Novice CB Help

So, bought a Thunderpole T-1000 and Arial with guttermount for the Disco.

Mounted arial above rear door and screwed mount down through paintwork, SWR is reading past the red and off the scale.

Moved the arial onto the light bar above the windscreen and it's still doing the same.

Haven't done any chopping yet, searched and can't seem to find anything that helps.

Am I best getting another SWR meter and see how that gets on?

Hi, have you set your swr meter reference?
Check that your plugs are on correctly on your cable, a short will also give you a High swr reading.
Where are you based, you may be near someone who has an alternate meter you can try?
Most aerials have an option to lengthen or shorten the length without cutting it, a grubscrew?
Finally if you have your cable coiled up anywhere that can also have a similar effect.

Hope this helps a bit, btw how high was the reading?

Rob

take your time tuning your aerial a little movememt on adjustment gos a long way plus make sure you got a good earth,even the so say preset aerials benifit from fine tuning

I haven't set it? I put the adjustment on the lowest setting then slowly turned it to "set" and the needle was off the scale.
I am a complete beginner so I was reading off wikihow and 4x4cb.
I'm based nearish to Halifax, so if anyone fancies giving me a hand there's some beer in it for you!
No coiled cable either, it's all laid out the full length of the car.

Thanks for your response!

To set the reference on mine you switch it to ref, press the transmit button on your cb and turn the dial till the needle sits not he reference mark on the scale. On mine it is right over on the right hand side of the scale.

When you switch it off reference and push the transmit button it should read the swr

Rob

youtube (how to use a swr metre) it will show you how to set it up,but you need to get the needle on set with the switch on fwd by keying the mic, then flick the switch keying the mic again giving you your reading then adjust aerial until the reading starts to fall it can be a pain but it needs doing to get the best out of it

Thanks. I've aligned the needle with set then flick it over to ref and the needle jumps way off the scale again.
I'll have a play with the arial

Yes - there should be a little grub screw which clamps the antenna, making it a certain length - depending upon how the SWR reacts you may have to shorten or lengthen the antenna. I forget which way round, but I think thunderpole's FAQ mentions the procedure.

In fact, on my aerial, I ended up actually clipping a bit off the end.

Anyone in Halifax/Huddersfield area with another swr that fancies giving me a hand one evening next week? I'll trade you for some beer.

I'm a bit dubious about chopping yet. I can adjust using the grub but not very far and it doesn't seem to of made much difference

Discovery2TD5 said:

I'm a bit dubious about chopping yet.

Click to expand...

It's only because we (me and a mate who had CBs years back) knew that it was the only way; the areial needed to be shortened even further.

My car is currently 'off the road' but if you fancy driving over to brighouse i am more than happy to have a look over.

Nij48 said:

My car is currently 'off the road' but if you fancy driving over to brighouse i am more than happy to have a look over.

Click to expand...

Brilliant thanks. What day is good for you? Apart from a Wednesday.

If the SWR reads higher on 40 than it does on 1 then it's too long. If the SWR meter doesn't have a captive patch lead make sure it's plugged in the correct way round. If you have access to a multimeter you could check the cable from plug to aerial socket that there is continuity on the inner pin then try the outer casing to a nearby bit of body work to make sure it's grounded properly. Don't check for cable shorts with the aerial connected, some are shorted out inside by design.

Cheers the tip Ace.