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Thread: Another NOOB

  1. #31
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    Order placed. Radio should be here Sunday. Antenna by the end of next week. It is coming from DNJ Radio. I think you mentioned them. Bought the mag mount for now for ease of installation. Paid more of the antenna than the radio, go figure. If its as good as you say I should never need another.

  2. #32
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    Shouldn't. I've still mine after 3+yrs of some rough use. Only thing I did to my mount is I used some better coax than the stock stuff. I had it laying around so I used it. Lmr240. With that said. Make sure you use an external swr/watt meter for tuning. The radio shack swr/watt meters work very well for mobile use or even a base station. For $40 or less if you look around on the eBay. That or a diawa swr/watt meter. They cost a bit more but seem to be of good quality. I personally use a radio shack meter. Not too often, just to check things, my radio has a built in meter that shows me the swr always. Anyway, when you get it, place magnet back of center of roof and try there first. Antenna may tune better forward or back or center. Some do, some like center. One found that forward or rear of center is normally where you find the "sweet spot". Again, take your time cutting no more than 1/8" pieces at a time. The book says 1/4", I go half that as to not cut too short by accident. Doesn't take much and the antenna will be off. Not that it can't be resolved with tuning but I'd rather have the whip cut correctly. JMHO. Keep us posted and post pics of the install when it's done!! You should be very happy with the sirio antenna and mount.

  3. #33
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    I have a Recoton CB170C, SWR / Field Strength meter. I have had it for years (late 70's or so). Could be something better out today. Lost the paperwork for it long ago and don't know how to use it other than SWR readings. It has a very small antenna with it and a lug on the box to screw it in to.

    Really looking forward to pulling the head liner out of that truck again...... NOT.

    If the weather is good I may have the radio installed Sunday afternoon.

  4. #34
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    That will work just fine. Don't worry about power readings unless there are none. The radio has an swr meter built in, but I trust an external meter over an internal one myself. Use the one you have and tune your vswr. Should be just fine for what you need. You don't need an expensive meter to read vswr. Now an antenna analyzer would be a different deal. Those are worth every penny if you get into the hobby. They make antenna tuning a breeze. I use an MFJ 269. It may be the C model. I can't remember right off hand. But it takes about 1/4 of the time to tune an antenna with one vs. not having one. For now what you have will work just fine to get you going. Those antennas if set right will tune pretty well. And you will notice the difference between it and the lil wil antenna I promise that!! Anyway. Be safe, have fun with the headliner. I know those are always fun.

  5. #35
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    Maybe I should try moving the antenna around on the roof of the truck. I have it placed about center front to back and side to side. It is a standard cab so I don't have a lot of room to move it. I can try moving it back a little and see how that changes the reading.

  6. #36
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    Yep. Move it back of center of cab. Keep it center side to side, but place it about 6" or so from the rear of the cab and try it there. Moving it around forward and back you will find the "sweet spot" that the antenna will tune best at. This is what I have found majority of the time with mag mount installs. It also gives you a good idea as to where to place a hard mount in the future. Some vehicles it may be a bit forward of center or rear. Some may be dead center. All installs are different and should be taken as so. What might work on one truck won't work on another. And it can be the same type truck LOL! Just take your time. Start with the whip all the way down and check readings on 1, 20, & 40. If the vswr rises going up in freq from 1 to 40 the antenna is too long and needs to to be cut, which it most likely will. Like I said. 1/8" cuts. It may take a few cuts, but at 1/8" you can't mess up very much if at all. You'll see what I mean when you go to tune the antenna. And like I said also, if the radio bug bites you and you become interested again, find an antenna analyzer. JMHO. Have fun with the new setup when you get it!!!

  7. #37
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    So I guess the plan world be to place the antenna and see where the SWR's are at then move it to another position and check again so on and so on.

    When I find the spot with the best initial reading then place the antenna there and start cutting to get the best SWR's.

    This sound about right?

    I'm taking a wild guess here on the SSB part of this. I understand you have Upper and Lower side band and my guess is that this radio you have say Channel 30 and then you have an upper and lower sideband on this channel by using the button / switch on the radio face. None of the videos I have watched on the radio go into this. This is just a stab at how I think this is going to work with this radio.

  8. #38
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    So he did in fact cut D11, but it isn't a wire! (as such) I don't know what you call it!

    Although I have soldering equipment, I don't think I can solder that back so I suppose that means I will need to go back to him or find someone else to repair the "MOD" if it is detrimental to the radio or its function. Yes ? No?

    Explain the D11 function again please.

    Name:  D11.JPG
Views: 155
Size:  823.6 KB

    The other MOD was the brown (pot) thing I marked in the photo the other day.
    Last edited by FATKAT; 11-07-2015 at 01:23 PM.

  9. #39
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    Just push it back down and hit it with a touch of solder. That will fix it. D11 is the AMC, audio limiter. It controls how much modulation your radio makes. Which should be no more than 100% pos. Peaks and about the same or less on the neg. peaks. On an oscilloscope. Basically it makes you sound over modulated, which is no good.
    And SSB is just that. Single side band mode with upper (usb) and lower (lsb) modes. With SSB there is no carrier like on am. So when you let the radio you won't see any watts or power until you speak into the mic. On the CB band channels 36-40 are the SSB channels and all are normally LSB (lower side band). The clarifier is how you tune people's voices in. Listen for a bit and find a couple people that sound the same. Then tune their voice until it sounds normal. Your radio is locked on the transmit side so you can't mess up. There are a lot of radios that the transmit and receive track together. Your radio should be dead on frequency. Mine was and I haven't heard of anybody getting one that was off freq out of the box. They don't need to be tuned. If you plan to use an amp just turn the dead key back to whatever the needed input is. The pep of the radio won't be an issue. They aren't powerhouse radios but sound clean and clear on air. A good mic for them is the uniden Bluetooth mic. Mod the mic hole to be a bit larger and it works well. It's a noise cancelling mic as well. And they are not very expensive now. Under $50. Great deal for them. They work well and have no wires from mic to radio. Just a harness that plugs into the mic jack and the mic has its own battery pack and speaker as well as mic. For the money it is a good addition other than the stock mic. Another good mic is the RF limited 2018 extreme. Turn the echo al the way off and the noise cancelling on and it's one nice power mic. Add a bit of reverb and they sound good. Just some food for thought.

  10. #40
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    I am eager for the radio to arrive and see what difference I find with people actually talking. It's just dead from the house as far as I can see. Maybe SSB will be where they are at.

    I think I made the repair to D11 or I got it so hot it stuck to the board I have no way to test any of this and no one to talk to for a before / after opinion.

    The new radio will be here tomorrow and the Cobra will not matter so much then, at least for a while.

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