Scranton, PA

 

Welcome Take a look around at the CB info, Communications Center. I just added the FREE Links page, add your link today. Thanks for visiting my website, you're welcome to sign my Guestbook. You can get me on Ch 38 - 27.385 LSB Thanks "275" Ghost Rider

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Radio Clubs

The Quack Shack - QS~0275

The World Radio Club DX Group - WR~275

The World Wide NeedleBenders

Sierra Delta Xray - SDX~275

Sierra Fox DX Group - SF~275

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Free CCommunications Center

CB Radios, Antennas and more.

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Ch	Frequency	Ch	Frequency	Ch	Frequency	Ch	Frequency
1	26.965	11	27.085	21	27.215	31	27.315
2	26.975	12	27.105	22	27.225	32	27.325
3	26.985	13	27.115	23	27.255	33	27.335
4	27.005	14	27.125	24	27.235	34	27.345
5	27.015	15	27.135	25	27.245	35	27.355
6	27.025	16	27.155	26	27.265	36	27.365
7	27.035	17	27.165	27	27.275	37	27.375
8	27.055	18	27.175	28	27.285	38	27.385 (LSB)
9	27.065	19	27.185	29	27.295	39	27.395
10	27.075	20	27.205	30	27.305	40	27.405

Channels highlighted are channels 275 Ghost Rider talks on.

• WHAT IS SIDEBAND (SSB)?
  "SideBand" (SSB) is a mode capability found in higher-end CB Radios. You will have access to the Upper & Lower Sideband Modes (USB, LSB), In addition to the "Regular" (AM) mode, on each of the 40 channels, using the "Am/USB/LSB switch. When switched to sideband, each receive signal must be "fine tuned" in with the clarifier or voice lock control found on the SSB CB radio, otherwise people will sound garbled or distorted. Keep in mind that when switched to a sideband, you can only communicate with other CBers that have that capability as well. You can usually expect an increase in range, & less noise on SSB, than on the "standard" AM 40 channels.

If you haven’t heard of tuning your CB antenna, you’re not alone. Most people new to CB radios have never heard of it, let along could describe what it entails.

To tune an antenna is to adjust it so that is works most efficiently given its surroundings. In terms of a vehicle installation, tuning a CB antenna means adjusting it to the correct height so that it will work most efficiently given your specific vehicle and where you’ve chosen to install it. As antennas uses the ground plane of the vehicle to transmit a signal, each antenna needs to be adjusted to match the specific vehicle its been installed on.

To tune an antenna, you’ll need a SWR meter. SWR stands for standing wave ratio, which refers to how efficiently the antenna is transmitting the energy sent from the radio into the air. The lower the ratio, the more efficient the antenna, and the better tuned it is. A SWR ratio of 2.0 or lower is acceptable for operations while a ratio of 3.0 indicates serious problems that need addressing. Tuning a CB antenna is synonymous with getting the antenna’s SWR ratio as low as possible.

While the tuning process isn’t too complicated, I’m not going to hash out all the details in this post. For complete details, please refer to the appropriate articles on CB antenna tuning in the Right Channel Radios Resource Library. In it’s abbreviated form, the tuning process consists of using a SWR meter to determine the appropriate length of the antenna. Depending on the readings provided by the meter, the antenna will need to be lengthened or shortened. For CB antennas with “tunable tips”, this lengthening and shortening is a fairly simple process. A tunable tip is simply a small screw in the tip of the antenna. The antenna can be adjusted, or tuned, by screwing the screw in or out, making the antenna incrementally longer or shorter. For antennas without a tunable tip screw, the antenna can be shortened by cutting of bits off the tip. For obvious reasons, a tunable tip is a much simpler and more desirable option.

Is it important to tune your antenna? This is a questions we are frequently asked. There are many people who when we strongly recommend antenna tuning tell us that they’ve used CB antennas before without tuning them and they worked just fine, thank-you-very-much. While it’s possible, and even common, to use a CB antenna without tuning it, we don’t recommend it for two main reasons:

Potential Radio Death - Use a CB without properly tuning your antenna and you run the risk of frying your radio. An non-tuned antenna isn’t able to efficiently transform (or transmit) the power sent to it into radio frequencies. This non-transmitted power is reflected back down the coax line toward at the radio. If too much non-transmitted power is reflected back at the radio, it can cause excess heat and damage critical radio components. As mentioned before, you want your SWR levels to be below 2.0 to ensure this isn’t a problem. SWR levels of 3.0+ indicate a serious problem and a much higher chance for radio damage.

Poor Performance - As all stock CB radios only run at 4 watts or transmission power, the antenna is usually the largest determinant of system performance. As such, the degree to which the antenna is tuned will have a dramatic impact on a CB system’s performance and range. CB antennas that aren’t tuned won’t transmit efficiently and will exhibit extremely poor range. If your friend 200 feet up the road can’t hear you, don’t curse your radio! Buy a SWR meter and properly tune your antenna.

Tuning you antenna is, bar none, the most important step you can take to make sure your CB system is performing at its best. Hopefully this post shed a little light on this often confusing issue and made a strong case for why you should always tune your antenna.