CUTTING ANTENNA TOO MUCH???????

[chopcorejc]

i had a reading of 1.4 on 1, 1.6 on 20 and 1.8 on 40...............so i cut my antenna about 2 to 2 1/2 inches to get a reading of 1.0(or 1.0something---the needle moves ever so slightly) on 1, 1.2 on 20 and 1.4 on 40

my question is this: it says to cut your antenna until all readings are below 1.5.........so everytime i cut it, the readings went down..........they are all below 1.5 now.............should i keep cutting until i have all of the readings right on the 1.0 line???????????

i have a wilson 5000 antenna mounted on the drivers side mirror mount of a big truck

[521 Houston]

my question is this: it says to cut your antenna until all readings are below 1.5.........so everytime i cut it, the readings went down..........they are all below 1.5 now.............should i keep cutting until i have all of the readings right on the 1.0 line???????????

What is the reading with the stinger bottomed out in the holder? If that is the lowest reading, and it gets higher as you raise it, then yes, you can trim some more, but NEVER trim more off than the length BELOW where the stinger clamps with the allen screws! That way, if you cut more and they start going up, you can still raise the stinger inside the holder to the point it was BEFORE you cut it, and you won't have to buy a new stinger!

[chopcorejc]

i have a reading of 1.0(or 1.0something---the needle moves ever so slightly) on 1, 1.2 on 20 and 1.4 on 40 with it bottomed out...............

but, and correct me if i'm wrong, i thought the whole point was to keep the antenna as high in the air as possible with all the readings being under 1.5....................does that sound correct???????????

[521 Houston]

i have a reading of 1.0(or 1.0something---the needle moves ever so slightly) on 1, 1.2 on 20 and 1.4 on 40 with it bottomed out...............

but, and correct me if i'm wrong, i thought the whole point was to keep the antenna as high in the air as possible with all the readings being under 1.5....................does that sound correct???????????

ABSOLUTELY! You are quite correct on that point. Bear in mind though that a couple of inches in antenna height really is not going to make a noticeable change as far as transmitting or receiving. The readings you have will let you run your radio throughout the cb band with no problems at all! Any more adjustments you might make will just be optimizing the antenna for the channel you use the most. I like to set mine for the lowest on channel 20, because I go both up and down on my radio... talking on 6 and 11 just as much as on 26 and 28. When it's set at the lowest on 20, you should have equal SWR readings on 1 and 40, since 20 is midband. Of course, this is ideal situations... there are still variables that can effect that. If you want to midband optimize the antenna, since you know you have 1.0 bottomed on channel 1, then trim the antenna stinger just below the set screw that holds it in and try adjusting it again from there. DO NOT cut it above the set screw. Drop the stinger back in to the bottom and recheck. If the SWR comes up on channel 1, then you can still raise it to the point it was at before you cut it, or a point in between that best optimizes the reading. You have a very usable setting right now, so no worries if you run it as is. A small adjustment however could possibly give you a 1.0 to 1.2 across the whole band.