Chopping@itsbest
Member
- Location
- Northern Ireland
Does anyone on here know what modifications are require to a cb radio to increase the working range?
Cb radios
- Thread starter Chopping@itsbest
- Start date
mushnt grummmble
Member
rubber boots!!
Chopping@itsbest
Member
- Location
- Northern Ireland
Ariels on the mirror bracket of a Claas forager. Would rather not go down the route of 2 ariels as I've branded the twin ariel cart men as d##ks for years!
Chopping@itsbest
Member
- Location
- Northern Ireland
Dr Dunc mines a president Jonny 2, I theory there should be a similar set up in it?
It will have to be a burner or buy a midland of cbshack and they will alter it for you to 10 watt out put
Tarw Coch
Member
- Location
- Bottom of Wats Dyke
Never had good results off a mirror bracket, try to keep the aerial as central as possible on the machine and a good earth is essential.
Chopping@itsbest
Member
- Location
- Northern Ireland
I see that a white wire on the circuit board has been cut. Anyone know if this is the right wire?
Stoxs
Member
- Location
- Andover , Hampshire
Get a decent arieal and get it finelly tuned. Make sure you have a real good mounting point, personally i am not a lover of mirror mounts but often its the only place, far better is a old plough disc mounted to cab roof, cab roof often have 2 bolts going down through them. this will give added earthing for the arieal to work propperlly, make sure the disc is earthed to the chassis of the vehicle.
no point in sending 10 watts down the wire if most of it is lost in no mans land.
A good areial mounted well will out perform a bad arieal with 10 or even 20watt burner. also you will be able to hear wh you are talking to, a burner dose not help recieving in coming signal.
Try to get arieal as central to vehicle as possible this will redcue directional signal loss.
mag mounts are crap for a decent set up, hard bolted will be far superior.
one final thing be carefull of your overal height some of these power wires are not that high!! we used to make a folding device to stop loosing arieals , basically 2 pieces of angle bolted togeather to make a channel form this is then mounted so if you hit a big branch arieal will flod down and not get ripped off.
second option is a bracket mounted off the front of engine area and moulded to mount arieal jsut above bonnet hight, you will find when setting SWR the ariel will need shortening this is basicall because you are making a center loaded arieal. draw backs to this set up is you got to look at it all day!
gopod luck good buddy
Chopping@itsbest
Member
- Location
- Northern Ireland
Drdunc do you need to swr for all channels? What's a kicker?
mushnt grummmble
Member
kicker,boots,burner
a output amp
a output amp
Stoxs
Member
- Location
- Andover , Hampshire
I'd get a swr/power meter off eBay for a tenner and check the aerial first?
Getting the swr to 1.2 and using a good long twig makes big difference to how far out you can go.
Then fit a kicker.
I think you mean get the SWR below 1.2!, most cases you can get it alot lower than that if you cant you have a problem with your aerial.
A kicker is a burner, as said these are ok but dont help hearing someone who can hear you!!!
also you will need to SWR an aerial if you move it to another position. length of aerial is relivant to the poition its put in. I have had to cut about 3 feet off an aerial before due to its location, troulbe is this aerial might bthen be usless if you change its position.
the polish dont need them there everywhere
Stoxs
Member
- Location
- Andover , Hampshire
Yea well less said about them the better!!!!,
Swr meters were originally for fine tuning the length of your aerial (twig) to suit the frequency of the cb unit. You check either end of the band you're transmitting on, i.e. channels 1&40.
Most aerials today are pre tuned do you don't have to alter the length. However checking swr will show up poor earth.
Connect the meter between the aerial and the box using a patch lead. Go to channel 1. Set meter to fwd, key the Mike and adjust the meter knob for full scale needle. Flick the meter switch to ref (reflected power) and the needle should be below 1.5. Repeat this for channel 40.
Here's a good explanation of swr meter use
http://www.4x4cb.com/public/page.cfm?Page=795
A kicker is an in line amplifier that "kicks" your output further out.
Here's a web shop that I've bought stuff from
http://www.kcb.co.uk/shop2/index1.html
Most aerials today are pre tuned do you don't have to alter the length. However checking swr will show up poor earth.
Connect the meter between the aerial and the box using a patch lead. Go to channel 1. Set meter to fwd, key the Mike and adjust the meter knob for full scale needle. Flick the meter switch to ref (reflected power) and the needle should be below 1.5. Repeat this for channel 40.
Here's a good explanation of swr meter use
http://www.4x4cb.com/public/page.cfm?Page=795
A kicker is an in line amplifier that "kicks" your output further out.
Here's a web shop that I've bought stuff from
http://www.kcb.co.uk/shop2/index1.html
Stoxs
Member
- Location
- Andover , Hampshire
Another point to mention is use good quality coax cable, without any joins in it, does make a difference to get a good set up.
make sure you solder the connections on as well. the center wire shoud be soldered.
shielding around the outside should fit to outside part of connector.
make sure you solder the connections on as well. the center wire shoud be soldered.
shielding around the outside should fit to outside part of connector.
I used to have the aerials mounted on the mirror arms until I plugged in a meter
I then made brackets that bolted between the cab and the mirror arms, with bare metal contact. I also fitteda thick earth strap between the cab and the gearbox.
The swr went from 1 : (2+), to 1: (1.2) on both my tractors.
As @Stoxs said, continuous coax with pre fitted ends is the best. Also don't cowl up any extra length to make it tidy. You're actually making an aerial loop! Try to route the coax so you minimise any extra length.
I then made brackets that bolted between the cab and the mirror arms, with bare metal contact. I also fitteda thick earth strap between the cab and the gearbox.
The swr went from 1 : (2+), to 1: (1.2) on both my tractors.
As @Stoxs said, continuous coax with pre fitted ends is the best. Also don't cowl up any extra length to make it tidy. You're actually making an aerial loop! Try to route the coax so you minimise any extra length.