CB radio problems

May sound stupid.....but, I never used my CB till my wife started riding her own bike....When she gets about 300 yards from me we can not communicate on the CB.....Parts man at the Harley store said it was because both bikes has shorty antennas:gah: ........Any help would be appreicated.....What distance should we get.... thanks

Thanks to both of you.... I should have thought to get the standing wave checked.....Was a little worried that I might fry them anyway....Might ought to lay off of them till I have them checked...thanks again....JJ

Well, some dealers don't know how to set up SWR, this guy does and gets good results.

I don't use a CB on a bike, but I've had 'em for over 30 years & the old saying, "it's 1% microphone, 1% radio & 98% antenna" is basically true with respect to transmitting. You can't get a good "ground plane" on a bike so you'll never get out as far as say my pickup with tuned antenna in the middle of the roof, but having your setup tuned by someone who does it for a living will make a huge difference. SWR is of course a major factor, but it's not the only one - proper grounding is crucial & even the length of the antenna cable & how it's routed matters. But while you may need a different antenna, I wouldn't buy another one (or transmit) until you've had a pro check out the setup you've got.

You are absolutely right. Gound plane on a bike is pretty shoddy to say the least. The new, short antennas that came out are not tuneable and the MOCO isn't very responsive to the problem. If you want tunability, get the old style, spring loaded antenna and then adjust the length to get the SWR down to an acceptable level. After riding for 40+ years I don't understand the need to carry on a conversation while riding. Just too many other things that need to be done to waste time talking to someone else, JMHO. I ride with a HOG group on occasion and you can sure tell who is talking on their CB. Seems that once they engage to PTT switch they loose total control to hold a line or stagger until the jabber is over!

Wife`s antenna is HD (can`t adjust) but mine are antenna X and should be adjustable......

We do not carry on conversations on the radio.....We ride alot and in many places she dosen`t know the roads and need to know where to turn...I always keep her in front of me....they are also good to let each other know about views that the other might not notice....

Thanks for the info....changed the load coil on hers and it helped a lot!

Just paid attention to your particulars in the profile. Are you close to Huntsville? I've got friends up in the NE area in Barton and I lived in Prattville for a while in the late 70's. I loved the fishing & hunting, the wife hated Alabama cuz of the fishing and hunting.

Hunting, fishing and some of the best views from a bike in the world..(mostly short rides tho) We are in the Lake Guntersville area....Ride through the park on an afternoon an the view is great and can stop to feed the deer..1 1/2 hour ride....Sold my boat so I don`t fish anymore.....

We are about 60 miles from Huntsville and Rocket Harley.....Great rides in that area also...Prattville is close to the Bama Bike Fest..( Hope to catch one this summer)

When I started this thread I had just changed my Wife`s Classic to an Ultra and added the CB.....When I was threading the CB cable through the tour pak I laid the cable on the hot post by accident....(melted the cable) Quick trip to the Harley Store to get a new cable and load coil..70 miles...they did not have the load coil, but, it appeared not to be hurt anyway....Long story short, since then I have changed the load coil and we get about 1/2 mile plus. I think that is about normal....Thanks for the help......Toni is learning the CB and I she get the squelch mess every now and then, but, it will be a real help when she learns more about it.

I do think with a hands free head set and only a PTT button to push on CB is not a safty factor. Does not affect my focus on the road and safty at all! (just my opinion) May be different if someone is always tinkering with the sittings.......We set it before the ride and forget it!

I need to check the standing wave to make sure we don`t fry the cbs....I guess on bikes the 1/2 mile plus is about all we are going to get.....thanks for the info and I have heard a lot of good things about JM products....might have to go that way later...

Might should tell why I like to keep Toni in front of me when riding....Up until about 7 months ago she has not had her own bike and never rode by her self.....she also has a bad arm (broke bad a couple of years ago)and is the reason I put her on a trike.....just droping a bike could break her up again!!! That is the reason we are not going to Daytona this year.....We are going to do a 4 day 700 to 900 mile tripe this week end to get her used to the longer rides......Back to the thread.......All we use the radio for is turns and views the other might miss........If we really get apart we can pull off and use the cells.....thanks again for the info...Keep the rubber side down!!

Nope. The "squelch" adjustment only affects incoming signals, filtering out the weaker ones & allowing you to dial in only the clearest.

I'm kinda surprised that 1/2 mile is all that CB's on a bike are getting out, but in a way I'm not, as that goes back to "ground plane" I mentioned - which is terrible on a bike. In comparison, the CB in my extended-cab pickup will get out over 30 miles in this hilly, wooded area & a lot farther than that out somewhere like the interstate in Kansas.

I don't have a linear amp or power mike & the CB is a 10-yr-old Cobra - but I had it "tuned up" @ a CB shop & it puts out 27 Watts instead of 4. But I could get out 17 miles before & the key is the antenna in the center of the roof - which IS the "ground plane".

For the benefit of those not familiar with "SWR", that's "Standing Wave Ratio" & there is a "standing wave" on a flat metal surface. If the antenna/radio combination isn't right, while the radio will receive just fine (it will without an antenna), a transmission reflected off the roof goes right back to the antenna, which really cuts down on how far that transmission goes & worst-case scenario, "fries" the radio. The ideal SWR is 1.1:1, but I don't know what's realistic on a bike. That's what it is in the pickup, but if I were to move the antenna to say the right side of the rear bumper, I wouldn't be able to get the SWR that low.

The other big deal is CB's operate in a VERY low frequency band & the transmission pattern follows the shape of the metallic object the antenna is mounted on. In other words, if you could see the signal pattern coming from my pickup from above, it would be almost a circle - a bit stronger to the front & rear, as the roof is longer than it is wide. With the SWR tuned to ideal & the tip of the antenna being about 10 feet in the air, when I'm away from something like a metal building the signal can bounce off of, all of it goes out.

So although you can't duplicate the situation I've got with the pickup on a bike, maybe my chatter will help explain why CB's act the way they do & why the antenna is far & away the most important part of the equation.

With all respect, I know for a fact that the squelch setting on any given radio ONLY affects incoming signals, and does not affect the strength of the outgoing signal from that radio in any way, shape or form. I know it's true from running CB's since the 1970's & if you check into the circuity of a CB you'll see how the squelch function works.