/diy/ - Do It Yourself

Got a tall tree nearby? Hang two half wavelength (102 inches IIRC) lengths of wire from a high branch. Ceramic line insulators at the top and between the two sections. Weight at the bottom to keep hanging straight. Connect coax across the center insulator.

The SWR match wont be perfect. But you can improve it by going on line or the AARL Antenna Handbook and adding a simple matching stub at the antenna connection.

I googled cb antenna.
I selected 'images'
I found a pic (related)
I went to the page associated with the pic.

> How to make a Cheap and Easy Home Made CB Radio Antenna. This homemade cb radio antenna can be used for base station or portable operation. Just hang it and talk. This antenna is a "Quarter Wave Dipole" with Ground Radials. You may find this homemade cb antenna performs rather well if you do not have access to a typical base station antenna.

> Step One: Get some 50 ohm coaxial cable to run from the cb radio to the wire antenna.

> Step Two: Connect the center lead of coaxial cable to 105 inch piece of wire as seen in diagram above. Make sure the braided outer shield is not touching the center wire.

> Step 3: Connect braided shield of coaxial cable to 1,2,3, or 4 pieces of 105 inch wire. These are the 4 wires pointing downward in the diagram above.

>>601127
You're in luck OP, I'm a radio technician who was given that radio today.
Always set RF gain to max. Adjust squelch until it cuts out background noise. Leave it there. Leave the light control dim (not sure if its' an issue on this model).
Turn the dynamic up to max.
The receive sensitivity was metered at about .7uv. (.9 uv to break squelch. 2uv for full quieting (yuck, it's going to always be a staticy beast).

It tends to slightly over modulate with peaks at 130% (ok).
The first four seconds of the transmission it's "warming up" and won't fully modulate, making you sound weak. Waiting a couple seconds before talking helps mitigate this and makes you more intelligible.
Four watts out, with peaks as high as 30.
>>601377
That is a quarter wave ground plane antenna. In case it is not clear, have those four radials at the bottom sticking straight out.

Don't touch it while transmitting. Don't EVER have an electrical connection from ground to the center conductor.

>>601437
Use a 12v battery to power it. And recharge it.

Or get a proper power supply.

>>601437
Every now and again I go stargazing/camping out in the new mexico plains. I always have a cellphone and gps on me, but I usually don't have a signal out there. I want to get a cb radio with good range in the event that something happens. Any suggestions for a good radio and antenna, the antenna can be very large even deployable like a tripod to get good range, as long as it can fit in the trunk of a van.

Neat.

Cobra 29 LTD Classics are a favorite of mine. They are a solid AM 40ch workhorse.

>>601437
A 2SC2999 and Schottky diodes can be installed in the receiver section to boost sensitivity and filtering.

A dipole is simple to make.

Get some two-wire lamp cord and cut it to 110". Then split it, giving you two 110" pieces. One is signal, one is ground. Trim them equally until your SWR is around 1.5.

You need to build a balun at the feedpoint of the dipole, since you are going from unbalanced 50 ohm coax to a balanced dipole.

The antenna should be hung horizontally, but an upside down "V" is okay too.

>>601127
man check out cryptic crickit on youtube, he has a sweet ass video on how to make a base station antenna, if you have a nice mobile you can use it and build a mast and ground plane for it.

Ive got that radio with a 100 watt amp and an external swr/watt meter, im using a radioshack power supply i got for free off my uncle, ill post pics if this thread is up in tomorrow when i get my camera

>>602309
you should really get a amateur radio license and get a VHF band radio they are much more powerful than CB

>>602346
I want to, I have been playing with sdr for a week now and now i really want to get my feet wet with ham and shortwave radio.

>>602346
Forgive my ignorance. Are you suggesting that one could take a HAM radio set up on a camping trip? This is the first i've heard of it and I immediately think of the weight and cost in electricity...

>>602589
Hmm?

VHF handhelds typically are no bigger than a standard motorola talkabout. They offer 5 watts power, external changeable antennas, and superior range.

There are also "expedition" HF/VHF/UHF rigs out there.

>>602589
google dxpedition

>>601127
www.tubebooks.org/Books/ant1936.pdf

>>602589
A "ham" radio is simply a radio capable of transmitting or receiving (preferably both) in at least one frequency allotted for use by armature radio.

You can even set up a phone system over ham radio and order your pizza over it. For epic lulz use your credit card over the phone over ham radio. You have to tell people you call that they are being transmitted over the radio at the start of the call.

Some interesting rules. You cant use it to conduct busyness (but ordering a pizza is ok). No singing or music of any kind (so you cant steal customers from am and fm radio lol). No profanity. You have to identify yourself periodically, when you get your license you get a call sign similar to the letters radio stations have, you are put in a publicly accessible database with your home address, name, call sign, and which level of license you have. You can get a vanity license plate with your call sign with out having to pay the vanity plate fee (also anyone can know who you are if you do).

Any transition can be triangulated. There are hams who love nothing more than to find people breaking the rules and track them down irl, kinda like the white knight anons doxing internet missdooers.

It is perfectly legal to be a spy (agent) for a foreign nation. You simply have to register as such, (being an unregistered spy is illegal). If you are an agent of a foreign nation you cannot be a ham opp (I literally learned this when getting my license, I don't remember if it's on the exam or if you're asked on the application)

>>602589
One of the big things in Ham Radio is disaster aid - being able to communicate with the outside world without grid power. You can power a rig off your car, and possibly a car battery IIRC, and there are antennae that are fairly easy to assemble. I recommend looking into the HAM stuff, My dad was pretty into it and I tagged along as a youngun.

>>603727
>No singing or music of any kind

This may vary depending on country. I have heard music on ATV plenty of times.

Pic kind of related.