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Base station help

Double nasty

Member
Jul 12, 2012
15
0
11
So I have a cobra 200 for a base with a Wilson 5000 magnetic mounted on my window seal. I can hear people way out in the distance but no one can hear me. Do I need to ground my antenna? Or do I need to be higher I'm currently about 20-25 ft off the ground (2nd story)

Also I'm using a car battery with a battery charger for now till I can get a power supply.

What can I do to hear and talk locally?


Sent from your moms phone....
 

Cobra 200 depending on what generation it is can be a good radio. First gen had some flaws but they were corrected in later generations of the radio.

The issue is the antenna.

It needs a good ground plane, Ie metal under it.

IF that is all you have then you can try to get it on the roof with a longer piece of coax, and maybe some metal under it.

I remember when I first got into the radio hobby, Had a mag mount on top of a metal 2 story house.

It worked, talked into Tennessee from Florida, skip and mother nature helped a lot on that one.

Google dipole, many dipole calculators on line, you can put it in your room suspended from the ceiling and make contacts.

This forum is a great source of info and many diy'ers here so feel free to ask any questions and someone will reply
 
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Well...To Start..
Welcome to the Forum..

You are Indeed in the Right Place..
Many Good people on here more then willing to pass out Knowledge.

You are Starting out better then i did back in early 70's..
I started with a simple 23 channel TRC-23a CB
With a Mobile mirror mount antenna that we attached to wooden frame of window..on 3rd floor of 17 story building..surrounded by tall buildings all around..(was a good way to learn how to get out though..lol )

You likely have a good radio indeed.
( i sold many Cobra 200's over the years )

Your antenna and location of antenna is your biggest issue at the moment..

Can you use the Roof ?
if so maybe you can get a cheep A-99 or Imax 2000 antenna ?

If you can use the roof...at least put your antenna up there..
However it is a mag mount wanting to be on metal..So you could put a sheet beneath it before mounting it..

The A-99 or Imax 2000 on the roof would do worlds better though
(and still staying cheep and keeping it easy to put the antenna up)
 
So I have a cobra 200 for a base with a Wilson 5000 magnetic mounted on my window seal. I can hear people way out in the distance but no one can hear me. Do I need to ground my antenna? Or do I need to be higher I'm currently about 20-25 ft off the ground (2nd story)

Also I'm using a car battery with a battery charger for now till I can get a power supply.

What can I do to hear and talk locally?


Sent from your moms phone....

Welcome!! I'll throw in my 2¢ here. I live in a condo/townhouse complex where even satellite dishes are banned!! So, I built a dipole that I've strung horizontally in my attic space about the garage. It does pretty well locally, 3-4 mile tops on AM, but when skip is rolling in, I can make contacts on SSB as far as TX, AL, MI, MS on a regular basis. If I were you, I'd find a better power supply set up, charging batteries will produce nasty gases to vent from the battery when it's charging, not to mention the mess if it were to be knocked over. Just my thoughts. Good luck!! It's a fun hobby for sure.

73s
 
Also, get that car battery out of the house before you get someone sick from the fumes or catch a fire!! The radio has an SWR gauge built in, what does it read?? Probably in the 3's (red) You're gonna burn the built in amp up quick.
 
Get a plain old metal cookie sheet and stick your antenna on it ,instant ground plain and yes get rid of the battery in the house too dangerous ! ! :eek:
 
Base

Welcome!
A boat battery box with the vent tube exiting to the outside would help. Cookie sheet I guess will get you by. I'm fixing to either get a Solarcon A99 base antenna or a IMAX 2000 myself. If you can get that antenna mounted on a metal platform and use a short mast attached to a vent pipe would help you get out locally. :pop:
 
Build a simple dipole. 8.8' per side. If you have a shingle roof, put it up there and tuck the legs under a couple of shingles to keep it there.

PR
 
Get a plain old metal cookie sheet and stick your antenna on it ,instant ground plain and yes get rid of the battery in the house too dangerous ! ! :eek:

The cookie sheet has to be pretty large to be anything close to a "ground plain" on 11 meters. He needs actual radials. Four or more of them, arranged as nearly evenly as possible, and around 9 feet long.

The mag-mount on a cookie sheet works almost okay on 2 meters, and it's just about right for 70 cm. But not for 11 meters; way too small.
 
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The cookie sheet has to be pretty large to be anything close to a "ground plain" on 11 meters. He needs actual radials. Four or more of them, arranged as nearly evenly as possible, and around 9 feet long.

The mag-mount on a cookie sheet works almost okay on 2 meters, and it's just about right for 70 cm. But not for 11 meters; way too small.

I agree. Don't radials have to be pointed down at a 45 to 60 degree angle?
 
Recommendations:
- put the antenna outdoors on the biggest piece of horizontal metal you can find, top of ac unit or as someone suggested, a cookie sheet.

- alternately switch to something that doesn't need a ground plane, A 108" metal whip, fiberglass antenna etc and mount outside

- dipole inside will be inferior to either of those and mounting it horizontal will be a disappointment to talk to locals

If you aren't using an AGM battery, in a box, I'd mae sure my health insurance was paid up so you'll be able to afford treatment for the acid burns - seriously, get a power supply, using a battery is dangerous, see:

exploded car battery video number 2 - YouTube

Car Battery Explosion - Acid Shed - YouTube
 
I agree. Don't radials have to be pointed down at a 45 to 60 degree angle?


only to get a 1.1 vswr ..... having them vertical will let you get as low as 1.3 vswr .... still perfectly safe for equipment with no humanly detectable difference in tx or rx between 1.3 and a "perfect" vswr
 
Recommendations:
- put the antenna outdoors on the biggest piece of horizontal metal you can find, top of ac unit or as someone suggested, a cookie sheet.


neither of those will work , much too small for 27 MHz .
................ unless you have a industrial size ac unit the size of a vehicle at your house .
forget about a cookie sheet all together ...... unless you put some 9 ft ground elements/wires coming off or it .



" ........... - alternately switch to something that doesn't need a ground plane, A 108" metal whip, fiberglass antenna etc and mount outside ............... "

who ever told you a 108 inch whip doesn't need a ground plane was wrong . they (a 1/4 wavelength antenna) need a proper ground plane ( 9 ft @ 27MHz. ) to work properly .
 
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neither of those will work , much too small for 27 MHz .
................ unless you have a industrial size ac unit the size of a vehicle at your house .
forget about a cookie sheet all together ...... unless you put some 9 ft ground elements/wires coming off or it .

" ........... - alternately switch to something that doesn't need a ground plane, A 108" metal whip, fiberglass antenna etc and mount outside ............... "

who ever told you a 108 inch whip doesn't need a ground plane was wrong . they (a 1/4 wavelength antenna) need a proper ground plane ( 9 ft @ 27MHz. ) to work properly .

I was thinking in terms of improving what the baseline is.

I agree none of things are optimal but they will work to some extent and most likely better than what is in place now.

For instance, I've run a mag mount off a filing cabinet, wasn't as good as an IMAX 2000, 50 feet in the air but it worked. Same antenna in the same place without the cabinet was a complete paperweight with really bad SWR.

Same goes for the whip - run without real ground plane with some degree of success.

Doing some dipole experimentation now, side by side with an IMAX 2000 - very disappointing oriented horizontally in an attic about 40 feet off grade. The mag mount on the filing cabinet works better.

Maybe the best advice that can be gleaned from this thread is to try different things and see what works.
 

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