Detached my Tour Pak and relocated the shorty antennas down by the fender with the antenna relocation kits. I notice that when I use the CB, nobody can hear me transmitting if they are more than 10 or 12 feet away from me. I checked the CD cable connection under the seat and it's tight. Could it be because the shorty antennas are so low now?

 

You need to tune your antenna with a swr (standing wave ratio) meter. You should be able to buy one at a truck stop.

 

Doesn't a CB need a ground reference point...such as the plate in the tour pack.

 

I don't know about that. I had the work done at the shop and they used Harley's relocation kit.

 

Depends on the antenna. Some are known as "zero ground plane" antennas. However, that doesn't mean that the bike needs one. While not optimal, the bike itself can and does provide a ground plane. Op, your first order of business is to determine just how far you want to be able to talk to people. Right now, you are limited by a number of factors. The length of the antenna is a lim-fac, the placement of the antenna is a lim-fac, the tune of the antenna is a lim-fac, and the lack of a real ground plane is a lim-fac. If you are looking to be able to talk 30-40 feet, what you have can likely be made to work. If you are looking to talk 1/4 mile plus, you have some work in front of you. Before keying the mic anymore, I would highly suggest you tune the antenna. If you don't and your SWR is off as much as I would bet that it is, you will blow the finals in your radio in no time flat. They may already be gone just with trying to test it out.

 

I wouldn't know the first thing about using a meter or tuning the antenna. Is this something the dealer would do? Is there some other type of shop that would do this?

 

that sucks.

 

The dealer may or may not have tuned it. The fact of the matter is that CB tuning is a lost art. It used to be that you could walk into any truck stop in the world and have your antenna tuned. Now, your best bet is to find a CB shop, which are few and far between (my closest one is an hour away), find an amateur (HAM) radio operator, or find some local Jeepers that actually wheel. Any of those people should be able to assist you in tuning and usually they own or can get an SWR meter.

 

You might be able to find a SWR meter on fleabay with instructions.......came from the 70's so I remember.........you're looking for a one to one ratio......yes they NEED to be tuned....the stealers dont know what CB stands for....
A shorty antenna might not be the best for a CB.......each antenna for a certain frequency has to be a certain length.......I removed my CB but still have the antenna for looks for symmetry....

 

You guys that mention tuning a stock HD antenna, how do you do that? On a standard CB antenna, you lengthen it, lower it, cut coils out of it, etc. I see no way to do this on a HD unit?

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