Fall Camp & Ride (Oct. 20-22, 2017)

I have the same cb and it actually works great. @Sholden223 also runs the same one. The main concern with CB radios is the coax and antenna. Make sure those are good quality and a good mount point and ground will assure good reception.

 

Are the SWRs bad currently? What readings are you getting?

There's a number of things that ppl often get wrong when they mount their antenna that could cause poor SWR readings. If you have a multi-meter, you can check a lot of them...anymore, when I tune someone's antenna, I have my multimeter and I check the antenna first before I even bother to hook up the SWR meter. If you don't have a multimeter, then there are some things you can visually look at. If you have the typical stud type mount with the nylon washer, the nylon washer should be on the antenna side of the mount, not the coax side. Ppl get this wrong a lot. Another thing that you generally need to do with a 2nd Gen, depending on where your mount is located, is to run a ground wire from the mount to the chassis since 2nd Gens have composite beds that don't provide a good ground.

If you do have a multimeter, you should first check these...

--Test the continuity between the base of the antenna (or the stud it screws into) and the mount.

~there should be no continuity.
~if there is continuity, then make sure the nylon washer is on the antenna side of the mount. If it is, then remove the coax and test between the center post of the coax and the outer shell. If you're still getting continuity, disconnect the coax from the radio and check it again. If it still has continuity, then the coax is bad. If it doesn't, then the issue is with the radio.​

--Test between the mount and a known good ground (clamp a wire to your negative battery terminal if you have to).

~You should have continuity.
~If you don't have continuity, you need to run a ground wire from your mount to the chassis (frame) of the truck.​

Once you have these things squared away, you're ready to check your SWRs. If you're still getting poor readings, inspect your coax. Make sure it's either 18' or 9'. Make sure if you have any excess wire coiled up somewhere it's coiled in a loose figure-8 not in a circle (a circle will cause induction in the wire when you transmit and will give you crappy readings and performance). If the coax is okay, but you're getting poor SWRs, it's probably the radio. If the readings are high, but under about 2.5 or so, then you could probably live with that. If they are higher, or you just don't like it, then try getting a better radio (Cobra 25 LTDs are the best!).

Hope that helps. If you want to come over on Mod Day this Sunday, I'll check it for ya.

 

could i get a link to the mod day?

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...-area-people-at.262544/page-377#post-13128908

 

thanks man. and thanks for the cb info ill check that stuff out. real quick tho what is generally the swr range im looking to get?

 

Anything under 2.0 is okay. Anything over 2.5 is pretty crappy. Over 3.0 will fry your transmitter so don't use the radio until you've fixed it. Really good is 1.5 or below. Best tune I've ever seen is @Alfuh 's when I tuned his at the annual meet back in February. He had ~1.1 on channel 1 and 40. On 20, the needle barely twitched. He's running a 5' firestik with a new Cobra 25 LTD Classic. I don't think it's gets much better than that. Mine is running 1.6 on 1 & 40 with a 1990 model Cobra 25 LTD Classic with a 3' Firestick Firefly antenna and a 9' Firestik Fire Ring coax mounted with a dome mount on the roof.

 

yeah that was nuts haha, but then I lost the tip somewhere out there in Citrus and ended up getting a repair kit but havent tuned it yet. so no idea if it'll go back down that low again lol

 

everything under 2....... guess im good. i thing it was fuzzy due to the powerlines maybe

 

Under 2 is definitely a good reading with a tiny radio like that.

 

October needs to hurry up and be here

 

Thought I was your best!

 

No, you were the easiest, haha. You're antenna was tuned right out of the box, no adjustment needed.

 

Well at least I'm on top in one category. Haha

 

Yup that's all you'll need, I've got the handheld and a 4' fire stick

 

@TacoFreak4O7 did you do the fold away fire stick set up like mine?

 

yeah i did tho the soft topper made it difficult to actually fold away but all i have to do really is unscrew the fire stick tuck it down and screw the firestick back in

 

Pull me off the list Lee, my move in date is on the weekend of. Bummed I can't make it.

 

That sucks. Well, there's always the annual meet in February.

 

Testing out the new grill for citrus!

 

Nice!