New Antennas

[glarson3]

My CB antenna recently broke off right at the fold-over point. Only had about a 1/4 inch stub left. I decided to purchase a pair of 3' firestiks to replace both antennas. I had never bothered checking the SWR on my previous OEM antenna, but wasn't as confident with the firestik antennas. I broke down and bought an SWR meter, and all of the required adapters/connectors to check the SWR on the antenna. I'm sure glad I did. Initial SWR reading was at/above 3 on 1, 19, and 40. Over several iterations I was able to cut off more and more of the wound copper in order to get to a setting I was comfortable with. Final reading was as follows.
Channel 1 1.05-1
Channel 19 1.1-1
Channel 40 1.4-1

Moral of the story is that it might be worth it to check your SWR, especially if you are using something other than the OEM antenna. For $150 I was able to get the antennas, adapters, and SWR meter with connectors/adapters to test SWR. I would have spent about the same amount buying a new OEM antenna.

[Westdc]

Where did you SHop (link) for all the parts -Thanks

[wingleader09]

The Firestick antenna I got from Pete for my BikeMP3 CB has a tunable tip that you just screw in or out to adjust the SWR. The model of the antenna is the "Firefly".

[glarson3]

Where did you SHop (link) for all the parts -Thanks

The Antennas and quick-release adapters were from BikeMP3. The SWR meter and parts were from Radio Shack.

I wish now that I had bought the Firefly, as it would have been a lot easier to tune, but it really didn't take much time. I think I spent 5 or so iterations cutting a little bit off at a time from the copper wire.

Part #'s needed for the job are:
SWR meter is Radio Shack item # 21-534
Motorola connectors Radio Shack # 278-117, Radio Shack # 278-208, Radio Shack # 278-121, and Radio Shack # 278-968. One of each.

[Westdc]

Thanks for your time

[ka4yqi]

I think you need to check even the OEM antennas. I have found several that was as close to being good on the SWR.

[kwthom]

On my 2016, I didn't want the separate CB antenna, so I went with the combination setup that a well-known vendor of motorcycle electronic parts sells. This has a very thin fiberglass 3 foot antenna as well as a matching network for the CB antenna to be used with both the CB and the AM/FM radio.

AM radio performance isn't that great to start with, FM may have degraded ever so slightly, and I was truly amazed that the CB matched quite well with the included antenna. Based on a event last year in Death Valley, I was able to hear while others that had the OEM stick couldn't...and we were all in the same location.

Now, I also have (from my CB days...) a 4' Firestik Firefly that I'm considering sticking on for one trip, just to see if the performance goes up. I don't use it, because the 3 foot antenna clears my garage door entry with about two inches to spare.

[Rocky]

New Antennas

11-23-2014, 05:32 PM