CB SWR Reading

[mladore93]

Hello,

Just wondering, I hooked my cb up, and calibrated the SWR readings, and on channel 1 I got a 1.52 reading, and on channel 40 I got a 1.50 reading...

I couldnt seem to get the reading to 1.5:1

Any ideas? or should I just leave them alone.

 

[gewecke]

Hello,

Just wondering, I hooked my cb up, and calibrated the SWR readings, and on channel 1 I got a 1.52 reading, and on channel 40 I got a 1.50 reading...

I couldnt seem to get the reading to 1.5:1

Any ideas? or should I just leave them alone.

. You're good, just run with it. Even 2;1 isn't anything to worry about. 73, n9zas

 

[mmckenna]

I agree, but just for kicks, what's your SWR on channel 20?

 

[DK327]

I'd be pretty happy with 1.5:1 on 1 and 40! Unfortunately I can't get that with my 36" Little Wil... Best I can do with my mobile setup is 1:1 midband (needle never moves) to 2:1 on 1 and 40...

 

[FiveFilter]

Yeah, those short antennas generally are not as wide-banded as the tall models. On the other hand, they sure are good at getting into garages without all the drama.

I've got a 35-inch shorty on one of my vehicles that I park in a garage and wouldn't have anything else, even though the SWRs are not as good as that provided by my skyscraper / ceiling scraper tall boy, which has to stay outside with the alley cats.

 

[Rred]

You can relax and enjoy it, or, you can start reading up on antenna theory and look into just how complicated that can get. To chase down uniform low swr across a wider frequency range, among other things you can use a thicker antenna, i.e. moving from a whip to wider tubing. Many ways to skin a cat, but usually there are equally good reasons for the common way things are done, even if it is not perfect.

 

[greusome1]

Think you will enjoy my story... My setup is an ATV with lil wil mag antenna... mounted on a 3inch by 3inch plate screwed onto front rack. (not much of a ground plane I know) I was talking around 5 miles or so pretty good... but one thing let to another and I smoked my radio using things that are notorious for increasing swr lol ha ha... .. but anyways... I never tuned my lil wilson whip.. never had a meter... so I got a meter... and a new radio (cobra 19 IV)... now is where it gets interesting.... whip is on front, I wrapped excess coax around the racks (above my bottom load) and tested my swr... chan 1 was 3.1 and chan 40 was maxed out pegging my meter.....so I unwrapped my coax and kinda stretched it out on the ground around my atv and my swr lowered across the board my half a point.. (chan 1 was now about 2.7 and chan 40 was around 4...... I snipped my whip in 1/4 inch increments totaling in all about 3/4 of an inch off and got chan1 to hardly move the needle... chan 40 was 1.2.... chan 20 was the highest at 1.4.... dude your good to go... There are a lot of things that can affect swr.... too close to a trailer (my experience) will do it.... wrapping up excess coax wrong can increase swr... antenna location as well.... your good in my opinion.... but if you have swr problems.. its mostly trial and error unless you and see damage to coax or antenna etc.again enjoy cause your GOLDEN......

 

[mmckenna]

Better yet, cut the coax to the actual length you need. Install a UHF connector, either soldered or properly crimped.

A better choice for an ATV would be a half wave antenna. They'll work without a ground plane. They used to make them for use on fiberglass boats. Might be a bit difficult to find now.

I'm running a 45 watt Motorola VHF radio on my Polaris Ranger. All the UTV's in the family are set up with a VHF mobile radio and an antenna mounted on the roll cage.
I've found having reliable communications while on the trail is a must.

Glad to hear you got yours sorted out.