CB to Antenna coax type and length...need advise.

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01sesedan

NAXJA Forum User

Location

Sunny Florida

• Jan 28, 2009

• #1

Well, picked up a Uniden on ebay, waiting for delivery.

Found a Firestik Firefly for $13.99 plus $5.25 for shipping, cheapest I've been able to find.

Now for my question. For you guys who own XJ's, what length coax have you used?

I'm planning on installing it on the rear someplace. Maybe close to the bumper.

Do you think this one will work? 18 ft Astatic GREY RG8X plug to plug grey coax cable with 95% shielding for cb and ham radios. The cable has 4 point soldered PL-259 connectors.

Thanks...

 

DrRandy

NAXJA Forum User

Location

B'Ham Alabama

• Jan 29, 2009

• #2

That is a great choice....I use RG8X on all my radios including VHF/UHF ham rigs...as for the length you should be fine as well, if it's a bit short you can "snake" it under the carpet.

 

B

blysccr

NAXJA Forum User

Location

C-burg, pa

• Jan 29, 2009

• #3

have to use 18 feet to keep wave right or something like that. it should actually be 36 ft (length of the wave) but that's just not practical. don't cut coax either. when you store the excess, don't roll it up, snake it, like back and forth (also to keep wave normal)

 

fyrfytr1717

NAXJA Forum User

Location

Turlock, CA

• Jan 29, 2009

• #4

18ft (which is one of the ideal lengths for tuning your radio) was perfect for me. I ran mine from under the dash, behind the lower trim on the passenger side, out the plastic hole plug on the rear of the vehicle, and up to the top of my spare tire mounting arm. I think I had a few inches of left over.

 

S

Sportsman

NAXJA Forum User

Location

Standish, MI

• Jan 29, 2009

• #5

RG8X will work fine, just as long as the lenght is divisable by 3. There are a lot of different lenghts used but 18, or 21 ft is the average for a mobile. Your standing wave then can be further adjusted by making the tip of the firestick longer or shorter. (They have an adjustable tip) Also to properly set the standing wave you will need a SWR meter. I have set up many over the years on my HF, VHF, & UHF Ham equipment. Good luck & 73's.

 

Last edited: Jan 29, 2009

0

01sesedan

NAXJA Forum User

Location

Sunny Florida

• Jan 29, 2009

• #6

Thanks for the information. Will try to work on it over the weekend, if all the parts come in by then....

 

mecompco

NAXJA Forum User

Location

Fairfield Maine

• Feb 5, 2009

• #7

The coax should always be as short as possible, period. The 18ft. nonsense is an old wives tale. The shorter the wire, the less the loss, period. Once it's installed, buy or borrow an SWR meter and tune the antenna.

 

juniorXJ

NAXJA Forum User

Location

portland

• Feb 6, 2009

• #8

i run 6 feet from radio to box(amp) and 12 foot from box to antenna. total 18 foot. and as far as reactance and reflect goes, lenth does matter.

 

DrRandy

NAXJA Forum User

Location

B'Ham Alabama

• Feb 6, 2009

• #9

juniorXJ said:

i run 6 feet from radio to box(amp) and 12 foot from box to antenna. total 18 foot. and as far as reactance and reflect goes, lenth does matter.

Click to expand...

You ARE 100% correct! people who think the 18' deal matters, do a google search on some of the ham sites and they say the same:worship::worship:

 

xjtrailrider

NAXJA Forum User

NAXJA Member

Location

Roanoke VA

• Feb 6, 2009

• #10

I also use 18' of Astatic RG8x and Amphenol connectors, I like the firestick but recently put a Wilson Flex on after snapping a FS2 and I immediately dropped my SWR from 2.2 to .5

I do not have the ground wire hooked up to the Wilson and the adjustment tip was removed to acquire the lowest SWR in my case.