Harley Short Antennas
Road Warrior
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 1,542
Likes: 5
From: Cleveland, OH
Reception has only been slightly decreased. I live in an urban area so I'm never that far from the stations anyhow. If I lose reception I use the huge catalog of tunes on my thumb drive, problem solved. Like others have said, the original whip will give you the best reception if it's a necessity.
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 7,498
Likes: 19
From: East Alton, IL
I hate to be the one to rock the boat but...
You will get slightly worse FM reception with a shorter antenna. The shorter the worse. If you are in an urban area near the station you may not notice. You can go as short as you can tolerate.
CB is a completely different matter. Do not go less than 19". You will not be able to transmit. Also make sure that the antenna you buy is properly loaded to match the stock antenna coil system or you will have to adjust the CB SWR...
You will get slightly worse FM reception with a shorter antenna. The shorter the worse. If you are in an urban area near the station you may not notice. You can go as short as you can tolerate.
CB is a completely different matter. Do not go less than 19". You will not be able to transmit. Also make sure that the antenna you buy is properly loaded to match the stock antenna coil system or you will have to adjust the CB SWR...
How do you adjust the SWR? I really think you are missing some critical info here.
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 2,674
Likes: 84
From: New Jersey
I wasn't trying to present a complete reference for tuning CB antennas. Only that i disagreed that any old short antenna of any length was going to work for your CB. There is plenty of reference material on the Internet for those interested in how to adjust swr.
I don't know anything about the 08 and older units. Never owned one. The swr is only adjustable on the short antennas by varying the coax length since you can't adjust the length of the antenna. A real pita, hence why I was stressing that you buy an antenna designed by the manufacturer to closely match the electrical characteristics of the stock harley antenna and save yourself the hassle of trying to tune a basically non tunable system. The 19" measurement comes from my research that no one sells a shorty antenna less than that and claims it works with the 09 and newer Harley CB's. That 6" pep boys FM shorty isn't going to allow you to transmit.
Cruiser
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 204
Likes: 2
What he said!!! Shorty sucked for reception.
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 7,498
Likes: 19
From: East Alton, IL
I'm not really sure what the point if your post is. What information are you adding to the discussion?
I wasn't trying to present a complete reference for tuning CB antennas. Only that i disagreed that any old short antenna of any length was going to work for your CB. There is plenty of reference material on the Internet for those interested in how to adjust swr.
I don't know anything about the 08 and older units. Never owned one. The swr is only adjustable on the short antennas by varying the coax length since you can't adjust the length of the antenna. A real pita, hence why I was stressing that you buy an antenna designed by the manufacturer to closely match the electrical characteristics of the stock harley antenna and save yourself the hassle of trying to tune a basically non tunable system. The 19" measurement comes from my research that no one sells a shorty antenna less than that and claims it works with the 09 and newer Harley CB's. That 6" pep boys FM shorty isn't going to allow you to transmit.
I wasn't trying to present a complete reference for tuning CB antennas. Only that i disagreed that any old short antenna of any length was going to work for your CB. There is plenty of reference material on the Internet for those interested in how to adjust swr.
I don't know anything about the 08 and older units. Never owned one. The swr is only adjustable on the short antennas by varying the coax length since you can't adjust the length of the antenna. A real pita, hence why I was stressing that you buy an antenna designed by the manufacturer to closely match the electrical characteristics of the stock harley antenna and save yourself the hassle of trying to tune a basically non tunable system. The 19" measurement comes from my research that no one sells a shorty antenna less than that and claims it works with the 09 and newer Harley CB's. That 6" pep boys FM shorty isn't going to allow you to transmit.
Not that it matters much as it is near impossible to get reasonable performance on 28 MHz. with such inefficient antennas. All you can hope for is a close enough match to protect the finals in the transmitter.
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Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 2,674
Likes: 84
From: New Jersey
The closest to a good match is going to be with either the stock antenna or the HD short one as they are designed to match the transmitter and antenna. The short one is electrically lengthened by being wire wound and probably so is the longer stock one. I think they are both base loaded as well. You can't truly match the antenna by cutting the feed line, only by changing the length of the antenna which is near impossible with these wire wound covered whips.
Not that it matters much as it is near impossible to get reasonable performance on 28 MHz. with such inefficient antennas. All you can hope for is a close enough match to protect the finals in the transmitter.
Not that it matters much as it is near impossible to get reasonable performance on 28 MHz. with such inefficient antennas. All you can hope for is a close enough match to protect the finals in the transmitter.
Road Warrior
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 1,645
Likes: 1
From: Orangetown, NY
Ditto, short whip sux and sold my shorty. Totally worthless where reception is weak.