i got my cb all wired up and my antenna mounted. what are you guys getting your firestik cb swr readings to? i couldnt get it lower than a 1.8 with the cap off, and then when i put the cap on it went to 3 something.

1 is perfect right?

were using a radio shack meter, on 2000 watts, it has a 20 watt place or 2000 watt place. i know my antenna is only 600 (3ft) doest hat mean its being tested at 2000 watts instead of 600? were following the instructions in the book, putting it in cal mode, then setting it to 1, ect.

were also using a radioshack 12 foot cable, and it goes into my cb kinda snug.

my mic is done also, gotta track down a midland mic that works.

edit, we were tuning on channel 20

 

ok, where to start...1.8 is not bad but it is not optimal either...you 1 is better but still not optimal. you need to aim for a perfect 0. it is pretty hard to get 0 due to a number of things...cable quality, ground, placement of antenna on the truck ect... I know the meter you are talking about with the 2000 watt setting. If you are using a stock radio (without a peak/tune or a linear amplifier) you need to use the 20watt position. the 2000 is for when you want to tune while using a high watt system. I don't use a firestick antenna, I usually go with a K40 if im running a fiberglass setup....but they are all basically the same in the big picture. It is good that you are checking ch 20 for your SWR because its the direct middle channel...but you also need to check ch1 and ch 40 for swr...also, you should check SWR at dead key and while making some sort of noise. You will be surprised sometimes on the swing you will get on the meter...starts at 1.8 then swings to 3+...which = bad.
A lot of people forget the basics of SWR. All it means in a nutshell is that if you have a HIGH SWR reading, you are loosing potential power that you could have to get your signal out. someone with a SWR of .2 will travel a lot farther than someone who has SWR or 3+.
If you have a stock setup, It will not harm the radio as bad as if you are using a linear and having a high SWR and frying it from the power loss.

If you have any excess cable, you need to coil it up to a tight circle. do not just let it hang or run it somewhere. too much cable will only hurt your SWR reading.
Get a spring for your mount. That will give you a few more inches and raise the antenna higher as to help it not reflect off of the cab of the truck.
Ground the antenna to the frame...OR ground the bed of the truck to the frame with another cable...(welding strap is PERFECT for this). When you test SWR, make sure that all doors are shut and the truck is running.
PS: if you want to broadcast out a LONG way away, Im selling a Linear amp in the classified section...just FYI haha

 

0 is impossible to achieve. I got mine to around 1.25 with a $30 cell phone look a like antenna from Radio Shack. Also, you will want to do this out in the open, not around any buildings. The electrical fields will alter your readings.

 

yeah i didnt have the excess coax curled up when i did it, and it was off and doors open. grounding the bed sounds like a good idea too. i didnt know if a 3 or 4 foot ant. was better or not, iveheard the tighter wound part should be level with your roof.

the spring for a firestik, is it loose or just enables it to fold if something hits it? i dont want it to slap into my cab

 

 

Mount it on the passenger side, not the driver's side. This will optimize your propagation to the left of the truck. Mounted where it is, you are optimized to the right of the truck. The farther back you mount it, the more you will optimize it to the front of the truck.

 

Please stop giving CB advise, you don't know what you are talking about. 1:1 is the best swr you can achieve. NEVER coil coax....always lay excess coax back and forth beside itself. A spring will have a major impact on your swr reading as it lengthens your antenna. To the OP, I assume this is a firestick type antenna with an adjustment screw in the end?

 

yes it is

 

I really don't understand why its throwing your swr off so bad. The little rubber cap shouldn't affect your swr. How is it mounted to the truck?

 

with one of these

http://www.walcottcb.com/firestik-ss...l?cPath=28_353

to the side of my bed

 

Is it grounded well? Using a VOM, check your continuity between the bed and the mount with the coax unplugged.

 

touch one to the mount on the outside ish of it and another on the bed itself?

if its grounded well it will have continuity if not it wont?

 

Yes....you will have to get through the paint to bare metal. The best way would be to use the Ohm setting and read it that way. It should read very few Ohms.

 

im really having trouble with this thing. i got it so i can hear a friend when hes close to me and as he drives away i loose him completely at 50 yards or so. until that distance he gets worse and worse.

my cb is transmitting fine, filling up the lights on the front of my 1001z.

when i set the rf gain up to full the first 2 lights light up

its really hard to get someone clear evne if they are close to me

i feel like i have a small amount of engine noise. is that possible if i wired it straight to the battery?

im really not trying to move my antenna to the other side of my truck as someone suggested, but i do want to get this right.

my antenna is mounted as shown, then the wires run through a grommet and along the wires under the diamondplate kick pannels at the bottom of the doors and its coiled up under my dash board. i dont know where to put the excess cable. its grounded under the dash board on a bolt that bolts to the fire wall, and the positive is run straight to the battery and its on top ofthe other cables on there.

any advice is helpful. i just want this thing to work right.

 

Are you using the 12' coax as a jumper between the SWR meter and the radio or is that the coax you're using between the antenna and the radio? What kind of coax is it? Quality coax will go a long way.

I think a lot of your problem is in the antenna. Even though the fiberglass antennas like the Firestik are top loaded they still need to be as high as possible on the truck. Where you installed your antenna is very convenient and cosmetically it looks good but you have a lot of reflection (or interference) off the cab. I'll bet you would be a lot better off with the 4' version.

I'm about to put a radio in my truck and I plan to either use a 4' Firestik or my Wilson SW2000 antenna since I've had good luck with them in the past. I'm wanting to mount the antenna on the passenger side behind the cab and hopefully the taller antenna will help with SWR and range issues. CBs are fun to have and play with but getting them set up the first time can be a pain.