How am I doing with this setup ?

[Ozzy73]

Hello All,

This is my first CB Radio and wanted a little help tunning the Uniden 520XL with K30 antenna.

I tuned SWR to 2 CH40 and 1.5 CH1. SHould I be able to get a better SWR reading with my setup ( trimmed about 3/4" of the Antenna in small increments to get the current readings ) ?

My S/RF meter only hits 3 at best, should I be hitting 4 or is that only under ideal conditions?

What kind of range should I expect with this setup? My last radio check was about 2 miles away.


Thank you.

[sidjones1]

Good morning Ozzy and welcome. I am just recently back into CBs but was "hot & heavy" into them back in the 70s and 80s. I am sure others with more knowledge will kick in here too.
I would recommend you tune your swr and antenna to the lowest setting mid band. In other words, around channel 20. This will give you a similar rating at both ends (1 & 40). Your lowest swr on channel 20 should be closer to 1:1,1:2 or 1:3. You may want to try an external swr meter rather than the one in the radio to confirm. If your Swr is not getting to this level, check your antenna placement. Is this a base or mobile unit? Is the mobile antenna placed in a good location and getting a good ground? Be careful cutting too much off the antenna.... You can never go back, ha!

In regards to the wattage, if you are new to cbing, this level will serve you fine for now. You can always look into this later after you gain more knowledge and learn who is a good tech in your area. I would not suggest you "start turning" things yourself.
A 2 mile radio check is o k. There will be noisy days and quiet days. On a mobile you will do a little better. On good days you may reach 5-10 miles. On a base even further (15-25 miles). This depends on many variables. Your make & style of antenna will have the biggest impact. I would read up on this first. Like I said, there will always be time to discuss power and modulation later... after you get a solid antenna and a great swr. Best of luck and have fun... 73's

[Lost Ram]

Hello,
IMO,
With the SWR reading you have adjusting it anymore would likely not produce any better radio checks with a mobile antenna. However, some say it is best to have the lowest SWR you can tune for. If your internal meter and reading are correct the best you can do if you get Ch1 to a 1.1swr then 40 would only be 1.6swr. Normally the difference between a 1.1 and 2 swr is not recognizable with radio checks.
I also agree you should try to use an external meter as suggested by Sid as the internal ones can be a bit deceiving on some models.

[sidjones1]

So sorry Ozzy.....just re-read your question. The K30 is a mobile magnet mount antenna. Try other placements on your vehicle. You may just get a good spot that gives you a better swr and you will get out further. An example is: if you place the antenna mid vehicle you will get out all around you better. The vehicle acts as a ground plane to reflect your signal all around you. If you p!ace it on your back left, you will reflect better front right and worse back left.
Others may suggest a better antenna. I hear Wilson makes a few good ones. This can come later too after you have some fun first

[Ozzy73]

Thank you for the pointers. I did the swr readings with an external swr meter.
Channel 20 is about 1.1 so I am pretty happy with that. Don’t want to go OCD with swr reading or trim to much of the antenna either . I will try to play with the antenna placement on the the roof of my truck ( currently sitting in on top of rear passenger ).

I guess distance really relies on alot conditions, Such as terrain, antenna placement etc.

The cb also has a pa and ext speaker port. One thing I would like to know is does the pa and ext speaker work with a stereo plug or do they have to be mono ( I have lots of stereo plugs kicking around ) ?

Thanks again for the help.

[jessejamesdallas]

Thank you for the pointers. I did the swr readings with an external swr meter.
Channel 20 is about 1.1 so I am pretty happy with that. Don’t want to go OCD with swr reading or trim to much of the antenna either . I will try to play with the antenna placement on the the roof of my truck ( currently sitting in on top of rear passenger ).

I guess distance really relies on alot conditions, Such as terrain, antenna placement etc.

The cb also has a pa and ext speaker port. One thing I would like to know is does the pa and ext speaker work with a stereo plug or do they have to be mono ( I have lots of stereo plugs kicking around ) ?

Thanks again for the help.

ex speaker and PA would use the mono plug...As for distance, it just depends on conditions at the time and how many people are talking...plus how good of a antenna you have...("Taller the better" when it comes to CB antennas)

The K30 is a short antenna so couple of miles maybe about best your going to see...As for the Uniden 520xl, those are not bad radios for the price...I have a couple of them around here and although they lack in filtering they are better than most of the low-end radios like the Cobra 19's...Biggest problem I noticed with them is if anyone is near you talking on a different channel, they may bleed over on the channel your on. (lack of filtering in the radio causes this...course if the person is running a bunch of power it's not going to matter one way or another what radio you have, they would still bleed over)

Now if you really want to get out and touch someone with that radio, get a taller antenna and a 200-400w amp and stick behind it and talk local 20-30 miles!

[Lost Ram]

Thank you for the pointers. I did the swr readings with an external swr meter.
Channel 20 is about 1.1 so I am pretty happy with that.
Thanks again for the help.

OK, you should always include your best reading. I was thinking your best was the stated 1.5. Anyhow, you have it the best it can be with 1.1 in the middle of the band, maybe you didnt have those readings when you posted them. Readings on 1/20/40 provide good info when getting help with SWR. Sounds like you are on your with a good setup with what you have. Good JOB!!!!

[MDYoungblood]

I agree with everyone on the way they setup an antenna. I also agree that the K30 is a good starter antenna. Place the antenna in the middle of the roof, adjust the SWR to the lowest you can get on channel 19 (actual middle of the CB frequency) or 20. When you get that then balance out channels 1 and 40. Moving the antenna around the roof, (only a couple inches at a time) you will achieve the best SWR, it won't be prefect, there is no such thing, as long as the SWR is below 2:1 the radio shouldn't have a problem. SWR also affect range, the higher the SWR the shorter the distance in transmitting, so goes for antenna length, a longer antenna will out perform and short one.

3's

Greg

[Ozzy73]

Thanks again gents, ended up moving antenna around on the roof and dead center of the roof seems to be the best location on the truck. I have a little more cable that is dangling on the roof but it is not bad.

Reception seems to be good, finally got a good radio check in about 3 KM away. I am happy with the distance with the current setup.

The next step is setting up a PA that I found kicking around @ work.
It is a SS-30 SONAX Siren, ( 30W-8 OHM ) ( 6-12 Volt DC ).

Should my UNIDEN 520XL be able to drive/power this thing? I ended up hooking it up to white and the red cables to do a quick test, got some sound but not enough.

[Ozzy73]

Update:

The Uniden is putting out 7 W-8OHM, it doesn't seem to power the PA speaker enough to get any output. Basically, all I am getting is a little sound really distorted through the PA speaker when I have the volume cranked.

Any pointers?

[MDYoungblood]

Update:

The Uniden is putting out 7 W-8OHM, it doesn't seem to power the PA speaker enough to get any output. Basically, all I am getting is a little sound really distorted through the PA speaker when I have the volume cranked.

Any pointers?

Think the give away on the speaker is the word "Siren", it is not a true PA speaker but a signal one, has a built in tone device. It probably has multiple hookup wires on it so play with those until you find the right combination.

3's

Greg