Plus the height of the antenna isn't much. Lower to the ground they are, the less distance they will push.

Check out this article. It will give you a better understanding of antenna theory and how the SWR come into play. Here is an excerpt from it.

SWR (standing wave ratio) is a term every CB'er should know. SWR (measured with an SWR meter) shows you how well your coax, antenna mount, ground plane and antenna match the output capability of your CB radio. It is a ratio of maximum voltage or current to minimum voltage or current. Generally speaking, the lower the ratio the better. Defective or inferior components, bad installations and antennas not tuned to the specific location on the vehicle increases the SWR. You should strive to achieve a ratio below 2:1 on all channels.

 

While we are on the subject. Does anyone have the coil and mike that they don't use and would like to get rid of them. My bike did not have them when I bought it. Thought maybe I would give it a try. The coax is there and the radio has the capability. Any help would be grateful.

 

That's a new one on me. I have messed with radios for a lot of years. My dad was a nut about them. When checking your SWR you want silence, no vocal. Vocal will add power to the system-audio which will give a false reading. An average radio is 4 watts dead key then with the audio which should be around 75% will add a small amount to that. A dead key is a carrier since cb's are a.m...not f.m. like ssb is. The swr needs to be checked at the radio as where the coax connects. If you are close to sand mountain, I did not notice where you are, I can check it for ya. I get 4 miles as the crow flies.
HD The Ultra should have come with 1 head set and that's
what you use for the cb unless you get the mic which is a option.
dd

 

Check the squelch setting. The bar indicators seem like they are backward to me and that was my problem. Once I read the manual and got this write my range went to over a mile.

sporty06

 

I don't think there is much you can do about the swr on the ultra cb the antena is
not made to be cut. nor can it be made longer.

 

Did I understand you to say you are using the same antenna for CB and AM/FM, with some kind of matching device? If so, the "combo" antennas never get out as far. And you can't adjust the SWRs on them either. You need a "stand alone" antenna for the CB, adjusted for the best SWR possible, to get maximum performance. And like everybody said, it won't work as good as it does on cars and trucks. Also the atmosphere conditions dictate how far you can "talk". Somedays you may get out a few miles, other days you may talk less than a mile.
The range on mine normally is about a mile average, give or take depending on conditions.

 

All Harley Ultra CB antennas are tunable, even the pre-tuned J&M shortys ,,,,,,

below is a rough but effective CB antenna tuning instruction that applies to almost every CB antenna ever installed on a motorcycle,,,,,

if your CB antenna has a removable tip that can be cut off a half inch or so at a time, then you would do that in place of pulling out copper wire, and gluing the tip ,,,,,

JMJOHN ,,, john@jmcorp.com ,,,,,,

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Tuning the antenna with an SWR Meter

Connect your SWR meter in-line as normal ,,,,, and make sure that the antenna is properly grounded to the frame of the motorcycle and that there are no shorts between the center conductor of the coax and the shielded portion ,,,,, ((these shorts can be caused by, among other things, the insulator pieces on the antenna mount itself being shifted to the side or installed improperly or in the wrong order )))) ,,,,

When you are certain that all of those things are correct ,,,,,, you can then proceed to SWR adjustment ,,,,,

To adjust the antenna, pull the top cap off, ((or pull out the top staff, shoten it and re-insert it)) make a very small slice in the side of the black cover material, right at the very top,,,,, then reach down in there with a needle nosed pliers and pull out about 2” of the wire at a time ,,,,

Clip it off and bend the end over the top of the antenna and replace the little cover each time you re-check the SWR readings ,,,,

The idea is to get channels one and forty to have the same SWR reading, somewhere between 1:1 and 2.5:1 ,,,,,, that way all of the other channels will have an SWR reading at or below that level ,,,,,,

If the SWR reading on channel one is lower than the reading on channel forty, you need to cut off more wire ,,,, if the SWR reading on channel 40 is lower than channel one, you have cut off too much wire ,,,, simple as that ,,,,,

When you get the SWR’s where you want them ,,,,, squirt a little black silicone into the top cap, before you push it back on for the final time ,,,,,

 

[QUOTE=JMJOHN;4645742]All Harley Ultra CB antennas are tunable, even the pre-tuned J&M shortys ,,,,,,

I won't argue with that statement because I don't know what all is available for a HD. But I do know that you can not tune the combo antennas (those made to work with CB/AM/FM all combined as one antenna.)

 

Hardly anyone in Oz uses AM CB so it is a hopless part to me. I am frustrated not knowing if it is working or not as I have noone to 'bounce'off....UHF is the go HD pls listen.

 

SWR (Standing Wave Ratio) like Alan said...ultimate match is 1:1, anything near 1:1.5 is acceptable. The antenna adjustment if I recall should be a total of 109" long. Thats why you see the big whip antennas, and as small as 15". The small ones have wire rapped around it and you have to be careful when cutting it to length. With an SWR meter it takes about 5-10 minutes and that will vary to fine tune. You don't the ol' I cut it 3 times and it's still short. Average off the shelf CB range is 2-4 miles. You can recieve other units further away than transmit range, unless you go all out and get the "boosters/amps".