Portland SWR tuning shop

Anyone know a local business that does SWR tuning? Just installed CB last night and a need the antenna tuned.

Thanks,

Mike

 

Well I found a place in Clackamas and they said don't even bring it in if I have a 9ft cable vs. a 18ft cable. I was pretty convinced it wouldn't matter and I'm back at square one. May buy one and try it myself.

 

I sed an 18 ft cable vs a 9 ft : the antennae tuned in perfectly. also keep your cb antennae away from fm antennae it will interfere with the cb. that's who i take my truck to when im in the portland area also they repair cb's too

 

Yeah, I know of the place in Clackamas, I've been there. They think they know it all and teh guy is 'my way or the highway'.
Cable length doesn't matter, do a search online and you can find many facts to this point.
I hugely doubt there's anything about the fm antenna distance unless they are straight up touching, and even then I'd kind of have to see it. CB antenna is typically on left of vehicle, radio on the right. That's a whole 3 to 4 feet - such a small length that I don't see how it could matter.

The big importance, so I'm told so far and haven't found anything to dispute it, is having an excellent ground and a large enough antenna to clear the cab height. the taller the better, but keep in mind there's a tradeoff on whacking things! If you are hood mounting, 4 foot is a good size.

If you jump in the BS section and post your question, I'm sure you can get one of the other guys to help. Most of us hang in that thread and get too lazy to venture around

 

if you were down by salem i could prolly help you out, but meters arent that expensive, and i am sure there are lots of guys on here that can walk you through tuning.

 

Thanks guys

 

the length of your coax doesnt really matter *too* much..it depends on what antenna you are using (i.e. 5/8 wave or 1/4 wave) ground plane or grounded etc. the biggest thing i have found is the length of the antenna, on my old jeep when i switched from a wilson 1000 top load to a 102" whip (1/4 wave) in the same location as the old one, i had to triple the coax i had to get the swr to come back down to a managable level...it was a fiasco. i blame the soft top for a poor ground plane, and i got terrible interference from the engine....long story short, i suggest you test as you install, to avoid having to change things around, or just keep blowing finals in your unit like i did

 

I got an SWR meter, If you get up north to Seattle/Tacoma area, i"ll be glad to help you tune it.

 

Hey, I just installed a CB radio and need it tuned... would you be able to help me out? I'm up in Everett, but work down in Redmond, if either of those places are near to you...