Firestick CB Antenna Install and Tune Highlights
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- Опубликовано: 9 фев 2025
- Let's install and tune a Firestick CB radio antenna on my 2007 Chevy Suburban.
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#cbradio #cb #antenna
You don't ever shorten the antenna ... You raise the roof !!
Hahaha ,, 73's Rob from Middle Tennessee
Neat that you can optimize the SWR with the radio. I don't key anywhere without my MFJ tuner working on antennas.
Thanks for sharing and going over that procedure. I have to do that myself... Been putting it off. Almost to 25K subs !
I hadn't really been paying attention but you are right...we are getting close!
@@SevenFortyOne it’s a great channel and you do such a great job with it! You deserve it!
Thanks! I'm glad you enjoy it!
Now you can read the mail, tree top tall, bye bye bye while your mobile. LOL!
Actually, just keeping in touch with the locals who aren't licensed yet...they are a good group of guys
@@SevenFortyOne I know, some idiots give it a bad rap for all. I know some hams still use CB and some future hams come from CB. I have CB in my heavy haul trucks, and had a cb in my truck as a teen. I hear to much rubbish on cb for me to hang out there.
I can't take the skip shooters either...if that crap would disappear CB would be more widely used I think.
@@SevenFortyOne Yes, the screaming skip that are just making the loudest syllable rubbish to see their meter go by a few thousand watts, over modulated, non linear garbage strung our amps ect. I hear even local guys that are so proud of their " transmit everywhere " over driven dirty girl setups. And whats funny is they will ask their buddies hows the audio sound? The answer is always " great, your really pounding in here". Its not great, it sounds like shit. I have a ham friend that gets bled over on 10 meters from a guy that transmits on CB about 3 miles from his house.
Have you noticed any wind noise? Mine was so noisy above 40mph and with the wind and the ribbed outer coil loosened it up to where it didn't stay on the truck long. I went with a Wilson. Much quieter.
I haven't really noticed any wind noise
I bought a 4 foot Wilson and I couldn't tune it below 3.4 swr. My firefly is pretty quiet but it does flex a bit.
Nice setup i have a 3' fire stick 2 that has been whit me in more than one car they work very good and the Swr had always been 1.1 to 1.6 most of the time whit 18' and 20' of mini 8 coaxial cable ( it makes it a better Swr over the 40ch + band ) remember the longer the antenna the better signal and lower Swr. But in today's world some times this not posible ( i use to have a 2002 Grand Vitara and at work we have a underground parking so I get the 3' fire stick 2 and put it on the back door next to the tire mount whit 20' of mini 8 coaxial it was 1/4 higher than the roof of my Vitara that way i cut enter the underground parking and had a good Swr 1.2 to 1.6 on ch 1 normaly i use the higher channels in USB )....73's and good Dx's from Unit 403 West indies the Caribbean in Puerto Rico 🇵🇷 ( KAHK 4031 old CB license )
Check SWRs on channel 40 and Channel 1. Some people only do it on Channel 20
what was the swr with the 4' fire stik? To compare them directly.
I run a Stryker sra10 on my car and it's completely flat match all across the band I used to run a 5 foot firestick but those three magnets are kind of hard on the roof of my car I didn't want to damage the paint on my vehicle question I noticed you did not use the SWR tone feature that the McKinley has that is an awesome feature if you did I did not hear the tone control anyway I always set my SWR in a big open field they say that's the best way to do it anyway I enjoy your Channel
Did you just tune the antenna, and then add a washer's width of antenna length? ...doesn't that change your SWR?
No, not significantly at these frequencies
Good question. Very intuitive. The answer has to do with the design of the antenna. The antenna is very reactive to changes made near its tight wound coil section (at the top). There is less reactivity to changes made at the bottom of the antenna. This is why you can add items like 3" tall springs or quick disconnects to the bottom, but only make a small tuning adjustment to compensate at the top.
Great video. Good information.
Your SWR was high because of your mount placement. Get it away from the CAB. I had the same issue with my 18 Silverado
I have a Tacoma what's the best spot for antennas ?
@@korbinp590 roof our hood fender mount
By adding the washer after you tuned it, didn't you increase the antenna's length changing the SWR?
Not enough to notice...
I like Walcott Radio and B&H. I bought my Radio from B&H and everything else from Walcott.
I have a new Cobra 29lx ..and am installing a duel antenna setup in my KW ..the SWR will not come in to acceptable range ..very frustrating ..
Check your ground connections to the truck. Also, are you using the right phasing harness for 5he antennas?
Now you will have a clean signal when you say, "Break, break 1-9." 😁
Cool cool.
Will it fit on a whip antenna mount that's magnetic . My antenna has no ranch and want something bigger
Maybe but you'll need a big magnet to keep it from falling over when you drive
@@SevenFortyOne that's not the problem I have antenna that is low profile 6" and it screws off I want to know if it will the be the same connection before I buy it.
What I can do with all extra wire
Coil it up somewhere out of the way.
You should ALWAYS use an external swr meter. It's been proven many times built in radio swr meters can be off. Sometimes by quite a lot.
how do you know the external swr meter isn't bad?
Nice job. Interesting how you can't get that antenna to 1.0 and yet I have the same radio and antenna with 1.0 from channel 17 to 24. Must be the vehicle? I also shortened my coax so I have no coil. Maybe only 6 inches to spare. Good video....
Actually. Mine is a Firefly, so it's a bit thinner.
I think it has something to do with how I have it mounted. I'm going to look into it and see if I can make it better
So my swr is perfectly balanced but 1and 40 are both at 2? How now do I get it lower?
Make sure your antenna is well grounded to the car
@@SevenFortyOne it’s a magnet mount, do I need to run a wire?
@@Endless_Skyway_Adventures How long is coax?
@@Fox250R 15 feet
@@Endless_Skyway_Adventures does your antenna allow for adjusting ?
moi suis 1.2 partout et j,ai reglé probleme lumiere jai mis un tape sur lumiere
📡🔊👋👀 from #1122wingnut radio
He's just looking to get the car inside the garage when he should be looking at performance of the antenna whether it gets out or it doesn't get out at all.
No, I need it to fit in the garage. Its a fire stick...it will get out good enough for my needs.
1 to 1 is what you should be shooting for and never any thing over a 1.5. Of course with a Firestick you'll be lucky to get below a 2 on any part of the CB band.
If your going to do it and do it right. you want a 102" steel whip like the one radio shack used to sell also two slim line heavy duty springs. A mirror mount bracket a Section of the Big Beldon coax for CB (can't remember the RU size) and the same size and a section for your SWR meter. "NEVER TRUST THE SWR METER ON A RADIO." also you will need enough braded 110 shielded copper wire to run from the antenna coax at the back of the radio to the trucks frame as well as two more sections to run from the base of the antenna and from the mirror mount to the frame as well.
Now measure from the base of the steep whip up 100"'s and then cut the remaining 2" off your not going to need it. screw the base of the steel whip in to the first slim line spring and the second one in to the first and the second one in to the mirror mount then bolt the mirror mount to the mid section of your truck IF you using a SUV the side of the rear bumper if its a metal bumper of not the mirror if the mirror has a metal arm to mount to. if you don't have either this application probably won't work for you and you'll have to resort to your old fire stick. at any rate connect your ground wires to the frame of the truck plug in the SWR meter and set every thing and you should get a 1 to 1 match. If you don't take a file and file the top of the antenna a few times and reset your meter. Although every thing should come in to alignment if you set from channel 20 first. (or if you run an export radio from RC20.)
In the case of this install, the elevated SWR has more to do with reflection from the metal in the roof and A-post. Moving the same 3' Firestik to the roof of the vehicle, for instance, will result in lower SWR (likely at or below 1.5:1 on ALL 40 channels. Taller antennas will experience less reflection and achieve lower SWR. 102" steel whips are very efficient, however they are not always functionally ideal for every day vehicle use. This is why people opt for shorter antennas. They are sacrificing some performance for convenience. The taller the antenna, typically the less sacrifice.
2.0 is way too high.
Yes. I wouldn't run it at a 2.0
A lot of the signal isn't even making it out the antenna at 2.0
1.5 is the highest acceptable reading, ideal is 1.0
1 is of course ideal, but with an SWR of 2 you are losing just 11 percent of your power which isn't really noticeable.
A little long winded !
I can tell you from experience, garages are for storing garbage you never use. Garages are not for parking expensive vehicles.
Not in my experience...