CB tuning dilema
01-16-2003, 09:30 AM
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CB tuning dilema
OK here's the situation. I ordered the Cobra 75 WX/Firestik combo in the group buy organized by Mike. Installed everything last weekend, and problems arose when it came time to tune it. I couldn't get the needle on the SWR meter to budge, even in calibrate mode. But after talking with Firestik tech support I'm hoping it was a problem with the SWR meter itself. At first I thought it might be a bad antenna ground, but Firestik told me that when you put the SWR in calibrate mode, it removes the antenna from the equation, and you're left with the meter, the radio, and the jumper coax.
The radio, meter, and jumper coax were all new. Unfortunately I don't know anyone in my immediate vicinity that also has a CB for me to test. The meter was a cheap Radio Shack model on clearance for $9.99, so I rolled the dice and returned that. I guess there's a possibility that I got a bad radio. Firestik did also say that Cobra has had some quality issues, and they (the Firestik guys) all use Uniden radios. Problem is, I can't find another SWR meter to save my life, so I currently have a non-tuned setup that I'm leery of using because I don't want to hurt something from it not being tuned!
Anyone have any other advice for testing the radio? Do you think it was probably a bad meter?
The radio, meter, and jumper coax were all new. Unfortunately I don't know anyone in my immediate vicinity that also has a CB for me to test. The meter was a cheap Radio Shack model on clearance for $9.99, so I rolled the dice and returned that. I guess there's a possibility that I got a bad radio. Firestik did also say that Cobra has had some quality issues, and they (the Firestik guys) all use Uniden radios. Problem is, I can't find another SWR meter to save my life, so I currently have a non-tuned setup that I'm leery of using because I don't want to hurt something from it not being tuned!
Anyone have any other advice for testing the radio? Do you think it was probably a bad meter?
01-16-2003, 09:35 AM
#2
I'm willing to bet you have some local CB shops around there in SF.
They all do CB tuning, and a SWR job normally runs $5, at least up here in WA. state it does.
See if they can test your SWR, and see if it's all grounded right too.
I ran into a problem when I moved my antenna from my fender mount to my ARB.
The match was very high, until I learned I did not ground it correctly.
Now my match is about 1.1 across all 40 channels, which is dynomite.
They all do CB tuning, and a SWR job normally runs $5, at least up here in WA. state it does.
See if they can test your SWR, and see if it's all grounded right too.
I ran into a problem when I moved my antenna from my fender mount to my ARB.
The match was very high, until I learned I did not ground it correctly.
Now my match is about 1.1 across all 40 channels, which is dynomite.
01-16-2003, 12:23 PM
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Great call Corey!
I had searched previously on the online yellow pages but didn't find anything. But, when I changed the search from CB to 2-way radios, I did find a shop that was only a few miles from work.
Bottom line is that it was the SWR meter. 5 minutes and $7.50 later, I had readings of 1.2 on ch. 1, 20, and 40!
I had searched previously on the online yellow pages but didn't find anything. But, when I changed the search from CB to 2-way radios, I did find a shop that was only a few miles from work.
Bottom line is that it was the SWR meter. 5 minutes and $7.50 later, I had readings of 1.2 on ch. 1, 20, and 40!
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