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Help tuning co-phase antenna
- Thread starter Joshwyle
- Start date
This is the advice with depth. A shop would have an antenna analyzer if it’s needed.
If things were working before you swapped antennas, look for hard plastic washers, o-rings and lock washers that went on the old antennas threaded base.
It may they fell into the mirror housings.
Look at antenna packaging list of included items and how to assemble antenna.
WALCOTT RADIO has most everything of this kind of stuff. (See sat pic; drive in first entrance and circle building to park on south side).
Put the padlock on your chain-drive truckers wallet before you go inside there.
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See 1st diagram. Your antenna = “the stud nut” (shown). Need the washers, mainly the hard plastic ones as shown. A thin flat washer atop that then the Wilson lock washer.
I could be wrong with how Peterbilt did it, but I’d try this. The antenna is designed to work as delivered. Only minor adjustment.
Need a ladder to look into the mirror housing top to confirm. Can remove mirror back, but I wouldn’t unless it’s easy (easy to screw it up, remember).
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I could be wrong with how Peterbilt did it, but I’d try this. The antenna is designed to work as delivered. Only minor adjustment.
Need a ladder to look into the mirror housing top to confirm. Can remove mirror back, but I wouldn’t unless it’s easy (easy to screw it up, remember).
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Been following this a while and my best input here is going back to formula so you can better understand.
The point of cophasing antennas is to have your maximum gain broadside to the array, that is to the front and rear of a truck.
The phasing harness between the antennas is such that the wavelength is 'IN PHASE'. Typically 216 inches.
Tapped at the center with a 'T'. Now the reason for 75 ohm phasing harness is paralleled, this is 73.5 ohm, a closer impedance to a transceiver.
100 ohm coax would be better, but very hard to find and expensive.
Installing on truck mirrors works well, as you can separate the antennas by 108 inches, (ideal) slightly narrower has little effect.
The bracket in post 22, should be grounded to the mirror support. the antenna stud should be insulated with fiber/poly washers so there is no contact to ground.
One end of the phasing harness to each of the SO239 connectors on the brackets. Now you can check for shorts at the T connection to the transiever connection. There should be zero or infinate resistance.
Now install antennas, I do one at a time.
The Wilson shown in #22 is very good, but there are many other options, as log as the antennas are tunable.
Initial tuneup: first antenna, disconnect the harness with no antenna. At the T, connect a good SWR meter then to the radio.
Standard procedure, adjust for best SWR. goal is 1.1:1 but anything under 2.0:1 will work.
I never trusted internal radio SWR meters, all to often, they are poor at best.
Now remove antenna 1, install anttenna 2 and swap phasing harness connectors. Repeat the tunning procedure.
If the results are not similar, something is not right, but that is rare.
Now, install antenna 1, connect the harness and check SWR. If this is less than 2.0:1, you are about good to go.
Your performance is up to the radio.
Don't foget to weatherise your outside connections.
Tips and tricks. My antenna is not unlike the Wilson and with a 14 inch rod, the tip of the antenna is a bit above 13'6"
This will hit low bridges and the likes of Eisenhower tunnel. SO, a solution is to tilt the antennas forward like 30 degrees.
This will actually but slightly improve front and rear gain, you have seen this on a lot of trucks. Ideally, best gain is 32 degrees.
There is no benefit if the antenna(s) go above a box trailer. Flatbed, no appearant difference.
My old truck, I had 2 seperate antennas, one CB, the other amateur. No problems talking 6 to 10 miles up and back the highway.
The point of cophasing antennas is to have your maximum gain broadside to the array, that is to the front and rear of a truck.
The phasing harness between the antennas is such that the wavelength is 'IN PHASE'. Typically 216 inches.
Tapped at the center with a 'T'. Now the reason for 75 ohm phasing harness is paralleled, this is 73.5 ohm, a closer impedance to a transceiver.
100 ohm coax would be better, but very hard to find and expensive.
Installing on truck mirrors works well, as you can separate the antennas by 108 inches, (ideal) slightly narrower has little effect.
The bracket in post 22, should be grounded to the mirror support. the antenna stud should be insulated with fiber/poly washers so there is no contact to ground.
One end of the phasing harness to each of the SO239 connectors on the brackets. Now you can check for shorts at the T connection to the transiever connection. There should be zero or infinate resistance.
Now install antennas, I do one at a time.
The Wilson shown in #22 is very good, but there are many other options, as log as the antennas are tunable.
Initial tuneup: first antenna, disconnect the harness with no antenna. At the T, connect a good SWR meter then to the radio.
Standard procedure, adjust for best SWR. goal is 1.1:1 but anything under 2.0:1 will work.
I never trusted internal radio SWR meters, all to often, they are poor at best.
Now remove antenna 1, install anttenna 2 and swap phasing harness connectors. Repeat the tunning procedure.
If the results are not similar, something is not right, but that is rare.
Now, install antenna 1, connect the harness and check SWR. If this is less than 2.0:1, you are about good to go.
Your performance is up to the radio.
Don't foget to weatherise your outside connections.
Tips and tricks. My antenna is not unlike the Wilson and with a 14 inch rod, the tip of the antenna is a bit above 13'6"
This will hit low bridges and the likes of Eisenhower tunnel. SO, a solution is to tilt the antennas forward like 30 degrees.
This will actually but slightly improve front and rear gain, you have seen this on a lot of trucks. Ideally, best gain is 32 degrees.
There is no benefit if the antenna(s) go above a box trailer. Flatbed, no appearant difference.
My old truck, I had 2 seperate antennas, one CB, the other amateur. No problems talking 6 to 10 miles up and back the highway.
Attachments
That is very common.
Yes, it will kill your SWR.
It's bad enough when pursuing the wares online... If I had it in my hands it would be a hard to imagine setting it back down...
The wife made the mistake of asking what I wanted for Father's Day. A long running tradition of answering "nothing" probably had her conditioned to expect the same. I have a Walcott cart about to bust and she now has a dozen links to choose from... Fingers crossed🤞for a CMC130
I joke that as a truck driver I can’t afford women, fast cars, guns, booze, etc. But I kin afferd a Cee-Bee!
Radio is, I’ll admit, where I’ve had an open wallet.
Still — and the reason this is written — with the need for family comms, what doesn’t work out in the big truck goes to the shelf for:
Personal vehicle
Home station
And, those of family.
(3) good radio rigs, minimum.
The install on my pickup is comprised almost solely of gear & supply for previous big truck attempts.
And look to what’s for sale on radio forums or at swap meets. A lot of guys burn thru attempts offering gear almost not used, occasionally. Bought my most expensive radio that way (Yaesu ft450d). I’ve used eBay several times to buy in bulk: (5) KES-5 speakers. (4) Uniden Bearcat wireless mics ant below wholesale. Etc.
Here’s a good example came from just reading around as the future may hold a deeper interest. Hate to have walked past a bargain years ago.
— Gave my son a complete system for his SUV a few years back and already had an amp plus all the first class supply to do the install (more than a third of the expense).
As hobbies with work-related importance this one’s hard to beat. One branches out to look at comms in a multi-faceted way. Can test for quality, daily.
I draw the line at SDR, and related. A “computer” is a permanent weak link. To me, Radio connotes an independence. (Test gear is another thing).
Also a great way to channel that gettin’ squirrel-ly gotcha-into-trouble energy back when younger . . and still present. (Soberly call it, the pleasure of problem-solving, today, ha!)
Xmas will come around. Birthday. This is my central gear bag kept at home. Six or seven fishing lure type latch boxes, plus smaller ones of mainly fasteners, heat shrink, etc. Then more BB fabric “containers” for heavy cabling, etc.
The CB techs of my acquaintance use those rolling tool boxes with telescoping handles.
My advice is not to try to get it all into one unit. Some stuff almost never gets used.
Hobo Freight Apache cases for radios themselves. Another for SWR gear. Etc.
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The Uniden 510 is now wired up in the wife's Yukon with the Lil Wil on top. There's a lot more metal on top of her rig than mine and it's working okay. I wasn't thinking about permission or forgiveness, just about a convenient use of the resource. We convoy about an hour together twice weekly. As soon as I have a President Washington she'll have a QT60 and my 17yo will inherit the Uniden. She has the roof rack with cross bars that would protect the mount. That's when I'll ask for forgiveness (after I drill the hole). Shhhh....
Anyone who thinks CB is dead has NEVER been around when there’s a woman on the air handling herself well. They come out of the woodwork.
Looks like we got off-track from co-phase antenna tune.
Yes, and No.
Yes, it’s not directly to the thread.
No, the acquisition of better gear, proper tools, and high-quality supply all need storage & organization. Co-phase once outfitted with higher quality coax plus CMC filters & RF Filter add expense (performance), and the need to maintain and/or repair should be recognized.
Dedicated tools
Backup gear
(Planning to get home, driver?)
Every good truck driver I know already carries tools. CB Radio deserves its own bag.
And if I have to buy stuff on the road, it’ll go towards those other vehicles once I get the big truck radio rig squared away.
— Truth is I didn’t realize what thread I was in. But it still works, as the better the radio rig, the greater the enjoyment, and the more it’ll get used.
Cophase has worked well for me in maintaining contact despite that 53’ reefer behind me. Other men are more likely to key up . . and all of us benefit by some talk on conditions.
All wiring (heat & power) plus cabling (radio) enters thru lower.
If in fact I’m wrong about stud, then SWR meter assembly plus operation is what to go back thru.
Despite decades on/off radio use, I still have to get out instructions.
10” lower shaft (not 5”) is the other. Good to get that coil above cab roof.
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Yes, and No.
Yes, it’s not directly to the thread.
No, the acquisition of better gear, proper tools, and high-quality supply all need storage & organization. Co-phase once outfitted with higher quality coax plus CMC filters & RF Filter add expense (performance), and the need to maintain and/or repair should be recognized.
Dedicated tools
Backup gear
(Planning to get home, driver?)
Every good truck driver I know already carries tools. CB Radio deserves its own bag.
And if I have to buy stuff on the road, it’ll go towards those other vehicles once I get the big truck radio rig squared away.
— Truth is I didn’t realize what thread I was in. But it still works, as the better the radio rig, the greater the enjoyment, and the more it’ll get used.
Cophase has worked well for me in maintaining contact despite that 53’ reefer behind me. Other men are more likely to key up . . and all of us benefit by some talk on conditions.
All wiring (heat & power) plus cabling (radio) enters thru lower.
If in fact I’m wrong about stud, then SWR meter assembly plus operation is what to go back thru.
Despite decades on/off radio use, I still have to get out instructions.
10” lower shaft (not 5”) is the other. Good to get that coil above cab roof.
.
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