CB Tuning/SWR

[TheKid]

I think my cb is out of tune. I can hear what people are saying pretty clear but everyone says they can not understand me to well. If we are sitting still and close together everything is fine but on the road it isn't.

I have never tuned a CB so I know nothing about it. I do know that i have to set my squelch up high to like 18 or 20 so that I am not picking up other channels transmitting. When I ask the other riders if they hear the other channels they always say no.

If anyone can help me out with this thanks.

[muaymendez1]

Look up cb repair shops in your area. Im a trucker and my coworkers have 3 shops we deal with. They will have the meter and means of tuning it for you.

They will also let you know if something is going on it.

Be warned after speaking to them and knowing that you can amp your signal ten times you may leave there with less money in your pocket.

 

my old cobra Cb would only reach 2 linear miles with 2 antenaes or 1 1/2 mile radius with one antenae.

I added an amplifier and a linear and the reach is amazing now. Squelch down I can hear 6 linear miles easy. I drive the new york Long island region. On a good day at certain highway up hills I can reach 15 miles.

I get update while on long island from a guy closer to the george washington bridge.

[TheKid]

Thanks for the advice. I dont think i need that type of range on the bike tho being most of the time the group is no more than like 10 bikes large. so maybe a few miles should work for me, lol. i just need it to transmit much better.

 

I will look up shops.

[etcswjoe]

I have a meter and can tune it if you want to meet up somewhere, I think Sleeprhawk is putting new antennas on his bike so we might alll be able to get together.

[TheKid]

Ok sounds good let me know when and I will def try to ride down. Maybe my buddy Joe 'Moose' also a venture rider will have his replaced or ready to replace by then too and we can knock out all of ours. Thanks so much for the offer.

 

 

I have a meter and can tune it if you want to meet up somewhere, I think Sleeprhawk is putting new antennas on his bike so we might alll be able to get together.

[etcswjoe]

I sent you a PM, once we get a date and time set, if anyone else needs it done maybe we can just make an event out of it.

 

I am assuming you have stock antennas and connectors?

[TheKid]

yes 100% stock for cb other than i did put mic mutes on. which i would suppose would mess with the tuning but i have no clue.

[etcswjoe]

yes 100% stock for cb other than i did put mic mutes on. which i would suppose would mess with the tuning but i have no clue.

 

 

Mic Mutes have no bearing on it at all, just wanted to make sure I had the right cables.

[TheKid]

Ok so i started this thread a while back and never got around to tuning my CB. I am now in TN working for a while and I feel like my CB needs to be tuned. I can hear and communicate with others but I have to keep my Squelch high like maxed out so that i dont always hear static or interference.

 

Is there anyone in TN around Nashville that knows how to tune and has the swr tool? thanks for the help.

[MiCarl]

Tuning the antenna is to improve its efficiency, primarily for transmitting. The noise you are overriding with the squelch isn't because the antenna is inefficient.

 

It could be that something else on the motorcycle (or a bike near you) is throwing off RF noise.

 

I can tell you that it seems that I have to turn my squelch higher than I used to. It just seems there is more noise out there. There also seem to be a lot of people running very high power transmitters (at least on the channels we want to use) - their transmissions can be heard throughout an all day ride.

[calperin]

If you will going to tune the antenna and SWR make it so low as you can close to 1.1.

 

Almost impossible to go lower than that.

 

Good Luck.

 

Also, In order to avoid problems, be sure your antenna has ground plane on it.

[XV1100SE]

Wondering that since you have an '07 that it might still be covered under warranty. 5 years from original date of purchase and transfers with sale of bike (but notify Yamaha of change of owner).

[gibvel]

If you will going to tune the antenna and SWR make it so low as you can close to 1.1.

 

Almost impossible to go lower than that.

 

Good Luck.

 

 

Thing about SWR is you can set it really low for one frequency but as you go up or down in frequency (channels) the SWR will change. The standard rule of thumb is to get it as low as you can get it on the channel (In the frequency range) you'll be using the most.

 

I believe the VR channel is 27.

 

You may have different noise factors on different channels that require more or less squelch. If there is a lot of traffic on, or near, the channel that you use you'll probably have to set the squelch higher.

 

If you are able to transmit and people can hear you then the SWR is within range of what it's supposed to be. By tuning the SWR you get the maximum power out and minimum power reflected back at the transmitter... in other words you increase the distance you can transmit. This is why you want to tune to the channel that you use most. If you go higher or lower then you're going to lose efficiency and your signal won't go as far.

[saddlebum]

Is the noise there with the engine both running and shut off or only with the engine running? If only with the engine running does it increase with increased throttle / RPM. If it only occurs with the later try adding a noise filter to the power supply lines of the radio system.

[saddlebum]

Thing about SWR is you can set it really low for one frequency but as you go up or down in frequency (channels) the SWR will change. The standard rule of thumb is to get it as low as you can get it on the channel (In the frequency range) you'll be using the most.

 

I believe the VR channel is 27.

 

.

I don't no about all areas but so far most of the guys I have ridden with use 29. Also if you are stay on the one channel primarly then yes it is a good idea to tune your SWR to that channel. However if you are all over the board then tune to the middle channel of the spectrum and recheck it at each end so that channel 1 and channel 40 are about the same.

[pmelah]

i dont think tuning the radio would be covered under warenty but you can check around the truck stops they use to have cb repair shops close by its been 10 yrs since i drove trucks over the road and had to deal with cb repairs good luck getting it tuned up and fixed

[gibvel]

I don't no about all areas but so far most of the guys I have ridden with use 29. Also if you are stay on the one channel primarly then yes it is a good idea to tune your SWR to that channel. However if you are all over the board then tune to the middle channel of the spectrum and recheck it at each end so that channel 1 and channel 20 are about the same.

 

Yeah, I knew it was 20 something. I believe you are correct there on 29.

 

I was going to put something in there about if you use from 1 to 40 tune to the middle of the spectrum and check both top and bottom and maximize so that 1 and 40 are as low as you can get them.

 

Thanks for clarifying saddlebum!!

[dacheedah]

The very first thing I would do is to check that the antennas are on the correct side of the bike, your CB antenna has a tuning coil and the CB antenna should be on the left side of your bike ( if you are admiring it from the rear looking at the license plate , the cb antenna, with the coil, on the left, am fm radio , no coil, on the right. This is probably the number one setup issue stealers get wrong and simplest to fix.

 

Youtube has several swr instructions and meters are cheap, as Gibvel said you want to tune for where you are in the band. If you jump all over you will set one, do another and compromise so it's reasonably good on most. If you are staying on 27 and riding in a group I would just tune 27 for best SWR, if you switch you will be fine.

Edited June 21, 2012 by dacheedah

[pmelah]

you may also want to check your cable and connections they some times go bad and need to be replaced just a thought ive had to replace cables on my truck that were only a couple months old like anything else its good till it goes bad

[dacheedah]

Info from Firestick, gives you the concept. . .

 

http://www.firestik.com/Meas-SWR.htm

[MikeWa]

Most motorcycle shops have no idea how to adjust SWR.

 

Try this first. Take the wind screen off your mic. Cup a hand over the mic and your mouth while transmitting. Sometimes moving the mic closer to your mouth helps a lot. If that doesn't do it by all means check and adjust the SWR.

 

CB SWR meters are inexpensive off e-bay. Under $25. But you will need a Motorola to RCA plug adapter to work on our motorcycles. Most of the meters come with easy to follow instructions. You are really just micro adjusting the length of the antenna at the loading coil to get the best meter reading.

 

Setting the SWR with the stock antenna is fairly easy since it is adjustable at the loading coil. But that may or may not get you any more power, volume, output. Sometimes it is necessary to adjust the gain, power output and modulation from inside the transceiver. The procedure is in the CB service manual. When doing this it will be necessary to open the CB unit and split the circuit boards. You will then need to make some jumper wires to connect the two circuit boards while they are separated. It is more involved but doable. If you decide to go this route I can send you a PDF of the CB service manual.

 

Good Luck

Mike

[pmelah]

just my opinon i would have the swr checked first if you continue to use the cb and your swr is way off you can burn the finals out then you have no cb i dont know everthing about cb radios but in my younger years i did have a partner in a cb shop i was the bank and he was the tech i did learn a few things about radios from him and that was one i just wish i would have learned how to run a business better i might still be in business instead of blowing all the money and having nothing to show for it one of lifes valuble lessons

[gibvel]

The OP said that he can hear AND COMMUNICATE with others. If the antenna were switched nobody would hear him.

 

The cables that MikeWA was talking about are like these:

 

http://www.sierra-mc.com/proddetail.asp?prod=SIE-SWR12

 

Again, since others can hear you I don't think you're WAY off on the SWR so I don't think you'll damage your CB. It would still be good to check it for peace of mind. God only knows how they set these things at the factory so double checking could give you a bit more peace of mind.

[MiCarl]

The OP said that he can hear AND COMMUNICATE with others. If the antenna were switched nobody would hear him.

 

I have a friend that just purchased an '06. The antennas were switched and we could hear/be heard (at least at short range), but the modulation seemed poor. We switched the antennas with some improvement, but it's still pretty poor.

 

He is using the same headset and helmet that sound great on his 86. His modulation just seems poor. I'm assuming the output power is there because he does overcome a high squelch setting at that distance. His roger beep also seems pretty muted. Anyone got suggestions where to look?

 

If that transceiver has an adjustable modulation limiter I'd be real interested in the CB service manual.

[saddlebum]

The very first thing I would do is to check that the antennas are on the correct side of the bike, your CB antenna has a tuning coil and the CB antenna should be on the left side of your bike ( if you are admiring it from the rear looking at the license plate , the cb antenna, with the coil, on the left, am fm radio , no coil, on the right. This is probably the number one setup issue stealers get wrong and simplest to fix.

Generally speaking CB radio signal tends to radiate across the longest section of the body mass. in other words if you imagine your vehicale as a rectangular box and mount the cb antenna on the right rear cornor of the rectangle your signal will radiate furthest in the direction of the left front cornor which is ideal for conversing with oncoming traffic. Mount it on the left rear and your CB will radiate furthest towards the right front ideal for conversing with the cows in the field ahead, But wait they don't have CB's. This is why Transport trucks usually transmit better towards the rear than to the front because there is more body mass behind the antennas then too the front off them and by using twin sticks there radiation pattern is in a long oval pattern in straight line with the truck rather than a cicular patern. Therefore ideally the CB antenna should be on the right rear of the bike but make sure the cable for the the CB antenna is also routed to the right rear. Quite often the music radio cable and the CB cable are connected to the wrong antenna by the stealer