Why you need an SWR meter
Hey guys, I just ordered a 500 watt 5ft Firestik antenna for my Cobra 19 Ultra 3 CB radio.
I talked with someone from Cobra and they said it does not matter how many Watts an antenna is, but you do need an SWR meter to set it up.
What if I dont have an SWR meter? Will the antenna still work?
a legal CB radio puts out 4watts so the general user wont need to worry about the wattage, only those big radio guys with amps and stuff.
but your radio MAY have an SWR meter on it, a lot of galaxys, cobras, unidens, and others have meters built in. each one works a little diffrent, galaxy you can just switch the switch to swr and key up it calibrates it self and your good to go.
to check the swr on any other meter, you need to set some switch to either cal or forward. and you move the calibration knob to the red line on the meter that says "cal." flip the switch down to "ref" and that is your SWR you want an SWR of as close to 1.1 as possible. if its above 1.5 watch it make sure it doesnt climb up, and if its near 2.0 you have problems…. you may damage your radio. i am assuming you have the fiber glass with the cap you take off the top, and turn an Allen key to move a metal bar up and down. to tune it. if its 1.5 or lower you can use these means to tune the antenna nice and low 1.1 or 1.2 if its higher you might have problems with the coax, or a ground problem. if you want more help and more details go to cbradiotalk.com and ask there. or for a much closer personal page, go to http://www.thecbradio.tk and ask there. or if you can figure out a way to get intouch with me, i can give you little tips and junk….
good luck
Having an SWR meter in front of you every time you start transmitting can warn you if anything is drastically wrong with the antenna or with your coaxial cable that connects the radio and aerial together. If the reading is higher than 2:1 it is a worry, and if it is more than 3:1 stop transmitting and check all your connections and the antenna.
Anything below 2:1 SWR is fine, and contrary to popular opinion, it is a waste of your time and efforts to try for a 1:1 VSWR. Anything below 1:1.5 is excellent, and the miniscule difference you might be able to tweak at your end cannot be noticed or measured by anybody who is listening to your signals.
You _could_ connect up your antenna and talk on the CB without using an SWR meter, and it is possible you would never have any problems… however, if there is a problem, you won’t know about it before it has damaged your transmitter. It is very wise to check things with an SWR meter when setting up your station.
Cheers,
David