SSPSpyder
01-31-2009, 01:57 PM
As a 30+ year CB nut, I can offer the following on antenna tuning:
1) Ground is crucial! If the antenna mount is not properly grounded to the frame of the vehicle, you will never get it tuned. Use a jumper wire if you have to.
2) When using an SWR (standing wave ratio) meter to tune the antenna, make sure the coax cables are hooked-up to the proper connectors on the meter (output/input), and follow the instructions that come with the meter.
3) Make sure your :spyder: is 20 or more feet away from any other vehicles, structures, etc. when tuning your antenna. This includes other people.
4) The higher the antenna, the better it is, but there's not much you can do on a Spyder.
5) No matter what she says, longer is better! Use the longest antenna you can put up with looks-wise.
6) You're aiming for the lowest SWR you can get - anything less than a 1.5 is great - but some antennas are tough to tune, as long as you are less than the red zone of the meter you should be O.K.
7) There are 3 methods to tuning: tune the channel you will be using the most (17 or 19 for truckers, etc,), channel 20 since it is in the middle of the band, and tuning channels 1 and 40 to the lowest they will go and match each other, the rest of the channels should be close.
8) Firestick antennas usually have a copper wire underneath the top cap that you trim to tune - never cut more than 1/4 inch off of this at a time, then re-check the SWR. If you trim too much you'll have to solder some more wire back on to it.
9) There is no magic number - tune it as low as it will go as long as it is not in the red.
10) CB radios are fickle pieces of equipment, that's why they are being replaced with FRS radios. At any given time of day, with a CB your talk range can vary from less than a mile to 5-6 miles!
11) I noticed someone suggested taking the radio and antenna off of the Spyder and sending them to be tuned - don't - everything must be on the vehicle to tune the antenna properly!
Hope this helps!:thumbup:
1) Ground is crucial! If the antenna mount is not properly grounded to the frame of the vehicle, you will never get it tuned. Use a jumper wire if you have to.
2) When using an SWR (standing wave ratio) meter to tune the antenna, make sure the coax cables are hooked-up to the proper connectors on the meter (output/input), and follow the instructions that come with the meter.
3) Make sure your :spyder: is 20 or more feet away from any other vehicles, structures, etc. when tuning your antenna. This includes other people.
4) The higher the antenna, the better it is, but there's not much you can do on a Spyder.
5) No matter what she says, longer is better! Use the longest antenna you can put up with looks-wise.
6) You're aiming for the lowest SWR you can get - anything less than a 1.5 is great - but some antennas are tough to tune, as long as you are less than the red zone of the meter you should be O.K.
7) There are 3 methods to tuning: tune the channel you will be using the most (17 or 19 for truckers, etc,), channel 20 since it is in the middle of the band, and tuning channels 1 and 40 to the lowest they will go and match each other, the rest of the channels should be close.
8) Firestick antennas usually have a copper wire underneath the top cap that you trim to tune - never cut more than 1/4 inch off of this at a time, then re-check the SWR. If you trim too much you'll have to solder some more wire back on to it.
9) There is no magic number - tune it as low as it will go as long as it is not in the red.
10) CB radios are fickle pieces of equipment, that's why they are being replaced with FRS radios. At any given time of day, with a CB your talk range can vary from less than a mile to 5-6 miles!
11) I noticed someone suggested taking the radio and antenna off of the Spyder and sending them to be tuned - don't - everything must be on the vehicle to tune the antenna properly!
Hope this helps!:thumbup: