General Two-Way Radio Answers

Question: What battery life should I expect from my radio?

Answer: We regret not being able to provide the information you requested. Unfortunately, your question does not have a simple answer.

The amount of time a fully charged battery pack will last in a two-way radio is affected by several variables, including whether or nor the radio is transmitting and whether or not the radio is receiving.

Because of the factors involved, we can not provide battery life for this two-way radio. It is not possible to determine the results you could expect, and providing a number based on ideal conditions would be misleading.

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Question: What is SWR?

Answer: SWR is a measure of how well your antenna is matched or tuned to operate at CB frequencies, and to your vehicle. Unlike TV or Scanner antennas that do not Transmit, the CB and other "transmit" antennas need to be tuned to operate or Transmit correctly and effieciently. If severely "out of tune" (or having a poor SWR reading), damage to the transmitter can result. While most good CB antennas, when mounted and grounded correctly as the maker intended, will usually have a "safe SWR", keep in mind that it is still a good idea to check and optimize your SWR reading. Regardless of Mfgr's claims, there really is no way to "Factory pretune" mobile antennas for CB frequencies. The same exact antenna can actually give different SWR Readings when mounted on different vehicles, or even in different spots on the same vehicle! Remember, When Setting the SWR you are NOT Matching the Antenna to the Radio, but rather the Antenna to the vehicle.

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Question: How do I check my antenna's SWR tuning?

Answer: It's fairly easy, you will need either an SWR meter function built into your CB radio (eg.. a Cobra 29, Texas Ranger TR-966 or Galaxy DX-959 / DX-979), or an external SWR meter hooked between your radio and antenna (eg.. Pyramid SWR-14). Follow the directions that come with the meter. Readings above 3:1 ( "Three to One" )are considered bad or even dangerous, readings of 1.5:1 ("One point five to One") or lower are considered excellent. Readings around 2:1 are safe, but an effort should be made to tune the antenna for a lower reading. Actual tuning of the antenna will vary by type, but usually involves raising, lowering or trimming a whip or tip element, or adjusting a ring or tuning control at the bottom. Some antennas are factory sealed and not easily tunable, We would not normally reccomed these for a performance setup. Remember, the Meter or radio can only check the SWR, not change it. Tuning the SWR reading must be done at the antenna itself. Most local CB installation shops will charge about $10 to test and tune your antenna, if you'd rather not attempt it yourself.

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Question: How do I best mount a glass-mount antenna

Answer: Three important steps MUST be followed when mounting a glass-mount antenna. These go for ANY through glass antenna (CB, scanner or cellular):

Keep the coupler box AWAY FROM the black (metallic) trim that is along the edge of the windshield.
Mount between two heater wires - never center over a heater wire and do so ONLY if the antenna directions permit.
Clean the windshield EXACTLY as suggested using the supplied alcohol swab. Be sure that you use ONLY the cleaner provided with the antenna kit. Other glass cleaners, such as Windex ^®, contain silicone or waxes which are added to prevent dirt from clinging to the surface. These additives also prevent the antenna's adhesive from clinging properly.

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