swr meter

Hey i just ordered a 500 watt 5ft firestik antenna for my cobra 19 ultra 3. I talked with someone from cobra and they said it doesnt matter how many watts an antenna is but you need an swr meter to set it up. What if i dont have an swr meter? will it still work?

a legal CB radio puts out 4watts so the general user wont need to worry about the wattage, only those big radio guys with amps and stuff.

but your radio MAY have an SWR meter on it, a lot of galaxys, cobras, unidens, and others have meters built in. each one works a little diffrent, galaxy you can just switch the switch to swr and key up it calibrates it self and your good to go.

to check the swr on any other meter, you need to set some switch to either cal or forward. and you move the calibration knob to the red line on the meter that says "cal." flip the switch down to "ref" and that is your SWR you want an SWR of as close to 1.1 as possible. if its above 1.5 watch it make sure it doesnt climb up, and if its near 2.0 you have problems.... you may damage your radio. i am assuming you have the fiber glass with the cap you take off the top, and turn an Allen key to move a metal bar up and down. to tune it. if its 1.5 or lower you can use these means to tune the antenna nice and low 1.1 or 1.2 if its higher you might have problems with the coax, or a ground problem. if you want more help and more details go to cbradiotalk.com and ask there. or for a much closer personal page, go to www.thecbradio.tk and ask there. or if you can figure out a way to get intouch with me, i can give you little tips and junk....

good luck

2008-11-15 09:48:09 by Marty S

How to use an SWR meter

I've just tried setting my new rig up and when i go to set the calibration knob on the swr meter to the set position it won't go all the way across. Why? The swr meter works fine when setting up my other rigs, so why don't it work on this one?

First, this is the car audio section...

Second, you may have a bad coax going to one of the antennas or you have blown the finals in the CB.

Get a dummy load (or another coax/antenna) and try again, this will tell whether it's the coax or finals.

2006-11-14 12:06:26 by jbenny1

Metal case is 5 x 2.5 x 2.5 inches.
Meter is for use on CB radio frequencies.
Jumper cable (3 foot) supplied. Field Strength antenna included.
Measures power 0 -10 or 0 -100 watts.
SO-239 UHF connector on each end to connect to radio and antenna.

I bought an older handheld CB at a flea market that works fine. And I'm going to be buying a magnet antenna for my car soon. Is it guarnteed that my SWRs witll be all screwed up and I'll need to get a meter? Or where can I get my SWR readings adjusted and for how much?

You will likely have a setup that will work within the operating parameters of the radio so an SWR meter is not a necessity.

They become a handy item if you operate a base station and have long runs of cable, large antennas etc. that might require adjustments or repairs.

I doubt you will get satisfactory operation though from a handheld unless you are talking to persons relatively close; the power out of those handhelds is usually quite low. Still, this might the window to fun with radio and lead to more stuff down the road. Enjoy!

2008-08-04 17:37:17 by wakum6

Size - 3 3/8" wide x 2 1/4" high x 3" deep.
Basic SWR meter in a Metal case.
Two SO-239 connectors on the rear to connect to radio (jumper required) and antenna.

The length of the CB antenna dictantes the frequency that it works best at. The CB has to be on the same frequency, so it's possible to tune the antenna to match the CB. When you hook up an antenna to a CB, the antenna has a little set-screw on the side that allows you to loosen the antenna and adjust its length.

To do the adjustment, set the CB to channel 19, hook up the antenna, and loosen the set screw. Then press the transmit button and see what the reading is on the meter. lengthen and shorten the antenna, while pressing the transmit button, to see what length antenna gives you the best signal. Once you have the best reading, tighten down the screw and you're done - the antenna is now tuned to your CB.

If it's a hidden antenna where you can't adjust the length, there should still be an adjustment screw on the antenna to tune it. Transmit and and adjust the screw until you get the best reading.

2006-08-27 11:17:06 by AK911dog

I just bought a SWR meter for my new CB and antenna and i am a little confused with the directions that came with it. It tells me to turn on CB and hold the mic button while i turn the calibrate knob until the needle points to the calibrate mark. OK i got that. Then it says to go to channel 1 and push the mic button to see the SWR reading. Then it says to do the same at channel 40. OK now here are my questions. What channel should i be on when i calibrate? If i start and calibrate on channel 1 do i calibrate again at channel 40 or just take the SWR reading at channel 40 without re-calibrating? To me it seems like i should calibrate somewhere in the middle like channel 20 and then take my readings on channel 1 and 40, but the directions dont specify. CAN YOU HELP?

You do that because ur trying to keep the SWR's as low as possible throughout the range 1 to 40 channels. Adjust antenna's as needed. IM or email for any more Q's related to CB's. I'm an old Radio hand.

Galaxy88 with a 4 pill driving 16,

And depending on what channel you plan on talkin on a lot, Make it 1:1 on that channel. Just remember this, When you switch channels, the swr's could get so high you could blow the finals out of the radio

2006-09-19 22:40:17 by rob