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I used the H-D Boom! Audio Shorty CB Antenna Part Number 76386-09A on my bike. I fed it with the custom coax ordered from Field Components (male TNC on one end, un-terminated on the other end) in 10 foot rough length that I trimmed & dressed myself to 108" which replaced the entire oem CB feedline end to end (do not plan to ever remove tour pack so no need for an in-line connector). I used the H-D shorty antenna because it was more resonant than the longer oem antenna. With this configuration, my VSWR was 1.1:1 on channel 36 (our Chapter's regularly used channel) & 1.4:1 on channel 1. Channel 19 was 1.3:1 so I didn't bother trying to tune the antenna.
Could you post a picture of the inside of your tour-pak showing the end you dressed yourself connected to the tour-pak plate and the antenna mount? I'm curious as to how long the connecting wires are.
Using the HD antenna, how would you adjust (lengthen or shorten) the antenna based upon the SWR reading?
Is the only purpose of that inline Motorola connector for people that want to remove the tour-pak? I'm guessing removing that and installing a better quality coax cable should improve my transmission capability.
Do you know which connectors are included in the HD-48037 SWR Meter Adapter Kit?
Looking at the picture, I think they are:
(2) TNC-female to PL-259 adapters
(1) TNC-male to TNC-male adapter - Is this so that one can connect the SWR meter with the TNC-female to PL-259 adapter directly to the CB module without using any extra cable?
Thank you for the help! Very much appreciated.
Last edited by LQQK_OUT; Sep 24, 2017 at 10:16 AM.
Could you post a picture of the inside of your tour-pak showing the end you dressed yourself connected to the tour-pak plate and the antenna mount?
Give me a few days. Just 1 week home from our summer Black Hills resort stay & the agenda is pretty full right now.
I'm curious as to how long the connecting wires are.
Using the HD antenna, how would you adjust (lengthen or shorten) the antenna based upon the SWR reading?
The 108" length was from the TNC connector to the point where the center insulated lead was pulled out of the shield braid. from that point on, the insulated but un-shielded center conductor becomes part of the antenna itself. Having measured the resonant frequency of the shorty antenna from the Motorola connector back with my buddy's antenna analyzer, I was pretty confident my feed-line build would be very close & it was. Had it not matched in, I would have considered either lengthening or shortening the antenna based on whether resonance was higher or lower in frequency. You can view the video JMJohn posted to see how to lengthen this type of antenna which lowers the resonant frequency.
Is the only purpose of that inline Motorola connector for people that want to remove the tour-pak? I'm guessing removing that and installing a better quality coax cable should improve my transmission capability.
I believe so. Can't think of any other reason H-D would install it there. And yes, installing a better quality coax will provide a marked performance improvement, although the stock antenna will probably need replacement as well. The initial check of the oem antenna system from the Motorola connector back was most closely resonant around 25.4Mhz (not even close to the USA CB frequencies of 26.865 Mhz to 27.405 Mhz). Attempts to shorten that antenna proved ineffective. That's why that antenna mast was abandoned from further testing.
Do you know which connectors are included in the HD-48037 SWR Meter Adapter Kit?
Looking at the picture, I think they are:
(2) TNC-female to PL-259 adapters
(1) TNC-male to TNC-male adapter - Is this so that one can connect the SWR meter with the TNC-female to PL-259 adapter directly to the CB module without using any extra cable?
Thank you for the help! Very much appreciated.
I have never seen the H-D SWR Kit. I tried to get the parts department at my local dealer to order the kit for me & they wouldn't. Said it was restricted to service department personnel only.
Just went on a ride today with two other guys with 2014 Ultras and stock HD CB setups, plus my Cobra.
One of the guys had such a **** tx/rx that he couldn't hear me, and I couldn't hear anything but garble from him, and he was two bike lengths directly in front of me.
So, when we stopped, I pulled up the flap in the front of his tour pack, yanked the Motorola connector apart, and did my best to clean the corrosion inside. Did some scraping and twisting, put it back together, and there was a HUGE improvement in the signal.
Thanks for the tip. I was the hero of the day!
Much as I hate to admit it, and partly due to the availability of the new Bluetooth Wireless Headset Interface Module, I'm considering an HD CB. But, not without incorporating your coax and TNC upgrade. If you're still thinking of posting some pics of both ends, that would be awesome.
Just went on a ride today with two other guys with 2014 Ultras and stock HD CB setups, plus my Cobra.
One of the guys had such a **** tx/rx that he couldn't hear me, and I couldn't hear anything but garble from him, and he was two bike lengths directly in front of me.
So, when we stopped, I pulled up the flap in the front of his tour pack, yanked the Motorola connector apart, and did my best to clean the corrosion inside. Did some scraping and twisting, put it back together, and there was a HUGE improvement in the signal.
Thanks for the tip. I was the hero of the day!
Much as I hate to admit it, and partly due to the availability of the new Bluetooth Wireless Headset Interface Module, I'm considering an HD CB. But, not without incorporating your coax and TNC upgrade. If you're still thinking of posting some pics of both ends, that would be awesome.
Tia!
Glad you were able to help him out. That damn Motorola connector is a huge detriment to a proper antenna set up.
I will eventually get to the pictures. I'm out of town again to attend my niece's wedding in southern Wisconsin, then back home to more Dr appt's to get everything checked out (annual checkups with MD, Ophthalmologist & Cardiologist; getting old is hell). On a positive note, finished power washing the house, garage & drive, settled up with my lawn service & said hello to many (not all) of my friends I hadn't seen since spring (the **** I sacrifice in order to spend my summers in the Black Hills of SD ).
I've been researching the possibility of changing the stock CB antenna for something that both performs better and is fairly easy to adjust the SWR. The lightweight 36" Firestik FireFly (FL3-36) along with their medium duty spring seems to be a reasonable choice.
One problem with this solution seems to be the actual CB antenna mount. From combing through various threads on this forum and the Internet I've found a number of people have had issues with the antenna stud (76260-89) breaking.
It seems as though the stud may be too thin and might not take the wind loading of a larger/thicker antenna.
I was thinking it may be possible to have a machine shop make me an antenna stud that's both stronger and has the female 3/8-24 end on it (Firestik's antennas have a male 3/8-24 end). An antenna stud with the 3/8-24 end would eliminate the need for 6mm to 3/8-24 antenna adapter.
Any idea what something like this may cost? What material should something like this be made out of? Obviously, it needs to be conductive. Does something like this even make sense?
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