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New to CB and New to the Forum...
- Thread starter jcrmadden
- Start date
Lil Wil on the Yukon is not too shabby...
At least by way of SWR...
1.9 at the bottom of the band...
1.8 at the top of the band...
And 1.3 on channel 19...
This thing is super sensitive though. Like I shifted around in the seat and it fluctuated a few tenths sensitive.
Now I have to retest the truck too. I was parked by a metal building, another truck, under power lines, and with the door open.
I know! I already owned tar-tar, re-re, and moron so feel free to lay it on...
I was just excited to play with my newest toy...
At least by way of SWR...
1.9 at the bottom of the band...
1.8 at the top of the band...
And 1.3 on channel 19...
This thing is super sensitive though. Like I shifted around in the seat and it fluctuated a few tenths sensitive.
Now I have to retest the truck too. I was parked by a metal building, another truck, under power lines, and with the door open.
I know! I already owned tar-tar, re-re, and moron so feel free to lay it on...
I was just excited to play with my newest toy...
Retested the truck under better conditions this evening (open field, nothing around, doors shut, breath held).
Only marginally better...
1.3 at the bottom of the band.
1.6 on channel 19.
2.0 at the top of the band.
Not terrible, but could definitely be better. At least better balance across the band
Only marginally better...
1.3 at the bottom of the band.
1.6 on channel 19.
2.0 at the top of the band.
Not terrible, but could definitely be better. At least better balance across the band
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niceguy71
Active Member
are those numbers on the Toyota before the bonding? looks like it's working
what's the wife's CB?
what's the wife's CB?
Yes, that's before the bonding.
Today was slow, so I marked out some drill locations on the hood, bed, and topper for future bonding locations. Used string to guestimate strap lengths. And made 1 strap. One very ugly mangled strap.
I need a better crimper. @niceguy71 the one you shared looks really nice. It's on the list now too.
Wife has the Uniden 510xl that I was running before.
Today was slow, so I marked out some drill locations on the hood, bed, and topper for future bonding locations. Used string to guestimate strap lengths. And made 1 strap. One very ugly mangled strap.
I need a better crimper. @niceguy71 the one you shared looks really nice. It's on the list now too.
Wife has the Uniden 510xl that I was running before.
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Why, she keys up and the music he hears is his little pride & joy.
Had a nodding acquaintance with that man in the last months before he died. He was on the mend, and so was I.
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I bought the one Mr Applegate linked. One of the best $40 purchases I’ve ever made.
Going to have to jump topper to bed all three sides. Tailgate, too.
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niceguy71
Active Member
I never heard anyone really happy with that little Uniden 510xl ( actually I have found people happy with it....but they are happy with 3 miles and think that's great).... but I know there are a million of them out there... so I thought I would YouTube it and see if anyone did a range test.... found this modification for it.... I don't know much about this radio stuff... but I am learning.. a great man recently shared with me that modulation at 100% can only be 4 times the watts.... so if the radio is putting out 4 watts the max modulation would be 16 watts... anything over that becomes a splatter box ... something like that.... I try to learn but I usually get it wrong.... but anyway this was interesting to watch.... not sure I would play with it as it seems to over modulate the radio... but again I found it interesting.
I do love me some Stevie Ray Vaughan! But hearing that sultry little southern draw bubbling out over the air fires a whole different neuron.
Might be a good excuse for a base station... To turn that 3 miles out three minute warning, into a 20 miles out coming home conversation
Also found this very interesting... Might play around just for the experience. Would the NC mic help with over modulation? I wasn't a big fan of the 636 on the QT60 and pulled it back off. Probably a better fit for the Uniden regardless?
niceguy71
Active Member
if you have the test equipment, it's fun to play with and at worst you lose a $50 radio...
I bought the Radioddity CS-47 just to play with.... after the mod it puts out 7.50 watts dead key and swings up to about 18 watts when I put a tone on it...... ( not recommending it... the voice is distant on it even with the mic gain on full and you can't change the mic) I keep getting my friends into CB and they keep buying junk and coming over for me to get it working well...... so I always say let's see what good stuff can do first so I put on my spare Tram 3500 on their roof and plug the radioddity CS-47 into the cigarette lighter just for testing and then have them go out for a range test... they come back with 9 to 14 miles and their sold... then I do the best I can with the yard sale radio they bought or the cheapest $50 Amazon Radio they can find and of course they always buy a 2 foot firestick for $20 bucks and think everything will work.... once I show them some nice equipment I say maybe you should buy the two items we are playing with, that you just saw working great???
and I always get... well I already spend $20 bucks on the Firestick and a mount and I can't bring that old radio shack CB back to the YardSale to get my $10 bucks back so let's see if we can get it working???? people!
I play with it all afternoon and we do another range test and they get 2 or 3 miles range.... the old little compact Radio Shack Cb's only put out a little over 2 watts.
I really like the little Chinese SWR / Power meter it's pretty close for testing ( $45 bucks) I also bought a peak modulation meter so I can see my peak modulation ( $130 bucks) and you will need a 100 watt 50 ohm dummy load ( $50 bucks) and a couple short coax cables..
I like playing with my radios just to see the dead key watt output and the modulation...again if it goes over 100% of modulation it will be a garbled mess....
people always tell you what radio's are good... well, good in their opinion... so I always test everything and also range test everything so I know what my equipment can do.
seeing your enjoying the hobby someday get some test equipment... I have a whole tool box of barrel connectors, elbows, adapters.... ends to solder on LMR 400 and RG8X.. I just started last year and am still learning a lot but I enjoy it when I find the time.
MFJ MFJ-815D MFJ-815D SWR/Peak Power Meters | DX Engineering
Free Shipping - MFJ-815D SWR/Peak Power Meters with qualifying orders of $99. Shop SWR/Wattmeters at DX Engineering.
I wasn't a big fan of the 636 on the QT60 and pulled it back off. Probably a better fit for the Uniden regardless?
The stock mic beats most everything.
I use BC-45 as it has no Up/Down buttons I don’t want.
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The stock mic beats most everything.
I use BC-45 as it has no Up/Down buttons I don’t want.
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KANE4109
Member
What antenna is this??? Looks a little long. Is it adjustable at all? It just looks like the center of the dip is still somewhat below channel 1. If you could shorten it and "pull that dip up" it might be good.
4.5' Skipshooter. It's definitely too long electrically. Actually had a great SWR out of the box (according to the meter on the QT60). Then I added the 3" QD and the 4" spring and SWR crept up.
When I started tuning I assumed that I needed to shorten the nail to compensate for the extra length gained on the lower end. But when I shortened it (just a little bit) my SWR got worse. I shortened it more and the SWR was worse still. So I lengthened it and SWR got better (still using the onboard meter). Took the tuning nail as long as I could and the SWR was even better. Replaced the nail with a longer nail and SWR got even more gooder!
I was only checking SWR on channel 19 then, and thought that it was a flat measurement across the band.
Now that I have the NanoVNA I'll retune and see what that actually looks like (when I can find time).
I think the bulk of my problem is still in the camper shell. It's ~300lbs of stainless steel panels that are in close proximity to the antenna, are poorly bonded to one another, and are perfectly insulated from the rest of the truck.
The composite bed interior probably has a fair share of the blame too. Not sure that one is figureoutable
KANE4109
Member
Excellent work. That NanoVNA really "tells the story" of what is going on. Good luck going forward.
Trust me, I'm trying, lol
I keyed up 51 days ago
This has all shown up since...
Obviously doesn't include what I'm actually running, or what I've passed off to the wife, or the extra antennas.
Not exactly extensive, but a pretty good start
If I keep up the pace I could be a divorced CB shop owner with a discount code in no time! 😂
niceguy71
Active Member
I had a post 8 or 9 months ago where I thanked everyone here for their help.... I tried to get a good working CB system in the 80's and never got more than a couple miles... so I was pretty appreciative of the people on this forum and in my post I mentioned I had NO IDEA how expensive this hobby is!.... my base station cost me about 2 grand (just under) ..... I would have never believed it if I didn't spend it..... coax strippers for GR8X $40 coax strippers for LMR 400 $40... coax crimpers for GR8X coax crimpers for LMR 400.......power supply.... quad 5 N II 100 feet of GR8X 40 feet of LMR 400 was over a $100!!!!! the mast and stainless steel brackets and grounding rod, copper grounding wire, and coax crimpers and coax ends, antenna analyzer... a good speaker a cb mount for my work bench... it just doesn't end!!!!!
if someone came to me door and said I see you have a CB antenna on your house.... can you tell me how to set one up at my house? I would say sure jump in my truck and let me show you the way... I would then drive him straight to the nut house and have him locked up
How much annually spent on cell/Net access?
How much is a new phone?
What’s the expense over a decade? $6,000?
A top CB that lasts 10-years + systems works to under $100/year.
Saves your bacon even once it not only paid for itself against huge losses, it magnifies future income in a way which is deeply impressive.
The phone is pure entertainment. Anything done online for money will be AI soon enough.
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How much is a new phone?
What’s the expense over a decade? $6,000?
A top CB that lasts 10-years + systems works to under $100/year.
Saves your bacon even once it not only paid for itself against huge losses, it magnifies future income in a way which is deeply impressive.
The phone is pure entertainment. Anything done online for money will be AI soon enough.
.
niceguy71
Active Member
your right, as hobbies go it's cheap... once the initial expense is paid for it's just enjoyment for many years to come.... but it's not the cheapest hobby and that first year is an eye opener!... I'm really not complaining, and hopefully no one takes me to the nut house.....
I wonder if someone just getting into the hobby was sat down and explained if you want good stuff and set up correctly it will cost two grand for a base station and many hundreds for a mobile system and a lot of work setting it up.... mobile $260 for the radio $ 100 for the timed relay that shuts off the radio after the key is shut off. $100 for an antenna $300 for RF bonding straps ...... ring terminals and a 00 double ought pair of crimpers star washers and bolts.. paint and undercoating and a day to get all the RF Bonding done
... and half a day to try to mount the CB in the vehicle plus the cost of the CB mount.. so a good install can cost up to $800
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