Well I finally tuned my CB, what do you think?

So after months of having my CB mounted in my dash, I finally had time to tune it. the Radio is a compact Midland 100 LWX, with dual 4 foot Firestick fiberglass antennas on springs, but I am only using one, because to co phase they need to be further apart, so because I have OCD I kept both for looks, lol

Final SWRs are 1.20 on Channel 40, and 1.40 on Channel 1, I would say that's pretty good, considering half my antenna is below the roof...

 

[Gadget X]

That's not bad! You're still putting out about 95% of the radio's power efficiently!

 

[01STrunner]

That's pretty good! I'm around that range as well on my Trac. The middle channels I'm around 0.5.

 

[The DB]

Its definitely workable, and a good SWR. You might be able to get it a little lower if you could raise that antenna up some, although just lowering the SWR won't make any noticeable difference in performance...


The DB

 

[2TimingTom]

I've thought about tuning mine. But my antenna gets knocked around by a bunch of trees and that screw occasionally comes loose. I don't even have the red cap anymore- that's in the forest somewhere.

 

[rizzjc]

Looks good! Should work out well for you. I don't know that I'd mess with it anymore, unless it's adjustable and you can go back.

 

[1996BLKBauer]

Thanks guys, it took a while of messing around with coax, placement, and antenna height, I originally had 3 foot ones, and I couldn't get the SWRs below 2.0. So I am really happy with this. It also my first properly set up CB system, it's nice you know it will actually work, lol.

 

[drdoom]

That should work well. I believe I have one of those radios on the headliner of my Taurus, with a 3 foot firefly drilled into the trunk lid. I have a 4 foot firestik II on my 2G Explorer, and by comparison the firefly is quite difficult to tune compared to the firestik. Anyway glad you have it dialed.

 

[1996BLKBauer]

That should work well. I believe I have one of those radios on the headliner of my Taurus, with a 3 foot firefly drilled into the trunk lid. I have a 4 foot firestik II on my 2G Explorer, and by comparison the firefly is quite difficult to tune compared to the firestik. Anyway glad you have it dialed.

Yes the firestick on mine tuned super easy, it just has the piece on the end that you spin, and a jam nut keeps in in place, and the cap goes over.

 

[drdoom]

The Firefly has the same tip, but it seems the bandwidth is narrow and is very sensitive and more finicky to tune.

 

[MuscleJunkie]

Where did you mount inside? Pics?

 

[drdoom]

[/URL]

The picture does no justice to how good this install looks in person. I will tell you the CB is a tight fit in terms of depth, but it fits fine. If there is such a thing as a 90° coax connector, that would help but is not crucial. Also the lower sides of the double DIN mount I coped those with a knife to match the profile of the CB's faceplate.

The receiver has Bluetooth, hands-free, Pandora, USB, AUX, and AM/FM. The CB has weather, scanning, and dual-watch. I have a FireStik door jamb mount at the hatch, which gives a mounting location just above a "tail light mount". On the mount I use a quick-disconnect, and alternate between a 36" Firefly and a 48" FireStik II, depending on conditions.

The coax I run through the taillight grommet, and on through the cab under the door sills and trim panels, on up into the dash. I cope out a small round notch in the top of the taillight housing so the taillight mounts back up tight without impingement of the coax. That I accomplish with a few strokes of a chain saw file on the plastic lip.

 

[1996BLKBauer]

That pretty similar to how I mounted mine, although mine was a lot of work due to not having a full size CB, a lot of sanding using fiber glass, ect. my only regret is that I wish I put the radio, and the CB flush with the front so I would have more room in back for the the plugs, and wires.

I might redo it this winter, now that I have a garage to work in, and a second car I can drive so I can listen to the radio while i'm going places, plus I need to send out the radio to Alpine for an update.