did would indicate the LMR400 is good.

I bought a 2 pack of two foot jumpers pl259's very cheap ones 14 bucks ... I took one out to the antenna and hooked it up to the Rig Expert.... I always seem to have trouble getting a great connection to my used Rig Expert but it always works... today it kept giving me all zeros??? so I got the other 2 foot cable and kept playing with it, it would go from Zero's to an SWR of 7 and finally I got it an swr of 2.1 to 3.4 ... so I guess that means my antenna is no good???? when I had it hooked up at the end I shook the antenna and Rig Expert and the 2 foot jumper and it always stayed about the same....... I then took my SWR Rig Expert to my pick up truck.... it's parked next to a building but this is just a test of the LMR 400... I hooked it up to my Tram 3500 and got an SWR of 1.6 to 1.7 ( it was way better out in an empty field) I then put the LMR400 between the Tram 3500 and the Rig Expert with a barrel connector and got an SWR of 1.4 to 1.7 .... so it looks like the LMR 400 is ok as everyone said. and I guess I'll buy an Antron 99 and a ground plane kit... I'll deal with that another time... running out of CB money... never expected to spend thousands and not have my base station up yet!!!! but it was SOOOOO close if not for the old Shakespeare not working it would be done.
ok new question... don't put a lot of thought into it as I'm not dealing with it right now.
my SWR on my pick up wasn't great so I said I'll play with it seeing I have the Rig Expert out.... so I played and played and played and could only get it to 1.6 to 1.7..... it was kind of hard to keep jumping in and out of the bed of the truck .... so I opened the sliding back window and stuck my head in... again 1.6 to 1.7.... but the cable is between the seats and a long way for me to see... so I put the 2 foot jumper on it to let me get it closer to the sliding glass window and just like that the SWR went to 1.2 to 1.4????? why???? how??? should I keep the jumper hooked up?? it shouldn't make any difference at all????... I'm sure it's just a connection somewhere... but how it got better is beyond me... I will deal with this at a later time also... have a good night all

 

[niceguy71]

Have you tried the graphing function of your antenna analyzer? Try sweep the coax/antenna from say 24 to 30 MHz. Is there a resonant point or low SWR anywhere on the graph?

oh brother... you got the wrong guy.... I'm not real smart on this stuff... I read all the stuff and calculations the Hams do to set up dipole antennas and doing charts and graphs and crazy calculations ..... the extent of my knowledge is the on off button on my CB and I do know what side of the mic to talk into ... the rest I'm going to have to learn.... WAOCBW mentioned that and I do have a section in my Rig Expert's owners manual that I will read... but right now I have a million hobbies going on and my brain just can't learn one more thing.

 

[prcguy]

I bought a 2 pack of two foot jumpers pl259's very cheap ones 14 bucks ... I took one out to the antenna and hooked it up to the Rig Expert.... I always seem to have trouble getting a great connection to my used Rig Expert but it always works... today it kept giving me all zeros??? so I got the other 2 foot cable and kept playing with it, it would go from Zero's to an SWR of 7 and finally I got it an swr of 2.1 to 3.4 ... so I guess that means my antenna is no good???? when I had it hooked up at the end I shook the antenna and Rig Expert and the 2 foot jumper and it always stayed about the same....... I then took my SWR Rig Expert to my pick up truck.... it's parked next to a building but this is just a test of the LMR 400... I hooked it up to my Tram 3500 and got an SWR of 1.6 to 1.7 ( it was way better out in an empty field) I then put the LMR400 between the Tram 3500 and the Rig Expert with a barrel connector and got an SWR of 1.4 to 1.7 .... so it looks like the LMR 400 is ok as everyone said. and I guess I'll buy an Antron 99 and a ground plane kit... I'll deal with that another time... running out of CB money... never expected to spend thousands and not have my base station up yet!!!! but it was SOOOOO close if not for the old Shakespeare not working it would be done.
ok new question... don't put a lot of thought into it as I'm not dealing with it right now.
my SWR on my pick up wasn't great so I said I'll play with it seeing I have the Rig Expert out.... so I played and played and played and could only get it to 1.6 to 1.7..... it was kind of hard to keep jumping in and out of the bed of the truck .... so I opened the sliding back window and stuck my head in... again 1.6 to 1.7.... but the cable is between the seats and a long way for me to see... so I put the 2 foot jumper on it to let me get it closer to the sliding glass window and just like that the SWR went to 1.2 to 1.4????? why???? how??? should I keep the jumper hooked up?? it shouldn't make any difference at all????... I'm sure it's just a connection somewhere... but how it got better is beyond me... I will deal with this at a later time also... have a good night all

I would be surprised if the Big Stick is broken beyond what RF-EMI-GUY mentioned about the internal fingers on the SO-239 connector at the base of the antenna. Or if someone ran a lot of power the thin copper wire inside the top whip can sometimes burn and break inside the fiberglass.

I would remove the top whip and check the resistance from the connector center pin to the whip threads which should be a short then check from the connector threads to the whip threads, I believe that should be open but I will check my antenna in a couple of days. If you have a 3/8-24 thread type mount on your vehicle you can also screw the top whip into that and see if that has a good match in the CB band.

How did you spend thousands of $$ on all this so far? What costs all that much?

 

[niceguy71]

And the RG8 is bad/lossey as it reported low VSWR initially.

the RG8 is the only thing I'm sure of... I bought that at a CB shop a couple months back....the guy hooked it to a dummy load and put an ohm meter on all the ends.... told me this will work just fine for a normal base station... he has the same cable on his base in the CB shop and it's been working great for 20 years... he told me don't go crazy with the losses and all the rest of it.. just hook it up and enjoy it.... I think he was right.... the RG8 and the LMR400 gave me two completly different readings... but I guess it's just the length of the RG8 and a little more resistance that made the difference... I really don't get it myself... the RG8 had a good SWR on the Shakespeare and the LMR400 did not.... but I guess it's the antenna.

 

[niceguy71]

It must come apart because it ships in sections. I think either 1) You have a 10 meter version as your VSWR test suggests the antenna is short. or 2) some corrosion has set in at the connecting points. 3) Check your SO239 on bottom of antenna for worn, splayed or missing contacts for center connection. 4) The instructions indicate the antenna must be mounted high above any metal objects and you have a metal fence below.

it is two sections... the top is all fiberglass and just screws into the bottom half.... simple screw and washer... it was brand new no corrosion.. it IS a 11 meter CB base antenna see pictures... the bottom half if a hollow fiberglass piece with metal ends top and bottom I have no idea what is inside but it is factory sealed and if I try to open it I think that will be the end of it... well I guess the antenna is no good so maybe I could see about pulling it open and see if I see something off.... but it maybe a little beyond my knowledge... my expertise is mostly tin cans and string

 

[niceguy71]

It sounds like he tested the LMR400 with a load and it was perfect, then commented the antenna worked with RG8 giving a 1.8 to 1.4:1 match which sounds ok depending on what freq range he was testing. His model Big Stick comes apart in two sections, the 9ft+ base and the top whip and its not intended to come apart any further without damage. There is a rubber boot on his which means its a later version with required high voltage protection after a certain date. Years later Shakespeare changed the design to an end fed and it shipped in 3 sections due to the shipping companies upping their rates for anything longer than about 8ft. Shakespeare never made a 10m version, people just cut down the top whip to resonate in the 10m band.

If I were in MA this week I could get to the bottom of this problem in about 5 minutes using his antenna analyzer.

if you were in MASS and helped me with my problems you would have had the best meal of your life!! ( well if you like the Texas RoadHouse) ... I try to go there once a week. but they treat me and my friends like kings.... by the way I do appreciate all your help you are extremely knowledgably and helpful.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

it is two sections... the top is all fiberglass and just screws into the bottom half.... simple screw and washer... it was brand new no corrosion.. it IS a 11 meter CB base antenna see pictures... the bottom half if a hollow fiberglass piece with metal ends top and bottom I have no idea what is inside but it is factory sealed and if I try to open it I think that will be the end of it... well I guess the antenna is no good so maybe I could see about pulling it open and see if I see something off.... but it maybe a little beyond my knowledge... my expertise is mostly tin cans and string

You might have corrosion where is screws together. It was new, what 33 years ago? Stuff corrodes just sitting in air. I would measure DC continuity from the center conductor to the top element, from outer conductor to the bottom section. The fact that it is mounted very low to earth may have an effect on VSWR as well.

 

[AJAT]

. I always seem to have trouble getting a great connection to my used Rig Expert

Thinking outside the box here, maybe your rig expert is the problem, if you are have a hard time with the connectors. If you had to mess with the connector to get it to go from 7 to 2.1 maybe if you keep messing with it it will go lower. I would see if you can pick up or borrow a second SWR meter. Does you CB have one? Although the ones on the CBS are usually not very accurate either something to compare.

 

[prcguy]

if you were in MASS and helped me with my problems you would have had the best meal of your life!! ( well if you like the Texas RoadHouse) ... I try to go there once a week. but they treat me and my friends like kings.... by the way I do appreciate all your help you are extremely knowledgably and helpful.

I'll be about 50mi north of you in late December but you should have things figured out by then. And Texas BBQ is like crack cocaine to me, I can't get enough of it.

 

[niceguy71]

I would be surprised if the Big Stick is broken beyond what RF-EMI-GUY mentioned about the internal fingers on the SO-239 connector at the base of the antenna. Or if someone ran a lot of power the thin copper wire inside the top whip can sometimes burn and break inside the fiberglass.

I would remove the top whip and check the resistance from the connector center pin to the whip threads which should be a short then check from the connector threads to the whip threads, I believe that should be open but I will check my antenna in a couple of days. If you have a 3/8-24 thread type mount on your vehicle you can also screw the top whip into that and see if that has a good match in the CB band.

How did you spend thousands of $$ on all this so far? What costs all that much?

the money I have spent is unbelievable... and you really don't want to be boarded.. but ok, I bought RF bonding for my pick up so I got a few 12 foot rolls of 1 1/4" braided strap... I bought 50 terminal ends... I bought the crimpers for 00 thru 8 AWG terminals and a roll of 4 awg ground straps.... I bought a trans hump cb mount $50 ( it didn't fit) I bought a multi angle floor mount piece $50 but that wouldn't fit either... VERY hard to get the radio in the truck... I bought a junk yard pull out tray for my pick up that I mounted my CB to and is working nicely.... I bought several fittings and cables.... the LMR400 was $109 the RG8 was $89 after taxes... the Tram3500 was under a 100 bucks when I got it....and can be bought for 50 now... I bought 3 top fence rails $30 each and two 1 1/4 EMT 10 footers plus stainless steel bolts and washes.... almost $300... I bought a lightning arrestor 90 bucks.... I found out I have to cut the LMR400 so it will come down the side of my mast STRAIGHT into a large waterproof box ( the plastic hinged box was $50) I was going to go past the box and up from under to make a drip loop.. but I was schooled that lightning will not do curves or bends thanks Bill..... so I spent $300 at DX engineering on LMR400 ends and a crimper and a stripper then another set of jaws for the crimper so I can do my RG8 then RG8 ends and a RG8 stripper.... then I guess i'm going to have to solder the center pin... so I bought solder and a soldering iron..... I also bought a relay for my mobile so I can go from the battery to the CB with 10AWG and when I shut off the key in the truck the CB will shut off.... I am trying to get a Mic holder for the truck.. got a magnet one but it doesn't fit my mic so I got another that sticks to the dash but it sticks out too far... there is no place to mount my base station on my work bench so I got a computer monitor arm bracket so I can mount it to the side of the bench and swing it to were I can see it and use it and still have my whole work bench... I bought 4 Stainless steel house to mast clamps ... I bought a couple of SWR meters... didn't seem to work ( real junk so I got the Rig Expert... ( WOW NICE UNIT) .. I've bought ground rods and grounding cable grounding clamps... I have a guy coming in to dig an 8 foot hole for my ground rod... I live on a rocky area... spent years learning you just can't dig on my property... all rocks the size of a watermelon you can't get them out with a post hole digger.... dummy loads.. all the bolts and star washers for doing the RF bonding on the truck... I have a 100 bucks into bolts washers drill bits ext... clear paint ....blue paint U bolts... I could honestly go on all day.. and it's more than a grand... I have a addiction / passion for CB handhelds... I now have over 30 of them and have been buying tools and testing gear for them so when I get my base station up I will be doing range testing and power testing on them and see what I can do... I thought it would be nice to take the dog for a walk and go out 1 mile and try to talk to the base.. then 2 miles and then 3 and then 4..... I will set up a video recorder on my base station.... going to be fun if I ever get the base up and running.... but if I had known three months ago when I retired.. I wouldn't have done it! ..for all I know my Cobra may not work! ... on the truck.... I did RF Bonding 6 places on bed to the frame... 4 places cab to frame... RF Bonding from CAB TO BED ...fenders doors ...hood... then I put 10 ground straps on it.... it all takes time and MONEY .. I could keep going but as I said I thought I would bore you ( sorry)

 

[niceguy71]

Thinking outside the box here, maybe your rig expert is the problem, if you are have a hard time with the connectors. If you had to mess with the connector to get it to go from 7 to 2.1 maybe if you keep messing with it it will go lower. I would see if you can pick up or borrow a second SWR meter. Does you CB have one? Although the ones on the CBS are usually not very accurate either something to compare.

I am a little scared of the Rig Expert... I bought it on E-bay... so you never know... it seems to be fantastic.... as I raise and lower my mobile antenna to make adjustments it is right on if 40 is high I lower the whip and it comes down... but the PL259 bottoms out against the Rig Expert on a lot of fittings... but I compared it with my dosy SWR meter and they were pretty close... but good thought thank you AJAT

 

[niceguy71]

I'll be about 50mi north of you in late December but you should have things figured out by then. And Texas BBQ is like crack cocaine to me, I can't get enough of it.

if this thing isn't done by late December, you may see all my gear stacked on the side of the road with a free sign... no wait.. all the trouble i've had... I think I'll burn it!