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TV cable Antenna. . .

crmzendrgone

CB newbie
Nov 29, 2010
108
1
28
43
M town Arizona
So I am sure this is known and been done before, but for me being new to CBs. I have made myself a antenna out of cable tv coax and it actually worked.(y)

I sent my daughter off in my truck and she was still hearing my good, she got about a mile away. So I am happy maybe with more time I will see how far away she can go(y)
 

Well I don't know, really other than I took 10'2" of TV cable coax; stripped the outside cover/skin/sheath(whatever word you want to use) off to the length of 9'. Which left me with exposed braided shield and the inner insulator and the center copper(?) wire.
Then peeled off the braided and inner insulator from one end to the length of 1'2", took the 2" frome the1'2" and bend it into a hook and then on the opposite end put a PL-259 connector on it, then connected to my original CB(radioshack) and wired the CB to a car battery I have lying in my shop. Then hung the home made antenna up in the tree and started talking to my daughter.

Now I also noted that on ch 6 I was hearing a lot of talking(from what I now know id the superbowl channel, that is probably what I was hearing).

But, that is how I made it. I want to try a better one like in the ground plain contest thread, but I dont understand antennas that well yet.

Josh
 
Well, see that all goes back to I don't have a stand alone SWR meter, YET!!

An SWR meter is an absolutely NECESSARY piece of equipment. If you don't know what it is - and if the SWR is off significantly, you are well on the way causing a final transistor failure in your radio very soon. . . .

They aren't that expensive, you can buy a cheap one on ebay for less than $30, and they aren't hard to figure out how to use. In fact, here is a 'how to' to test your SWR and adjust it as it should. This is a must read for you. After reading it, ask all the questions you need here and we will all gladly chip in info to get you on the right track.

SWR
 
An SWR meter is an absolutely NECESSARY piece of equipment. If you don't know what it is - and if the SWR is off significantly, you are well on the way causing a final transistor failure in your radio very soon. . . .


stock radio, high swr...I don't know that I'd say "very soon"

not a great idea but not instantly expensive either

low swr is somewhat overrated
 
Oh I just that the lower SWR was just desireable didnt know it could ruin a radio

"Standing Wave Ratio" if it is high, as in above 2:1 will reflect too much power back into your radio and begin to heat the final output transistors. At 5:1, it is reflecting a great deal of output power back in. At 10:1, it won't take too long to damage them. Problem is - you don't know where it is at w/o a SWR meter. If the SWR is off; the antenna will need to be adjusted so that it is in the safe zone. You can run it at a 2:1 ratio; but getting it at 1.5:1 or lower ratio is best.

Did you read that link I posted?
 

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