SWR higher on SSB

[cavmedic]

Yes, but its not practical for most CBers using a service monitor or AF generator, or making a custom mic audio test cable, then hauling it out to the car for a simple SWR measurement that you can do just fine with an AM or FM carrier.

And I say this having done more SWR measurements than probably 99.9% of all RR members.

Here ya go, nothing to carry to your car except your phone..
Can trim, check, adjust, check for an hour without having to reset the tone. hold mic up to phone. or if feeling froggy, play it through BT and acoustically couple through car speakers.


Pro tip: If you over drive your speakers, its like swallowing your mic for the full bowl tuning.

1 k tone

 

[prcguy]

Here ya go, nothing to carry to your car except your phone..
Can trim, check, adjust, check for an hour without having to reset the tone. hold mic up to phone. or if feeling froggy, play it through BT and acoustically couple through car speakers.


Pro tip: If you over drive your speakers, its like swallowing your mic for the full bowl tuning.

1 k tone

Thanks, but I don't currently have an SSB only radio so I'll use AM or FM. I have plenty of tiny audio generators and portable amplified speakers but why bother? Constant carriers rules here. Your coming up with solutions that don't really have a need.

 

[cavmedic]

Thanks, but I don't currently have an SSB only radio so I'll use AM or FM. I have plenty of tiny audio generators and portable amplified speakers but why bother? Constant carriers rules here. Your coming up with solutions that don't really have a need.

Just simple solutions to what was said couldn't be done is all.

 

[slowmover]

Just simple solutions to what was said couldn't be done is all.

Thanks for tone link.

But does SSB SWR make any difference (not being contentious)? I’m not on mobile SSB much, but the latest radios made it much easier to enjoy when I am.

How’s that Tacoma?

Post in thread 'Looking for advice for a new CB radio "system" for my pickup truck'
Looking for advice for a new CB radio "system" for my pickup truck

.

 

[cavmedic]

Thanks for tone link.

But does SSB SWR make any difference (not being contentious)? I’m not on mobile SSB much, but the latest radios made it much easier to enjoy when I am.

How’s that Tacoma?

Post in thread 'Looking for advice for a new CB radio "system" for my pickup truck'
Looking for advice for a new CB radio "system" for my pickup truck

.

The more power thrown at a mismatch will equal more power reflected.



I gave up on trying to fix the fuel pump RFI. It wasn’t worth screwing with the harnesses to add filtering that may make it work better. The truck only gets driven on the weekends and the last time I had the HF antenna on, the garage it was at getting an alignment didn’t check the height of their over head door and drove the screwdriver antenna into their door and snapped it. Luckily it was caught on my dash cam and they bought me a new one. Now that we have snow, ice and salt all over the roads, it’s unmounted till spring, summer or even eternity.

 

[niceguy71]

Wanna put money on that ?

all the money in the world!
you don't set or test SWR on SSB

 

[niceguy71]

TinySA is a tool we could use to put numbers to experienced ear interpretations for purposes of discussion. Tech doesn’t always tell the story, but it comes close enough as start-point even if it’s not end-point.

In mobile some antenna designs will stand up to hard use better. Some other designs . . (etc).

.

I've yet to see how that could help.... that video didn't show me anything

 

[slowmover]

I've yet to see how that could help.... that video didn't show me anything

“A spectrum analyzer measures the strength of signals . . displaying the amplitude of these signals on a graph”

.

 

[WSAC829]

all the money in the world!
you don't set or test SWR on SSB

Then we are all broke except for @cavmedic because it is possible, and can be fairly accurate. FYI some HF radios are SSB only. As much as i hate AI, even it agrees that SWR can be set in SSB mode. Never say never.

 

[EAFrizzle]

The TinySA is great for checking harmonics and spurious emissions from your transmitter. You can say you have a clean rig, but this lets you see it.

Again, I highly recommend a set or two of SMA attenuators for the TinySA, even if you only have a barefoot, FCC compliant radio. The front end is very easy to overload and burn out, especially if you have, shall we say, a greater than normal ERP (you we know who  you we are).

For a serious tech, it's a useful, pocket-sized tool to get a quick overview of a transmitter. For CBers and other hobbyists, it's very useful and quite a bit of fun.

 

[prcguy]

Then we are all broke except for @cavmedic because it is possible, and can be fairly accurate. FYI some HF radios are SSB only. As much as i hate AI, even it agrees that SWR can be set in SSB mode. Never say never.

View attachment 195029

I think everyone already knew this and the only reason to do it would be on a radio that only has SSB. Even then a whistle is not always stable and a tone sent to the mic jack is the best method for reasonably constant power on SSB. Since this is a CB radio forum, name a CB that is SSB only.

 

[WSAC829]

Since this is a CB radio forum, name a CB that is SSB only

CB’s are technically HF radio’s, but in this case, i can’t. I can only name some specific Ham rigs. It was just a general statement. I thought we were talking about checking SWR on SSB in general. CB forum? Yes it is. Can we check SWR on SSB? Yes we can.

Edit: You did notice i highlighted the tone generator part right?

 

[robertwbob]

interesting

 

[cavmedic]

PayPal or Venmo

I think everyone already knew this and the only reason to do it would be on a radio that only has SSB. Even then a whistle is not always stable and a tone sent to the mic jack is the best method for reasonably constant power on SSB. Since this is a CB radio forum, name a CB that is SSB only.

If everyone knew this, then why was all the money in the world placed up for me to have?

@niceguy71 rather than taking your money, please make a donation to a local animal shelter or rescue and we will call it even.

 

[K9KLC]

Any Steady source can obviously be used. The misconception happens when you try and look at on a in line SWR meter and are talking on SSB, the source is not steady so obviously it will fluctuate. We've set SWR using SSB multiple times thru out the years on some of the early ham radios simply using a steady tone source. A better thing is if it has cw to use that, it is not modulated in any form so CW is actually my favorite way if I have to use an Inline meter and that's on the radio being used for the test.

 

[niceguy71]

PayPal or Venmo

If everyone knew this, then why was all the money in the world placed up for me to have?

@niceguy71 rather than taking your money, please make a donation to a local animal shelter or rescue and we will call it even.

let's get real
this is a CB forum, .... not an expensive ham radio SSB rig forum.
people buy a CB radio with SSB... like the CB in this post the Radioddity QT-80 and the people here also buy a $20 or $30 dollar SWR meter.
people come to this forum for real world info and help..... talking this foolishness of trying to set the SWR on SSB is only confusing the new people... people will read this thread for years .... they will skim through the thread and if they see yes you can set the SWR on SSB they will try it.....
this is not how it's done and unless you have an expensive SSB SWR meter like the Daiwa CN-901 HP which needs a minimum of 20 watts, it's not going to work for them... so why discuss and confuse the new people????
why are we discussing the foolishness of trying to set SWR on SSB???? if you had a sealed lab where the air would not move and you could lock a mic where it would not move and if you put a tone generator in the perfect audio location adjacent to the mic ... even then.... we all know how easily the needle on a SWR meter pegs the meter just by moving the mic or with any back ground noise at all... it is far too easy to get wrong reading..... so why not talk about how it's actually done and not some scientific lab work with expensive equipment.

we need to teach and tell people how you really do it??? you set SWR on AM and that's it... if the SWR warning is going off like the reason this post is here... then it is not a problem with the SWR... it's more of a known problem with the QT-80.... I know the Anytone 5555 N II and QT-60 have the SWR warning indicator set at 5 to 1.... and it's never a problem... I have no idea what the QT-80 is set for...... but lets talk about how to actually use and operate a CB radio and talk about real answers for this thread.

 

[cavmedic]

let's get real
this is a CB forum, .... not an expensive ham radio SSB rig forum.
people buy a CB radio with SSB... like the CB in this post the Radioddity QT-80 and the people here also buy a $20 or $30 dollar SWR meter.
people come to this forum for real world info and help..... talking this foolishness of trying to set the SWR on SSB is only confusing the new people... people will read this thread for years .... they will skim through the thread and if they see yes you can set the SWR on SSB they will try it.....
this is not how it's done and unless you have an expensive SSB SWR meter like the Daiwa CN-901 HP which needs a minimum of 20 watts, it's not going to work for them... so why discuss and confuse the new people????
why are we discussing the foolishness of trying to set SWR on SSB???? if you had a sealed lab where the air would not move and you could lock a mic where it would not move and if you put a tone generator in the perfect audio location adjacent to the mic ... even then.... we all know how easily the needle on a SWR meter pegs the meter just by moving the mic or with any back ground noise at all... it is far too easy to get wrong reading..... so why not talk about how it's actually done and not some scientific lab work with expensive equipment.

we need to teach and tell people how you really do it??? you set SWR on AM and that's it... if the SWR warning is going off like the reason this post is here... then it is not a problem with the SWR... it's more of a known problem with the QT-80.... I know the Anytone 5555 N II and QT-60 have the SWR warning indicator set at 5 to 1.... and it's never a problem... I have no idea what the QT-80 is set for...... but lets talk about how to actually use and operate a CB radio and talk about real answers for this thread.

Don’t back pedal now. Pony up

 

[niceguy71]

PayPal or Venmo

If everyone knew this, then why was all the money in the world placed up for me to have?

@niceguy71 rather than taking your money, please make a donation to a local animal shelter or rescue and we will call it even.

well instead of PayPal, next time you're up in New England I'll buy you a beer and you can show me how you set the SWR with a tone... maybe I'll learn something.... but I'm sure it would be great entertainment.

 

[K6GBW]

Someone please look up the word padentic... I think this has gone on long enough.

 

[K9KLC]

let's get real
this is a CB forum, .... not an expensive ham radio SSB rig forum.
people buy a CB radio with SSB... like the CB in this post the Radioddity QT-80 and the people here also buy a $20 or $30 dollar SWR meter.
people come to this forum for real world info and help..... talking this foolishness of trying to set the SWR on SSB is only confusing the new people... people will read this thread for years .... they will skim through the thread and if they see yes you can set the SWR on SSB they will try it.....
this is not how it's done and unless you have an expensive SSB SWR meter like the Daiwa CN-901 HP which needs a minimum of 20 watts, it's not going to work for them... so why discuss and confuse the new people????
why are we discussing the foolishness of trying to set SWR on SSB???? if you had a sealed lab where the air would not move and you could lock a mic where it would not move and if you put a tone generator in the perfect audio location adjacent to the mic ... even then.... we all know how easily the needle on a SWR meter pegs the meter just by moving the mic or with any back ground noise at all... it is far too easy to get wrong reading..... so why not talk about how it's actually done and not some scientific lab work with expensive equipment.

we need to teach and tell people how you really do it??? you set SWR on AM and that's it... if the SWR warning is going off like the reason this post is here... then it is not a problem with the SWR... it's more of a known problem with the QT-80.... I know the Anytone 5555 N II and QT-60 have the SWR warning indicator set at 5 to 1.... and it's never a problem... I have no idea what the QT-80 is set for...... but lets talk about how to actually use and operate a CB radio and talk about real answers for this thread.

I agree people come here to learn, so let's teach them the better way. People keep mentioning "ham radios" in a CB forum, yet if someone mentions other ham stuff it's out of bounds. I stopped using inline SWR meters as soon as other methods came out. Almost all of the CB'ers I know personally do NOT use an inline meter for SWR, they use a dedicated device, even if just a Nano VNA. Most of them are way better at using those devices than some of the entry level hams I know so, lets not act like CBers are any less than some hams knowledge wise. Most however that take CB a little more seriously use something a little higher up the ladder. Perhaps let's teach about using other devices that can actually provide useful information in demanding situations where someone may be able to ascertain their antenna is dipping way below CH1 or way up above 40 which indicates other issues at times. If we're gonna teach, then let's teach.

You're right the argument about SSB SWR tests is foolish, but to me so is using an inline meter for an initial install. I can't imagine the people running around with antenna systems that could be vastly better or, time simply wasted by using an inline meter, especially these days with some of the vehicles they try to put antenna's on. There's much better ways. If the masses are gonna recommend the newest greatest radios, let's recommend the newest greatest way's to do the antenna checks.