Tuning 10k's on a semi?

[Flat-Top-Classic]

I have dual 10k's and i took them to a shop to be "tuned" i assumed that they would cut some off of the rod, but they didnt. So know my antenna sticks up about 14 feet off the ground. Good for reception, bad for bridges. Also the weight of the rods being so long makes them hang a little bit. How much can i cut off and still be able to tune them.

Also how do you tune dual antennas?

[BigBopper]

None, if you cut off any your SWR's will go up, very fast

[jessejamesdallas]

First thing you need to do, before you cut anything, is get a in-line swr meter, and see where your swr is at, on channel 1, and 40. Don't go by what the meter on the radio says, there not very accurate.

Now, lets say on channel 40 your swr reading is 1.9, and on channel 1, it's reading 1.5...This would mean you need to shorten the stinger's.

What you would then do, is first loosen the set-screw on the stinger's and lower them just a little bit, then recheck the swr.

Now if channel 40's swr reading is coming down, just keep lowering the stingers until channel 40 and channel 1 are close to the same...

You will have to lower each stinger, every time you take a new reading...

Then, if both stingers are "Bottomed-out" but swr is still high, at that time you can start cutting some of the stinger off...But only cut maybe something like a 1/4 of a inch at a time. And you will need to do this with both stingers...

Dual Antennas take a little longer to set, since you have two.

Now if your using Single Coil Predator 10K's, that's one reason why their so tall. Most guys run the Dual Coil Predators on Semi's, or the SW Predator 10K's. With the second coil, they will be allot shorter over-all...

If you have the single coil 10K, you can get the second smaller coils and add to the antenna, so it will tune shorter... There is also a spacer that you would need to add a second coil...

[rayray1963]

Whats the length of the shaft? you may have to tilt them forward to gain some clearence or change shaft lengths and readjust your swr's. I have the 12 shaft and had to cut so much off to tune it, it's now a prefect 13'6"


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[jessejamesdallas]

Whats the length of the shaft? you may have to tilt them forward to gain some clearence or change shaft lengths and readjust your swr's. I have the 12 shaft and had to cut so much off to tune it, it's now a prefect 13'6"


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Yep...and it's also a Dual Coil 10K...Which is what he needs to be using.