SWR Discrepency Between Meters

[Gerowen]

The lil wilson 36" antenna is a hard one to tune, been there done that. Something doesn't seem right thought as you are saying you get a 1.0 swr reading for channel 1 and swr reading of 3 on 40, are you recalibrating your external swr meter when you change from channel 1 to channel 40, I ask this as it is just weird to have a 1.0 on 1 and a 3.0 swr reading on 40. The radio seems to be giving a more realistic reading IMO. Not saying you don't know to operate the external meter you have, something just doesn't seem right though. I am not a fan of the small workman swr meters as I have has them in the past and not had much luck with them. I now use the radio shack swr meters, they seem to be a lot better as far as accuracy goes IMO, compared to the small workman meters. Again not saying you don't know how to use the meter, but make sure when you take your readings, you are parked at least 50-100ft away from any obstructions, turn your mic gain down all the way, and then make sure to recalibrate the meter when you change channels. The 3ft jumper should make no difference, if you think it is, try a different cable if possible. And one last thing, what is the SWR reading on channel 20? Just curios. Good luck and hope you get it sorted. Personally, I would ditch the lil wil antenna if possible, they are very narrow banded antenna and are a pain to tune. I tried 2 myself and never could get the swr readings below 1.7-1.8. JMO, spend some money on your antenna system, and in return, it will give you better rx and tx, and will be easier to tune.

Yep, re-calibrated it every time I changed channels. Flip the switch to FWD, hold dead key, rotate calibration knob until the needle is at the "SET" mark, then flip switch down to REF. I think it's probably the meter. I checked the radio on my 4 wheeler and it gave a 3+ reading as well, and I used it for the first time when installing a radio for a friend and got a 3+ reading. I even went so far on his as to measure out 18 feet of coax to run and using a voltmeter to check for continuity and shorts when we got it all mounted, and I never could get it to go down. Next time he comes over, I'll pull one of my 148 radios out of the vehicle and use it on his antenna to check SWR and just see what it says.