Just bought a new Midland cb, 40 channels UK & 40 Europe. Any advice on what type of aerial to get for it. I can’t have it too high due to low entrance’s etc. Also, I drive Actros so is it best to have a mag mount or fasten it through bolt on visor? Mirror arm is out as it’s rubber mounted. Thanks for any help. 
a mag mount is best if you can route the cable…but get one that has an adjustable antenna so you can mag mount it on the back of the cab and point the antenna skywards.
what about putting a earth direct from the ariel to the cab door , or a magnetic mount fitted on the back of the cab,
Get a mag mount and put it on the back of the cab then slacken off the nut at the bottom of the aerial and turn it so it’s pointing upwards. Mount it so that the aerial is as high as it will go without causing damage. You’ll need a patch lead and a SWR meter to SWR it in too. There isn’t such a thing as a self-SWRing aerial, regardless of what people might tell you.
i use swr paint always get down below 1.2-1
One of our guys,on my advice,bought a Sirio Hi-Power 4000,at a cost of £50,including the mag mount,which is unique to that aerial,and put it on the back of the Twingo,at 90deg.
He had to mount it half way down the cab,because of the size of it,with the tip just peeping above the spoiler,so it wouldn’t get bent if he hit any overhanging objects.He also has a President Jackson,and says it’s the best aerial he’s ever used.
He does a bit of dx’ing while on the move,and has had some amazing contacts throughout the world,including South America,amongst others.
Ken.
I have one of these Trucker 80 aeriels.
It’s really short, so it doesn’t catch on low things, but it works really well.
I have a self swr ariel. It came fitted standard in my Renault 
I fitted the CB and borrowed a meter, it is absolutely ■■■■ on in the mid range going up to about 1.4 1 at each end.
Im surprised how few people use them and that the dicks are still playing music to each other, especially in Sheffield
What exactly do you adjust when you SWR it in, isnt it just a case of slapping the aerial up, plugging it in and away you go?
Wheel Nut:
I have a self swr ariel. It came fitted standard in my RenaultI fitted the CB and borrowed a meter, it is absolutely ■■■■ on in the mid range going up to about 1.4 1 at each end.
Im surprised how few people use them and that the dicks are still playing music to each other, especially in Sheffield
I’ve bought a new cb to go in my premium, i’'ve not got round to fitting it yet, but when i had cb’s in other premiums i’ve driven i all ways found the range was quite good with the factory fitted ariel, was surprised to hear Rob say that self swr ariels did’nt exist. The boss is a bit precious about me fitting it in his new truck, i’ll wear him down slowly, after all renault fit the wiring for the cb ready to go 
eddie snax:
Wheel Nut:
I have a self swr ariel. It came fitted standard in my RenaultI fitted the CB and borrowed a meter, it is absolutely ■■■■ on in the mid range going up to about 1.4 1 at each end.
Im surprised how few people use them and that the dicks are still playing music to each other, especially in Sheffield
I’ve bought a new cb to go in my premium, i’'ve not got round to fitting it yet, but when i had cb’s in other premiums i’ve driven i all ways found the range was quite good with the factory fitted ariel, was surprised to hear Rob say that self swr ariels did’nt exist. The boss is a bit precious about me fitting it in his new truck, i’ll wear him down slowly, after all renault fit the wiring for the cb ready to go
It’s not so much that “they don’t exist”. They sell them as self-SWRing aerial’s but an aerial can’t self-SWR itself in - it’s impossible. If the SWR happens to be “■■■■ on” to quote Malc, then you’re just very lucky. You should still get a SWR meter and patch lead and try to improve it and I’d be very surprised if you can’t.
Gurner:
What exactly do you adjust when you SWR it in, isnt it just a case of slapping the aerial up, plugging it in and away you go?
SWR - Standing Waves Ratio.
This is the amount of power being reflected back towards the Tx.
What you are doing in reducing the SWR is making the antenna as perfect a match for the Tx as is possible to maximise power output.
What you adjust depends upon the antenna being used. With some it could mean adjusting the length of the antenna, with others tuning the loading coil & these can be base, mid or top loaded, for others it could simply mean plugging in a ATU (Antenna Tuning Unit,) which, as a very simple explanation, fools the Tx into believing the antenna is SWR’ed in.
Getting perfect balance, unless you are using 6.6 MHz & a buried antenna is impossible, & anything below 1.5 - 1 is good.
I use to use single frequency Tx’s with frequency specific antenna’s (even when Xtals were at 2.5 KHz spacings,) & even then we could never better 1.1 - 1, even when we experimented at 6.6 MHz.
Basically Daxi has summed it up.
For those of you who aren’t clued up with such technical things here’s an idiot’s guide to SWRing in your aerial.
First thing you need to do when switching on a new install is SWR it in. If you don’t and the SWR is well out - which is likely with a new set-up - it could well knacker your rig 
.
Get a SWR meter (a £7 SWR420 will do, or borrow one off someone else) and a bit of well soldered patch lead. The SWR meter just connects in line between the rig and your aerial as there are two sockets on the back of it. Use your patch lead between your rig and the meter and then plug your aerial in to the other socket on the meter (they’re clearly labelled which is which on the back).
There’ll be a switch on the front of the SWR meter labelled FWD/REF (ForWarD and REFlected). Make sure it’s on FWD. Grab the channel knob and set it to a channel in the middle of the band, so if it’s a 40 channel rig set it to channel 20 or if it’s an 80 channel rig set it to UK channel 1.
Key up your mic and grab the knob on the front of the SWR meter (usually labelled CAL for CALibrate) and whilst still having the mic keyed turn the knob until the needle is at the set point, usually at the far right of the scale. Unkey the mic, turn the switch to REF and then key up again. The reading the needle is showing is what your SWR ratio is. If it’s under 2 then that’s fairly good. If it’s under 1.5 then you should be well chuffed. Anything near 1.0 is bloody excellent 
If it’s over 3 then it will damage your rig without a doubt because too much power is being reflected back.
To get your SWR down you need to adjust the length of your aerial. Whilst it might not look like there’s any way to do that on the face of it, you will find somewhere a tiny screw head or allen key type head which you can release and adjust the length of it. I have a spare bottom loaded coil aerial and just above the coil there is a slightly wider bit where the main whip is mounted. At the bottom of that bit is a really tiny allen key head. Release that off and unless your SWR is wildly out, you should only have to adjust the length of the main whip by about an eigth of an inch to make a huge difference.
Basically, you keep adjusting the length in tiny amounts and rechecking the SWR reading using the method above until you get it as close to 1.0 as it will go. After that, job done, aerial tuned for max ‘get out’.
Also, make sure the aerial is mounted in a well earthed area. Metal mirror arms are okay but not ideal. The flat space on the top of the cab or the back of the cab are ideal for mag mounts and the closer to the middle of that space you can get it, the better. If you’ve mounted your aerial in a bad earth place you’ll probably struggle to get the SWR down 
. Make sure the co-ax isn’t too long too and there are no kinks in it and also it’s of a decent quality and the plugs have been soldered properly, not just had the wire wrapped round them . All that will make a huge difference.
Although Rob’s advice is very good, I am more impressed that I have beat the auto censor and got away with using proper yorkshire phrases like ■■■■ on and dicks 
My Renault had all the wiring and plugs fitted, even down to a PL259 thats a plug to the uninitiated
Wheel Nut:
Although Rob’s advice is very good, I am more impressed that I have beat the auto censor and got away with using proper yorkshire phrases like ■■■■ on and dicksMy Renault had all the wiring and plugs fitted, even down to a PL259
Is tha tryin t’beat t’word censor, ■■■■ 
O.K. Technical department,
How would you SWR in a couple of Firesticks ( co-phase ) on a fibreglass cab ?
MMMMMMMMM
Cheers,
NIALL ( when I was a lad we had the DV27 )
Niall:
O.K. Technical department,How would you SWR in a couple of Firesticks ( co-phase ) on a fibreglass cab ?
MMMMMMMMM
Cheers,
NIALL ( when I was a lad we had the DV27
Fibre-glass is a no-no. Forget it. You’d get out further by opening your window and shouting. You need a good ground plane and fibre-glass is useless.
We used to fanny about laying lumps of wire round the rain gutter and trying to get an earth.
It was a lot simpler to buy a magmount and stick it on the trailer, a 40 ft groundplane was always better than an ERF cab
Or a wire down to the chassis from the aerial
My mate stuck a 6’ Firestick on the cat walk of his E.R.F.
It worked ace - he could only get out sideways
Niall.