I followed directions closely but I am unable to receive any strong clear messages. I am using a 1001z and a window mount antenna, shown here (http://midlandradio.com/comersus/store/comersus_viewItem.asp?idProduct=5445)
First of all I am having a hard time finding the best place to ground the radio. I have tried a few different spots on the inside metal surfaces of my car, the best seems to be the negative (ground) wire on the cigarette lighter (where the power is connected) but I thought grounding the radio to the floor of the car (and thus, the body of the whole car) would be best but that picks up a lot of ignition noise and such.
Secondly, how come I cant hear anything? I grounded the receiving end of the antenna, I have followed all the instructions, but am I supposed to get the antenna tuned?
Thirdly, after reading around on forums, some people use noise canceling box things in their ground wires to quiet down the interference. Is this necessary?
Thanks!
Even though I say you should use a better antenna, if set up properly, you should still be able to receive and transmit even with the window mount antenna, they just do now allow you to actually receive and transmit to the full capability of your radio. They were not designed for the practical use in mind, but more so for the looks.
1. For grouding the radio, you can ground it just about anywhere you like. I usually sugest running the power and ground right off of the battery.
2. When you say you grounded the receiving end of the antenna, did you mean that you grounded out the metal part of the antenna, the part on the outside of the window? Please clarify. If the actual antenna is grounded, it is like having no antenna at all. I have not used this particular antenna and am not sure if that antenna needs to be grounded. Unless the instructions from the antenna package said so, it will not need to be. On a regular antenna application, the base where the antenna is screwed into is grounded and the antenna itself is not.
Make sure your PA/CB switch is set to CB, they are easy to bump and not notice that they are set to PA. Turn your squelch all the way counter clockwise.
3.You don't have to use inline noise filters. People use those when they get like alternator noise coming through their radio, which will be a whining sound when you are acellerating, or turning your airconditioner blower between fan settings.
This is why I usually suggest people run their cb radio power straight from the battery, because it lets the batterywork as a filter, but you can try an inline filter if you don't want to go that route. But first, you have to any determine if you have alternator noise before you need to worry about it.
If none of this helps, please let me know. You can post here or email me at [email protected].
Dean
I do not know how much you know about cb radios, I hope I do not offend you if you think I am talking down to you. I promise that I am not.
If you are hearing people, but they are muffled and you can't really make out what they are saying, then they are probably talking on a seperate channel and you are just hearing them bleeding over to the channel you are on. You can always switch between the channels and see what channel they are on to see if you can hear them clearly. I don't recomend talking to them, because people get upset when someone cuts in on their conversation on a channel other than 19. The main channel everyone stays on for general talk is channel 19. When two people are wanting to talk kind of privately, they just go to a different channel, and depending on how big of a set up they have, they will bleed over to another channel. If you are on the same channel as someone talking, even with your antenna you should be able to hear them, especially if they are close to you.
The best way to see if your radio is working and you don't have someone you know with a good cb setup, get around big trucks, put your radio on ch 19, and ask for a radio check. All you have to say is "Break one nine for a radio check". Don't get discouraged when no-one replies or they come back with a smarteleck remark like "the checks in the mail" or something of that nature. I have been talking on radios for years and sometimes it is hard for me to even get someone to reply. The best place to get a radio check and have someone reply is around a busy truck stop.
The deal with SWRs is just that you are setting the impedance of the antenna as close to 50ohms as possible. What setting your SWRs does is determine the efficiency of your antenna, what percent of your power goes out into the air versus what comes back into your radio and is turned into heat and lost.
There are two types of antennas when it comes to this, one with a tunable tip (that allows you to set the SWR) and one that is factory set (untunable).
There are a few brands of antennas that offer ones that are non-tunable. I personally would recommend either a Francis or Firestick. You can pick them up at most truck stops and at any CB shop. They are fairly inexpensive. They make them just stright fiberglass whips and wirewound fiberglass whips.
For your setup, I would recomend a nontunable antenna, unless you are planning on running an amp and would require an antenna rated at a higher wattage.
The alternative, is one that is tunable, which means it has what we call a stinger on the tip that can be move. The stinger length and type depends on the style of antenna (whether or not it is a fiberglass rod, an aluminum with a coil load, or a metal with a center, top, or bottom load). There are many brands and styles of these antennas, which I can go into more detail if you like.
Let me know if you need more specific information on antennas or anything else pertaining to cb radios. If you have any questions at all, do not purchase an antenna without asking first. LIke Dave Ramsey says, "The only dumb question is one that is not asked".
Dean
Rollin CBs
Hey John. I wouldn't be too worried about your radio being messed up. What they are concerned about is mostly transmitting (pressing and holding the key on the microphone) while no antenna is connected, and doing it for an extended period of time. When you key up your microphone the power that is generated has to go somewhere, and with no antenna connected, it will cause the the final transistor in the output circuit to heat up. When too much heat builds up and is not disapated, it will begin to break down the transistor and can fry it. Now even without an antenna connected and you just key up for a few minutes, under normal circumstances, its not going to do any damage.
Now with the antenna, the window mount antenna can definitely be your problem. Here is an excerpt straight from one of my text book understanding & repairing CB radios, where the author talks about window mounted antennas:
"At least a few manufacturers now sell an on-glass CB whip made to look like a cellular mobile telephone antenna! Besides being far too short, you won't even get the benefit of a metal to metal ground contact. Avoid these antennas like the plague, unless you're on some ego trip and need to feel like a VIP when talking to the car next door: that's proabably all the range you'll get anyway. Besides the potential SWR problems, transmitter damage, and very narrow bandwitdth, the reduced capture area of such short antennas also kills the receiver sensitivity. Not recommended!"
I trust this author very much and go exclusively by his teachings. He has been a cb tech and an employee working on major radio towers since 1976.
When getting your next antenna, I would recomend one that the coax is seperate from the antenna base and has to be screwed on.
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Dean thank you for your help!
The antenna has a base outside and inside of the window. The base located inside the car comes with a grounding wire attached to it. This is the one that I am talking about, there are no ground wires outside the car.
So you would say that a real antenna would drastically improve the performance? So far I have only heard a couple of muffled sentences while I am driving among semi trucks.
Also, as I am now in the market for a full antenna, is it possible to buy an antenna that is already tuned in length for using channel 19? Or are the SWR numbers specific to your application?
Thank you very much for your help!
Dean you have been very helpful! And I am a total novice and I do not take any offense to your advice.
Is it a possibility that I could have my setup the way it should be, and since I am using a widow mount I am unable to hear anything? Do you think the type of antenna is the culprit?
The radio manual says that operating the radio without the antenna plugged in can cause circuitry in the radio to be damaged. Is this true? I had the radio on for a minute or two w/o the antenna by mistake.. am I hosed? hahaha
This is the best info I have found while searching the internet. Thanks!
I put this as a request for additional info because I don't want to loose my rating if you wanted to rate this a thanks for trying. But just to let you know, window mount antennas are not good at all. They have no range for transmit or receive. I sugest you start with a better antenna.
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