Steve Silverwood wrote in message et...
[This followup was posted to rec.radio.amateur.antenna and a copy was
sent to the cited author.]
In article ,
says...
I have an old mag mount RS CB antenna with a 24" (approx.) telescopic
whip. It is fitted with an integral audio cable (as the feedline)
terminating in (what else?) a male RCA jack that plugs into the CB's
antenna jack. The CB is rated at 5 watts FM.
The whip can be shortened quite a bit. Is there any reason it
wouldn't resonate on 10M?
Audio cable ain't RG-8/U, but is it enough to handle 30 watts FM on
10M?
No reason why it shouldn't. I used a RS mag-mount antenna for several
years with a couple of different 10m radios (HR-2600 from Uniden, and
HTX-100 from RS). As noted elsewhere in the discussion, I'd be careful
putting a lot of power into it, but certainly there should be no trouble
running up to 25 watts into it.
I'd look into replacing the feed line with coax, though, if possible.
Once you're ready, set your rig on VERY low power (under a watt).
Select a frequency in the middle of the range where you plan to operate.
Tune the antenna for minimum SWR for that frequency and you should be
good to go.
Don't expect it to perform spectacularly, though -- remember, you're
dealing with a vertical antenna with a loading coil, so it's not going
to be the best thing in the world. But with a similar setup as
described above, I was able to make some decent contacts during my
morning and afternoon commute in Los Angeles back in the late 80s. (In
fact, a buddy of mine and I used to chat with one another on the morning
drive, and were joined by a Russian station for a few minutes!)
My experience has been very similar to Steve's. I have several from Radio
Shack and they work just fine on 10 Meters, after a little adjustment.
I used one of their little 3 Ft mag-mounts with a HTX-100 on my vehicle
for years and never had any trouble talking to anyone I could hear. I
regularly talked from Phoenix to the mid-west and east coast. And, if
I remember correctly, there were instructions with the antenna for
CB and Amateur use.
I also have one of their full size verticals. Coax is fed up the center
of the bottom element to the center. Effectively it's a vertical dipole.
The antenna works great. There were no real adjustments for 10 Meters
but it was wide banded enough to use on the low end of 10 Meters.
I also agree that you should change the cable. It may just be some
type of cheap unmarked coax and would be better off replaced.
Martin
Similar Threads
Threaded Mode
