gstuart · Mar 18, 2015

teddywood1 said:
one of the easiest ways of testing "earth" is to take you negative wire out of the plug and then switch the radio on with the antenna connected and if it does switch on then you have a good "earth" but never ever transmit this way ,if you have the Freelander face lift I have noticed on several of them that the rear door does not seem as though it has a good earth, run a piece of wire from the antenna mount and thread it through and connect it to the earth point behind the boot side panel drivers side (in the UK).
and do not do your standing wave ratio or SWR near to a house or any buildings as you will get reflect of the building. you get all this advise when you have spent nearly 50 years into ham radio.

cheers mate , so if I run a wire from the mount bolts that hold the spare wheel carrier on then to the earth plug behind the rear panel

am going to route my coax wire that way as well and along the rubber tubing inbetween the door and straight behind the rear panel , so it hides the wire , also got some black rtv silicone to seal the inside to ensure no water can get in

thks again for the help , also will take it up the road to the parks , carpark as that's a nice open area

sorry asking such dim questions ,

teddywood1 · Mar 18, 2015

yes do it that way and as said yes away from buildings

gstuart · Mar 18, 2015

teddywood1 said:
yes do it that way and as said yes away from buildings

thks mate , will do that

haven't bothered today , going to have another go most proberly at the weekend

appreciate the help and will report back how i get on

teddywood1 · Mar 19, 2015

you do know how to do the swr do you? first put the swr meter in line , then put it in fwd (forward) mode unless it is a automatic one, then put you radio on the bottom channel , then key up and adjust the needle until it is exactly at the top of the scale this sets the swr meter then switch to ref (reflect) note down the reading, then switch the radio to the top channel and do the same again. if the reading is higher one the top channel then the whip of the antenna needs to be shortened ,this can be done 2 ways either by undoing a grub screw and pushing it into the base or by actually cutting a piece of , NOW you must only cut a quarter of a inch at a time as if you cut to much off you can not put it back on, if the swr reads more on the bottom channel then you need to lengthen the wip this is done by the grub screws at the bottom just slide it out a fraction at a time , then hope fully you will get it right. hope this helps

englishbullterrier · Mar 19, 2015

gstuart said:
been trying to find out a solution for a higher than normal swr or just above 2.5

got it mounted on my spare wheel bracket , comes with rubber mounting

the aerial has a spring at the bottom , goes through the hole and uses rubber grommets that sit in between the top and bottom of the bracket

also have a quick release connecter on the aerial

have got a good earth point ,tested via a multimeter from the bracket to the bolts that hold the spare wheel carrier on

am going to run a wire from the bracket to the bolt of the carrier , but then thought about running a wire from the bolt then onto the main earth plug that sits behind the rear panel for a belt and braces idea

however I cant find out if the size of the wire will effect my ground planing and lower the swr by using a thicker or thinner wire

sorry to ask daft questions don't wish to cause damage to my new CB unit

have just got in plugged into my cig lighter at the moment , so I can test it

another daft question can I put my swr meter at the back between the aerial , so as i adjust the aerial via an Allen key , saving going backwards and forwards to the CB unit to see what the swr reading is

thks guys and sorry once again for asking

CB Radio Guide - What is a groundplane? | THUNDERPOLE

gstuart · Mar 19, 2015

teddywood1 said:
you do know how to do the swr do you? first put the swr meter in line , then put it in fwd (forward) mode unless it is a automatic one, then put you radio on the bottom channel , then key up and adjust the needle until it is exactly at the top of the scale this sets the swr meter then switch to ref (reflect) note down the reading, then switch the radio to the top channel and do the same again. if the reading is higher one the top channel then the whip of the antenna needs to be shortened ,this can be done 2 ways either by undoing a grub screw and pushing it into the base or by actually cutting a piece of , NOW you must only cut a quarter of a inch at a time as if you cut to much off you can not put it back on, if the swr reads more on the bottom channel then you need to lengthen the wip this is done by the grub screws at the bottom just slide it out a fraction at a time , then hope fully you will get it right. hope this helps

nice one cheers for that

thks mate

gstuart · Mar 19, 2015

englishbullterrier said:
CB Radio Guide - What is a groundplane? | THUNDERPOLE

I did start to read that but at the time couldn't get my head round it

but the penny is starting to drop and understand a lot more now

thks again

englishbullterrier · Mar 19, 2015

The point is that the larger the ground plane (in steel of course), the better it is, and if you can't mount the antenna actually on the ground plane, it needs to be connected by as large a conductor as possilble.

Folk with motor homes (plastic) actually normally silicone a 1m x 1m steel sheet to the roog and fix through that.

gstuart · Mar 19, 2015

englishbullterrier said:
The point is that the larger the ground plane (in steel of course), the better it is, and if you can't mount the antenna actually on the ground plane, it needs to be connected by as large a conductor as possilble.

Folk with motor homes (plastic) actually normally silicone a 1m x 1m steel sheet to the roog and fix through that.

I saw that where owners of defenders stick a plate inside

my hardtop is no good , that's why I got the spare wheel carrier CB mount

have still got my 3 door roof rails to put on

Pikey · Mar 19, 2015

I've had half a doz defenders Never needed to do anything other than bolt the antenna mount to the body. If you can't get a decent SWR then the problem lies in either Poor mount installation Crap coax or crap connections. You DO NOT need to create a artfical groundplane..

teddywood1 · Mar 19, 2015

I also for got to say about coax there is good then there is better but then there is crap , I use RG8 for patch leads and the car for the house I use 213 , I never use only in extreme emergencies rg58 it is thin, you can get military spec but that is very expensive I used to have some on my outside antenna's but it got stolen by the scrap men as it is full of copper , now you are on cb which is 11 meters so a full wave is 11 mtrs a half a wave is 5.5 mtrs and a quarter wave is 2.75 mtrs if you can keep your lengths of coax to near as possible you will have a better chance but never coil the extra coax up always spread it about by coiling it up you will make an inductor which is a no no . and on the defenders with a old style back wheel carrier it has a metal plate on the carrier . hope this helps

gstuart · Mar 20, 2015

teddywood1 said:
I also for got to say about coax there is good then there is better but then there is crap , I use RG8 for patch leads and the car for the house I use 213 , I never use only in extreme emergencies rg58 it is thin, you can get military spec but that is very expensive I used to have some on my outside antenna's but it got stolen by the scrap men as it is full of copper , now you are on cb which is 11 meters so a full wave is 11 mtrs a half a wave is 5.5 mtrs and a quarter wave is 2.75 mtrs if you can keep your lengths of coax to near as possible you will have a better chance but never coil the extra coax up always spread it about by coiling it up you will make an inductor which is a no no . and on the defenders with a old style back wheel carrier it has a metal plate on the carrier . hope this helps

thks mate useful info

oops the coax I got was pre made and is about a metre or so too long and put the excess neatly in a coil tied up with a cable tie , I ran it from the front , under the door panel and under the carpets , away from any wires and neat and tidy

i better undo it , didn't realise

thks and appreciate the help

teddywood1 · Mar 20, 2015

that will be your problem then. good luck
G0VVT
G7LVT
M5VVT
2e0VVT
2e1VVT
GB2RS

gstuart · Mar 20, 2015

teddywood1 said:
that will be your problem then. good luck
G0VVT
G7LVT
M5VVT
2e0VVT
2e1VVT
GB2RS

thks buddy , erm what the above for

is it secret code, lol

teddywood1 · Mar 21, 2015

they are my amateur radio call sign the last one is because I read the ham radio news I used to work a lot for the Radio society of Great Britain (RSGB) but I am getting a bit old now and have other things to do

gstuart

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