WHAT IS “SWR” & ANTENNA TUNING?
A – SWR is a measure of how well your antenna is “matched” or “tuned” to operate at CB channel frequencies, & to your vehicle. Unlike TV or Scanner antennas that do not Transmit, the CB & other “transmit” antennas need to be tuned to operate or Transmit correctly & most 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 & grounded correctly as the maker intended, will usually have a “safe SWR”, keep in mind that it is still a good idea to check & optimize your SWR reading. Regardless of Mfgr’s claims, there really is no way to “Factory pretune” mobile antennas for the CB frequencies. The same exact antenna can actually give very 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.
A – SWR (Standing Wave Ratio)is a measure of how well your antenna is “matched” or “tuned” to operate at CB channel frequencies, & to your vehicle. Unlike TV, AM/FM or Scanner antennas that do not Transmit, the CB & other “transmit” antennas need to be tuned to operate or Transmit correctly & most effieciently. If severely “out of tune” (having a poor SWR reading), damage to the transmitter can result. While most good CB antennas, when mounted & grounded correctly as the maker intended, will usually have a “safe SWR”, keep in mind that it is still a good idea to check & optimize your SWR reading. Regardless of Mfgr’s claims, there really is no way to “Factory pretune” mobile antennas for the CB frequencies. The same exact antenna can actually give very 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, & frequency
