[OLDYELLER]

i have g w 1800 2002 model i get about one mile reception from the 1800. i have had a couple of 1500s that got about 3 miles reception which is much more acceptable. any ideas any help is appreciated thanks in advANCE.

 

[detdrbuzzard]

has the antenna been " tuned "

 

[GoldDigger]

J&M told me that GW detunes the units from 4 watts to 1 watt and it can be adjusted back again. Contact the J&M rep. in TX...on this site.

 

[tfdeputydawg]

i have g w 1800 2002 model i get about one mile reception from the 1800. i have had a couple of 1500s that got about 3 miles reception which is much more acceptable. any ideas any help is appreciated thanks in advANCE.

If you are only receiving one mile-you have a major antenna problem and tuning the SWR has nothing to do w/reception!You should be able to recieve from a longer distance than you can transmit on a motorcycle CB because of the lack of a ground plain for the antenna.
If I turn my squelch down and it's a quiet day, I can hear truckers talking from 5 to 10 miles, depending of if they are running legal or illegal power.
If you tune the SWR to the lowest ratio you can get on the channel you talk on most, you should be able to transmit 4 to 6 miles, again depending on conditions.

J&M told me that GW detunes the units from 4 watts to 1 watt and it can be adjusted back again. Contact the J&M rep. in TX...on this site.

Don't know who told you that false story! The Honda CB is not the best one in the world, that's for sure, given the cost of one. However, there is absolutely no truth to Honda "detuning" the CB to only 1 watt
Because a motorcycle is a poor ground plane for the CB, detuning the radio to a 1 watt output would mean you could transmit about 50feet

 

[budoka]

tf is right about the loss of transmitting power because of the ground plain, and the only way to increase the output is with an illegal booster (we used to call them heaters). Back in the day I had a boogie van with a 40 ch CB/SSB and used a Power Wing antenna right smack in the middle of the roof, talk about range! No way you'd get that kinf=d if performance out of a bike system.

 

[DreamWeaver]

Since these are 40 channel CB's, the VSWR is tuned to 1.5 at channel 20. Any VSWR greater than 3 can cause damage to the transceiver. So, it is tuned at mid-range. The VSWR will go UP as you go to higher channels and DOWN as you go to lower channels. The lower the VSWR,(Standing Wave Ratio), the more distance you can transmit. That is why you can normally get better range on the lower channels. There simply is no or little ground plane on a bike compared to the roof of a car or truck. As said earlier in a post, all of this does not affect the "reception" of a signal, just the transmitting portion. So, to transmit further, go to a lower channel. I don't think you will ever be able to reach further than 2 or 3 miles even in perfect conditions. Its the nature of the beast.

 

[tfdeputydawg]

Since these are 40 channel CB's, the VSWR is tuned to 1.5 at channel 20. Any VSWR greater than 3 can cause damage to the transceiver. So, it is tuned at mid-range. The VSWR will go UP as you go to higher channels and DOWN as you go to lower channels. The lower the VSWR,(Standing Wave Ratio), the more distance you can transmit. That is why you can normally get better range on the lower channels. There simply is no or little ground plane on a bike compared to the roof of a car or truck. As said earlier in a post, all of this does not affect the "reception" of a signal, just the transmitting portion. So, to transmit further, go to a lower channel. I don't think you will ever be able to reach further than 2 or 3 miles even in perfect conditions. Its the nature of the beast.

Tune the SWR as low as you can get it on your primary channel. The rest will be close!
You should be able to transmit 4miles w/no problem and up to 6 miles when conditions are favorable(re, after sun down and in the early morning).

 

[Terryj]

The Goldwing ground plans are something to be desired, they suck. In order for an antenna to function at its optimum it needs a 1/4 ground plane and that will not happen on a bike so it becomes a compromise. Most of the bikes use ABS plastics for their fairing and the antenna is mounted on a thin chrome strip, not the best location, that being said, most CB's on bike are used in a group so long range communications isn't really a concern.

 

[tfdeputydawg]

Never heard of 1/4wave ground plane. Please explain.
There are 1/4 wave ground plain antennas. These are not the best for motorcycles (ground plain being the key words, since we've already established MC's have very little ground plain)
A marine antenna would be better(but not much)

 

[Terryj]

Never heard of 1/4wave ground plane. Please explain.
There are 1/4 wave ground plain antennas. These are not the best for motorcycles (ground plain being the key words, since we've already established MC's have very little ground plain)
A marine antenna would be better(but not much)

The most common type of antenna used for mobile applications are those using the "Marconi" design. It is a simple 1/4 wave vertical antenna which needs a ground plane for best performance. The ideal ground plane would be at least 1/4 wave lenght. If you think of a "Marconi" as a vertical dipole with the 1/4 wave whip being one side of the dipole and the vehcile being the other side of the dipole. Most non-ground plane antennas, marine useage (as you mentioned) use the collinear antenna design, works great because the ground plane is housed within the antenna. This type of design is impratical for motorcycle use due to the needed length for the antenna.

 

[tfdeputydawg]

Thank you for the info

 

[DreamWeaver]

Tune the SWR as low as you can get it on your primary channel. The rest will be close!
You should be able to transmit 4miles w/no problem and up to 6 miles when conditions are favorable(re, after sun down and in the early morning).

I beg to differ. SWR is a ratio of FWD power vs. REF or reflected power with 3.0 being the max that will not damage the transceiver. That is why Ch. 20 is used to adjust to the mid range of the SWR max of 3.0. If the CB antenna is adjusted to 1.5 at the mid range of ch. 20, and you go down in channels (frequency) the SWR will go down accordingly. At ch. 1 it will normally be 1.0 FWD/Ref. At Ch. 40 the SWR will be 3.0 FWD/REF. SWR will not hover around your setting throughout the 40 channels. This is a properly adjusted antenna and is achieved by snipping off very small amounts of the antenna with dikes. Care must be used to insure that too much is not cut off. It can and will in time damage the transceiver if a SWR greater than 3 is used. And as far as transmitting 4 to 6 miles, I think that is only possible if your on Mt. Everest. I don't know of anyone on a bike reaching that far without amps. If there are any, speak up cause you are doing something everyone else is looking for. And for the record, Ch 1. is 26.965 mhz , Ch. 2 is 26.975 mhz and so on to Ch. 40 at 27.405 mhz. Just threw that in in case somebody wants to know what Ch. 20 is.

 

[tfdeputydawg]

I will not comment on such disrespect, instead of just stating ones own opinions on the open forum.
DreamWeaver-you have a PM.

By the way-you do now know someone that can talk 4 to 6 miles on their motorcyle CB. Mark that off your bucket list
You'll notice from my avatar, it is a trike. The frame for the conversion is steel, which makes for an improved gound plane for the antenna. Hince greater transmitting distance.

 

[DreamWeaver]

I will not comment on such disrespect, instead of just stating ones own opinions on the open forum.
DreamWeaver-you have a PM.

By the way-you do now know someone that can talk 4 to 6 miles on their motorcyle CB. Mark that off your bucket list
You'll notice from my avatar, it is a trike. The frame for the conversion is steel, which makes for an improved gound plane for the antenna. Hince greater transmitting distance.

Sorry you consider it disrespectful when trying to help somebody. Maybe you should have said that you were talking about a trike and not a 2 wheel wing and therefore your comments about transmitting distance would apply only to trikes. As I said in my PM to you, "after 35 years of being an electronic technician, I have tuned more of these contraptions than you probably have ever seen". Trying to tune for optimal performance over the entire band prevents finals from being fried by incorrect tuning. If you want to argue with any of this, do it with somebody else. No disrespect intended or implied.

 

[Terryj]

When tuning an antenna it should be tuned on ch.20 that is if your going to operate the entire band. If your going to just use one channel then tune your antenna for that channel. If you can get 1.1 VSWR on channel 20 then you should expect to see about 1.5 on both channel 1 and 40. If you see a higher VSWR on channel 40 than you do on channel 1 then your antenna is trimed a little long, and if you see a lower VSWR on ch 40 than you do on ch 1 then your trimed a little short. It a whole lot easier to trim and antenna than it is to add lenght so keep your cuts small about a 1/4".

 

[tfdeputydawg]

Sorry you consider it disrespectful when trying to help somebody. Maybe you should have said that you were talking about a trike and not a 2 wheel wing and therefore your comments about transmitting distance would apply only to trikes. As I said in my PM to you, "after 35 years of being an electronic technician, I have tuned more of these contraptions than you probably have ever seen". Trying to tune for optimal performance over the entire band prevents finals from being fried by incorrect tuning. If you want to argue with any of this, do it with somebody else. No disrespect intended or implied.

Then no disrespect will be noted
Although not a tech(not licensed to "get inside" the radios), I sold, installed, tune many base and mobile units as far back as the 23 channel days! Remember the SSB craze?
If one uses all or several of the channels available, especially if 19 is the most used, then tuning to19 or 20 is the way to go. All motorcycles CB equipped in my area use channel 1 when group riding. That is why I tune these radios to be "best" on 1.
See you in the wind some day and we'll have coffee and talk about the old days when you could put a Pace 23 channel CB w/a Turner+2 power mic hooked to co-phased Hustler antennas in your car/truck and talk for 20 to 30 miles on a calm, quiet night! Even talked skip to a stranded motorist in Nevada from Central Indiana one night!