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CB antenna requirements/restrictions
June 20, 2008
4:13 am
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Fred
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I know that Cal4Wheel and others require that your cb antenna length be no longer than about 4 feet. Has anyone heard about any restrictions with how high above your vehicle the antenna can be?

I just put in a new cb and had to relocate my antenna to get good SWR measurements. I've now got a 4' tall antenna mounted to the top of my trail rack. It sticks up about 3.5' above my Jeep. It looks a little tall, but it gets 1.3 on the SWR on every channel.

June 20, 2008
4:43 am
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Dan-H
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I think you'll be fine.

I worked trek staging for 4 years and we would only take issue with metal antennas that could fly all over the place. We had a few show up with 9 foot whip antennas that we made duct tape to the roll cage or remove entirely. fiberglass antenna's were not a problem no matter how high they were, and even 5 footers were overlooked.

Is it on a spring mount? Up that high it might get torn off in the trees if its not.

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June 20, 2008
5:00 am
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BKGM Jeepers
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"FAM" wrote: I know that Cal4Wheel and others require that your cb antenna length be no longer than about 4 feet. Has anyone heard about any restrictions with how high above your vehicle the antenna can be?

I just put in a new cb and had to relocate my antenna to get good SWR measurements. I've now got a 4' tall antenna mounted to the top of my trail rack. It sticks up about 3.5' above my Jeep. It looks a little tall, but it gets 1.3 on the SWR on every channel.

Thread semi-hijack. I tried to tune my CB, but have no clue what I'm doing-even after reading the directions. Could I run by some time and get a check up?

June 20, 2008
5:02 am
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Dan-H
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I might have an SWR meter. I'll go check. back in 5 mins

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June 20, 2008
5:03 am
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BKGM Jeepers
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"Dan-H" wrote: I might have an SWR meter. I'll go check. back in 5 mins

George lent me his and its in my garage. Still no clue... embarassed

June 20, 2008
5:06 am
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JohnDF
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If it works...don't mes with it wink

I used to wheel a lot. . .

June 20, 2008
5:07 am
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Dan-H
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I can go put an antenna on my jeep and try to talk to you.

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June 20, 2008
5:08 am
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Dan-H
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"Dan-H" wrote: I can go put an antenna on my jeep and try to talk to you.

and I did find my meter, but I couldn't find the patch cable embarassed

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June 20, 2008
5:42 am
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Dan-H
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"BKGM Jeepers" wrote: [quote="Dan-H"]I might have an SWR meter. I'll go check. back in 5 mins

George lent me his and its in my garage. Still no clue... embarassed

I can show you how, but I'm heading to bed. I'll be around tomorrow evening if you still need some help.

Does the meter have instructions?

If its like mine you plug it in inline. Flip the switch to fwd, key the mike adjust a knob to get the max power then flip the switch to rev and read the SWR.

check on 1, 20 and 40.

If high on 1, lower on 20 and lower still on 40 the antenna needs to be lenghened slightly with the tuning screw.

If high on 40, lower on 20 and lowest on 1, try shortening antenna by screwing in the tuning screw slightly.

Make small changes.

- Dan

caveat: this is from memory and I haven't done this in 10 years and can't find the instructions and haven't read the instructions in probably 25 years so I might have this mixed up.

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June 20, 2008
5:46 am
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Dan-H
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OK, last one. I think my instructions are pretty close but here is a writeup.

http://www.offroaders.com/info/tech-cor ... ng/swr.htm

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June 20, 2008
7:29 am
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RobD
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I have never tuned a CB antenna...Never had a problem and I get all the distance and clarity of a tuned antenna...

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June 20, 2008
1:25 pm
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Fred
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"BKGM Jeepers" wrote: Thread semi-hijack. I tried to tune my CB, but have no clue what I'm doing-even after reading the directions. Could I run by some time and get a check up?

If you'd like to come by Saturday we could check it out.

June 20, 2008
1:28 pm
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Fred
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"Dan-H" wrote: Is it on a spring mount? Up that high it might get torn off in the trees if its not.

No spring, but it's a Wilson Flex antenna. Its bendable like a fishing rod. I think it'll be ok, but I've got it on a quick disconnect so I can remove it if needed.

June 20, 2008
1:30 pm
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Fred
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"RobD" wrote: I have never tuned a CB antenna...Never had a problem and I get all the distance and clarity of a tuned antenna...

Sometimes you get lucky. Once I got this antenna into a good location the tuning was great and I didn't have to make any adjustments.

June 20, 2008
5:00 pm
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BKGM Jeepers
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"FAM" wrote: [quote="BKGM Jeepers"]Thread semi-hijack. I tried to tune my CB, but have no clue what I'm doing-even after reading the directions. Could I run by some time and get a check up?

If you'd like to come by Saturday we could check it out.

Can I get a raincheck? I'm out of town.

June 20, 2008
5:01 pm
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Fred
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"BKGM Jeepers" wrote: Can I get a raincheck? I'm out of town.

Sure

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