[Frontier636]

hey all...

so i just got a Cobra 19 DX IV with a 4' Firestik 2 antenna. so i went to the CB shop to get a CB Speaker & PA Horn.. so when i was there i asked the guy how much to tune my cb he asked what i had and he tells me "oh that one cant be tune" ... i was like hummmm okay and took off with my stuff .... i have been reading here and on the net and there is notting that is tellling me that the 19 cant be tune...

so my question is you guys with a cobra 19 did u guys tune yours ???

is that guys full of B.S and did not want to deal with me ???

:hi:thanks for you help

 

[davidapplewhite]

Any CB can be tuned. Some more than others. The plan when you get a cb tuned is to get the lowest dead key possible and the highest swing the radio is capable of. You had swr??? but nothing about the swr. A 4ft fire stick probably will not get you the ideal swr's. You need 18ft of coax to start with and a 8 ft francis in my opinion. I firmly believe that I have one of the very best cb shops in the world here locally. The name of the shop is T.C's Radio in Watha NC just off I-40.His number is (910) 285-5841. He can answer any question you have and may allow you to ship your radio to him. Or allow you to purchase a tuned radio and he ship it to you. He deals cash only! If you call ask for "T" thats what his friends call him.

 

[Vycor]

Umm tuned radio? Hes gonna hafta tune his antenna you mean... what ya need to do is run over to radio shack and get an SWR meter, they only sell a handful, get the smaller one, its about ohhh 20-40 bucks? I got mine for cheap because it was the store model and i talked the guy into a discount.

You want an SWR between 1 and 1.5

What ya do is basically hook up yer antenna into the SWR meter, then you plug yer cb into it, go to a channel you will use the most (for me i picked 20 because its right by 19 the trucker channel and its smacl in the middle of the 40 channels).

Key up, look at the meter. Whats it at? If its high/low adjust yer antenna. Sure theres a "formula" for cutting X amount of... but with a firestick it should have a little set screw on the top, make it longer by 1/4 of a turn, test yer SWR again, keep that up till you get as low as possible.

Thats how you tune a cb radio for a low SWR. Now you know. Yuo can have a shop do it if its cheap enough, but get yerself an SWR and you can do it free unlimited times.

BTW that was a QUICK instruction briefing, you'll want to read the instructions that come with your SWR meter... heres some info from the web i pulled:

First of all, make sure that all the doors and the trunk are closed. Then, park your car at least 10 yards away from any big buildings, other cars, or trees. Also, make sure no one is standing close to the car. Any of these can mess up the reading. Now, you have to attach the meter in between the antenna and the CB. Using shorter coax cables, attach the antenna to the ANT end of the SWR meter, and the CB to the other end. Now that it is attached, check for the switch on the meter that can be set to FWD or REF. Set it to FWD. Now turn the CB to channel 1, and key the microphone. Adjust the knob labeled SET until the needle reaches full. Now that this is done, turn the switch to REF. Key the microphone again. Record this number, and then switch the CB to channel 40. Key the microphone again, and then record this setting. Very important: The microphone must be the same distance from the meter each time you key it. The objective here is to get the two numbers to a perfect 1:1 ratio. However, as long as the ratio is under around 1.4:1, you will be ok. My CB, after tuning, is now around a 1.1 or 1.2:1. This simply means that the numbers either match or are very close to matching. Now we go on to tuning.

If your SWR reading was higher on channel 40 than it was on channel 1, then it simply means the antenna is too long. If it was higher on channel 1 than it was on channel 40, it is too short. This is really easy to change if you own a tunable-tip antenna. If you own an antenna like this, you can simply unlock the tip and raise or lower the antenna. Continue tuning until you reach a good ratio. If you own a fiberglass whip antenna, it is a little more difficult. First, you have to remove the tip and cut until you can access the wire coil. If it needs to be shortened, you have to begin cutting in around ¼" increments until it is correct. Now, if it is too long, you have to take the top coil and continue moving it out in slight increments until it is correct.

 

[davidapplewhite]

Everything you said about tuning the antenna is correct. But a CB can be tuned. They are all turned down to meet FCC regulations from the factory. That radio could probably do around 20 Watts. A higher end radio like a galaxy for example can do just over 50 Watts. The trick is to have a good radio man that's knows what a CB was designed to put out and not turn it up past that.

 

[Mylt1]

Any CB can be tuned. Some more than others. The plan when you get a cb tuned is to get the lowest dead key possible and the highest swing the radio is capable of. You had swr??? but nothing about the swr. A 4ft fire stick probably will not get you the ideal swr's. You need 18ft of coax to start with and a 8 ft francis in my opinion. I firmly believe that I have one of the very best cb shops in the world here locally. The name of the shop is T.C's Radio in Watha NC just off I-40.His number is (910) 285-5841. He can answer any question you have and may allow you to ship your radio to him. Or allow you to purchase a tuned radio and he ship it to you. He deals cash only! If you call ask for "T" thats what his friends call him.

the "18ft coax" is a myth and has been proven as such time and time again. if your "very best cb shops in the world" told you that then i would find another shop, cause they aint.

Everything you said about tuning the antenna is correct. But a CB can be tuned. They are all turned down to meet FCC regulations from the factory. That radio could probably do around 20 Watts. A higher end radio like a galaxy for example can do just over 50 Watts. The trick is to have a good radio man that's knows what a CB was designed to put out and not turn it up past that.

highly illegal and comes with a VERY STEEP fine if caught. dont know about you but i really dont want to pay it nor lose my equipment to the FCC. there are people out there that WILL hunt you down and report you to the FCC. a "tune" is really a waist of time and money. if you want more power and better range then get your amateur radio license.

a "cb tune" is nothing more than a waist of money on new radios. older radios "might" benefit from it only because over the years they could have drifted off freq. but other than that there is no need to actually "tune" a cb. now, tuning the antenna is a different story. you want a SWR reading of between 1-1.7:1 on both ch1 and ch40 that will put it below 1.5:1 on ch20(or more correctly the middle of the band). SWR changes with the sweep of the band so having it set as low as you can on 1 and 40 gives you the best possible SWR across the band.

 

[ToddG]

the "18ft coax" is a myth and has been proven as such time and time again.

I have to agree with that statement completely.
Here's some information to back that up too: Exposing the 18' CB Coax Myth

 

[Alec]

highly illegal and comes with a VERY STEEP fine if caught. dont know about you but i really dont want to pay it nor lose my equipment to the FCC. there are people out there that WILL hunt you down and report you to the FCC. a "tune" is really a waist of time and money.

Where are these people? I literally know of around 100 people in my area who either have "illegal" cbs or have vhf radios in their trucks if not both and have never heard of anyone getting fined, warned, or have their stuff taken. Also if a radio is not set up correctly it can get burned out so I would say its a wise idea to get it tuned and make sure everthing is the way it should be.

 

[Vycor]

Basically everybodys right here... i didnt say anything about "tuning" a CB because its not something i think hes gonna be doing. If hes putting a CB in for the first time and doesnt know how to tune it, hes not gonna know about putting an amplifier on a CB radio. Now for those who are curious, CB is mandated (by law, the FCC) to only allow a certain power output. Now its not a whole lotta power and will get you maybe 5-10 miles. What a lot of guys (and usually truckers who are always on the road) do is they hookup an amp to their radio (not yer regular amp for yer stereo lol) to boost the power. Its illegal because your using more power then your licensed for (CB requires no license, to get mre power you need a ham license then yer on a whole new set of frequencies and can talk all over). But they all do it anyway. Its tough for the FCC really to find someone unless a guys giving out exact info.

For your first setup, stay away from amps, you won't need it really. If you plan to use a CB allllll the time and really love it, then look into putting an amp in. Most guys who are into cbs in your area can help you. I dont know if a lot of shops will help you "on the books" because it is illegal. Its not something a cop whos pulling you over can/will right a ticket for, its outside their bounds... but hope that helps ya

 

[davidapplewhite]

I'm not wanting to start an argument here. If the 18ft is a myth why have I had a 2.5 swr with 12ft of coax and switch to a 18ft coax and my swr drop to a 1.2? I will admit its been about ten years since I was serious into the whole CB thing. So if I was wrong I apologize for mis leading someone. I will Look into the link when I get home and can use my computer. My phone is struggling today.

 

[Mylt1]

Basically everybodys right here... i didnt say anything about "tuning" a CB because its not something i think hes gonna be doing. If hes putting a CB in for the first time and doesnt know how to tune it, hes not gonna know about putting an amplifier on a CB radio. Now for those who are curious, CB is mandated (by law, the FCC) to only allow a certain power output. Now its not a whole lotta power and will get you maybe 5-10 miles. What a lot of guys (and usually truckers who are always on the road) do is they hookup an amp to their radio (not yer regular amp for yer stereo lol) to boost the power. Its illegal because your using more power then your licensed for (CB requires no license, to get mre power you need a ham license then yer on a whole new set of frequencies and can talk all over). But they all do it anyway. Its tough for the FCC really to find someone unless a guys giving out exact info.

For your first setup, stay away from amps, you won't need it really. If you plan to use a CB allllll the time and really love it, then look into putting an amp in. Most guys who are into cbs in your area can help you. I dont know if a lot of shops will help you "on the books" because it is illegal. Its not something a cop whos pulling you over can/will right a ticket for, its outside their bounds... but hope that helps ya

linear amps on CB bans are illegal no matter how you slice or dice it. the problem isnt with any kind of license it has to do with:

The use of overpowered CB radios can cause transmissions to "bleed over" into other channels and bands. In a worst-case scenario, illegal amplifiers can bleed into TV, music radio and even computer signals. The uncontrolled distortion of other signals is the primary reason for the power limitations of legal CB radios.

NOW, that being said, you can get a SSB cb and run, i believe, 12w legally.

 

[Mylt1]

Where are these people? I literally know of around 100 people in my area who either have "illegal" cbs or have vhf radios in their trucks if not both and have never heard of anyone getting fined, warned, or have their stuff taken. Also if a radio is not set up correctly it can get burned out so I would say its a wise idea to get it tuned and make sure everthing is the way it should be.

VHF, as in marine band radios? if so there are numerous people that have been fined for that over the last couple of years. i know of a group of hunters not long ago got busted out in western Va for using marine band radios while hunting. usually, unless they are bleeding over and bothering the amateurs they usually dont get reported. but, some amateurs take this very seriously to the point they get a group together and do whats called a "fox hunt" and actively search for the offenders. as for the VHF, the local USCG has busted several locals for having and using marine radios on land. last year or the year before they busted 4 different groups by doing fox hunts. they actually train to do this about once a month.

I'm not wanting to start an argument here. If the 18ft is a myth why have I had a 2.5 swr with 12ft of coax and switch to a 18ft coax and my swr drop to a 1.2? I will admit its been about ten years since I was serious into the whole CB thing. So if I was wrong I apologize for mis leading someone. I will Look into the link when I get home and can use my computer. My phone is struggling today.

that could have been anything from a bad connector to even a bad piece of coax. it doesnt take much to through off a SWR meter. this is one of the reasons you want to use quality coax(not the cheap crap sold at radio shack) and use good solder on connectors for all your coax runs. the 18ft had nothing to do with it. my XJ i was only running about 8ft and had the SWR below 1.5:1 across the whole band.

 

[davidapplewhite]

What the article said on the 18ft coax myth makes perfect sense. So I admit I may have been mis informed. But one thing that he said in the arcticle was that if someone asks him how much coax to use he says enough to get from the radio to the antenna. And then at the end of the article he talked about the deduction that needed to take place off the 18' to compensate for the always imperfect coax to obtain the perfect length.

 

[Alec]

VHF, as in marine band radios? if so there are numerous people that have been fined for that over the last couple of years. i know of a group of hunters not long ago got busted out in western Va for using marine band radios while hunting. usually, unless they are bleeding over and bothering the amateurs they usually dont get reported. but, some amateurs take this very seriously to the point they get a group together and do whats called a "fox hunt" and actively search for the offenders. as for the VHF, the local USCG has busted several locals for having and using marine radios on land. last year or the year before they busted 4 different groups by doing fox hunts. they actually train to do this about once a month.

Where I live a lot of the farmers use them. Even up toward the coast they still use them. I wish they were legal because they are so much clearer and go further than cbs.

 

[Mylt1]

Where I live a lot of the farmers use them. Even up toward the coast they still use them. I wish they were legal because they are so much clearer and go further than cbs.

get your ham ticket and enjoy the ability to talk around the world. VHF/UHF is good for local contacts and when propagation is up you can talk quite a long ways. last time i was on the air and prop was up i talked 178 miles on 2m(vhf) with 50w and a comet GP-9 antenna mounted only 10ft off the ground. HF opens up regional, national, and world contacts to you. its a simple test to take and cost $15. study for both tech and general for a couple of hours a day for a couple of weeks and find a test site. as long as you pass tech you can take general for free.

 

[Alec]

get your ham ticket and enjoy the ability to talk around the world. VHF/UHF is good for local contacts and when propagation is up you can talk quite a long ways. last time i was on the air and prop was up i talked 178 miles on 2m(vhf) with 50w and a comet GP-9 antenna mounted only 10ft off the ground. HF opens up regional, national, and world contacts to you. its a simple test to take and cost $15. study for both tech and general for a couple of hours a day for a couple of weeks and find a test site. as long as you pass tech you can take general for free.

I have no use for anything crazy like that, I just need to be able to talk to the people I hunt with when we are catching our dogs. My cb works, but you get a lot of random people one there and it gets staticy as hell. They also freak out around power lines, which we hunt off of a lot.