CB Radio Tuning Shop

Farns514 · 05-02-2007, 07:34 PM

I know it may be a long shot...... But does anyone know of a place running through Interstate 70 heading towards Dayton, OH from Interstate 57 that does or will tune a cb radio. I just purchased one and need to get it tuned before i use it a lot so it does not mess up my transponder. Any help is greatly appreciated.

ae5dw · 05-02-2007, 08:23 PM

By tuning I assume you mean setting the SWR on the antenna and not increasing the power output of the radio, which is illegal.

I can't help you with finding a shop but tuning the antenna for lowest SWR is easy. Just drop by your nearest RadioShack store and buy an SWR meter. You'll find directions in the package. You should have no problem doing it yourself. If you have problems email me and I'll walk you through it. dwilbanks@bellsouth.net.

That part of the country is a huge hotbed for amateur radio, or ham radio activity so a CB shop shouldn't be too hard to find. In fact, the largest ham radio convention in the world is in Dayton every May. May 18-20 this year at the Hara Arena. 2007 Dayton Hamvention® - The Greatest Amateur Radio Convention in the World! for more details. I'll be there. Look for my 300 Touring with AE5DW on the license plate.

I started in CB back in the early '70s and now have my ham license. No more Morse Code requirement so getting the ham ticket is very easy now.

To find out more go to ARRLWeb: ARRL Home Page or Hello Radio

Farns514 · 05-02-2007, 08:55 PM

Yea, sorry thats what i meant. My buddy has one of the SWR meters and he tried to set it up and everything, he has done it many times before but could not get it on my car for some reason. On my antenna box it said it had some extra length on it so you can cut it down if the SWR is not tuned correctly and he did that a couple times along with repositioning the antenna in the pin hole, just like the package said and it still stayed around 3. We need to get it at 1.5 or below 2 at least and cant seem to get it there.

I will be leaving this Friday and taking 57 North from Carbondale to I-70 East towards Indianapolis, heading towards Dayton. I figure if i cant get it done before i leave that i will just stop at a couple truck stops and ask some truckers if they know of any places. I will probably ask my dad too since he has been a transportation manager for quite some time now.

ae5dw · 05-04-2007, 09:12 PM

Good luck with that. I don't have a radio in my 300 because the mobile ham antennas I have are heavy and I don't trust them not to bend the aluminum trunk lid.

Farns514 · 05-05-2007, 12:47 AM

Haha, thanks for all the help, i actually went on yellowpage.com and found a CB shop in Brazil,IN just off exit 23. It was quick and fast. They said that since i bought a crappy Antenna that i was told to buy from Radioshack(they called them Radiojunk) that the antenna i purchased was the problem so i had to buy another antenna and it works Great.

Thanks for all your help again....