I have a 2009 ultra and I just installed a J&M CB on my wifes road king. Seems the radio contact between all bikes that I have riden with or anyone I talked to states the CB doesn't transmit very far. I have read you can tune the CB antena using a SWR meter and increase the distances you can transmit and receive. Anyone ever done this and what were the results?
Anyone used a SWR Meter used to tune CB?
- Thread starter orange68
- Start date
ultra...good
Banned
You can get an SWR (Signal to Wave Ratio) meter from Radio Shack for around $20. The antennas and systems are supposedly set from the factory and unless you make changes to the system, you should not have any issues. For your wifes bike, you may want to check it or have it checked by someone. But, I have also heard that beyond about a mile, the stock c/b system is no good for transmitting, and that would have more to do with the amount of output by c/b radio, which is measured by wattage, then it is an issue of the antenna. If your SWR's are out of line though, it only gets worse from there.
Hoople
Account Removed
I would use the meter. It quickly identifies other problems as shorted coax, open center conductors, bad or oxidized coax connectors etc. If the SWR has a good low value, it tells you that everything from the radio out=> is good. As Kemo says, saves the radio from burning up the final transmit Xsistors.
lorne
Senior Member
is this a ant that does not need a ground plan?
if so check your ant cable with a ohm meter you could have a short in the connector.
if your ant needs a ground plan (it is for a car) then make sure the ant mount is mounted to a conducting metal.
these would explain your problem
i would do this before a swr
if so check your ant cable with a ohm meter you could have a short in the connector.
if your ant needs a ground plan (it is for a car) then make sure the ant mount is mounted to a conducting metal.
these would explain your problem
i would do this before a swr
Hoople
Account Removed
So True. Excellent point.
mlrc10
Active Member
LOL ,I did learn something today ....Do they really make a watt meter that cost $20 ? That has to be a precision piece of equipment . The elements of my watt meter are like $85 bucks apiece . They can "set" an antenna at the factory all want ,unless it is mounted in the exact same place ,with the exact same object around it . The antenna will " see " the difference , therefore changing the tuning.
ultra...good
Banned
SWR meter, not watt meter.
radio shack swr meter items - Get great deals on Electronics, Business Industrial
They are as low as $5, and up, so I guess I was wrong.
lorne
Senior Member
if your check out some of the Ham Radio web sites you can get some decent prices. Byrd meters are very good probably one of the best, but it is for someone who would use it every day. the Hams sites have some decent quality swr meters that would do the trick.
when using a swr meter make sure your meter is rated for the frequency of your radio. example police fire etc mainly are on VHF where as CB is HF so you could not use the same meter. although it has been done if you are able to manually turn down your output power
I did install the ground on he antena as the instructions indicated and this helped. But, I think the output should be a little better. Seems the other day when we were riding out the the country near no buildings, etc we could only reach about 2-300 years.
Even whenwe ride with the HOG group, the distance for all radios seems to be pretty short. May just be a wattage thing, I just don't know. Sounds like I need to get a meter and check things out.
Even whenwe ride with the HOG group, the distance for all radios seems to be pretty short. May just be a wattage thing, I just don't know. Sounds like I need to get a meter and check things out.