2 problems. I rent my house so I'm pretty sure the landlord wouldn't be happy with me putting an antenna on the roof. Second, I do have a CB in my truck, but the range sucks. Nothing past 1/8 mile either way. Maybe I'll try putting the firetwig on the other side of the truck.

 

You just need to make/buy a stealth antenna for HAM radio.

1/8 miles is really bad. Check your SWR on the antenna. Something is probably wrong.

 

If there's an attic, just run a half-wave antenna along the underside of the roof, or if there isn't an attic you could always run a similar setup out back- You wouldn't have the range of a tall antenna, but you would have a pretty decent signal.

 

You could also run HAM radio from your truck. You can hit the repeaters and talk for many miles. Maybe hit a D-Star repeater and talk around the world, or just operate HF. You may also like APRS, which is my favorite. APRS is pretty cool. Shows you and other people on a map (just about any map: google, MapPoint, satellite, streets, etc), and you just need to click on their location, and start a short text chat. It's a great tracking system too. I've chatted with people in Japan on my HT radio. It's a great way to network with other HAM's in a specific location. Kinda like IM, but better .

Check out radios from Kenwood, Icom, Yaesu, and a few others.

VHF antennas on a truck to reach repeaters will be smaller than CB antennas.

There's a ton of information out there. I advise visiting a local HAM radio club to get started.

Btw....don't forget to get your license to operate on the HAM bands. It's easy and fun.

 

So, what you're saying is... if the meter goes into the red when I key up I'm hurting stuff?

 

Not sure what the red zone is measuring (perhaps power). If the meter is measuring SWR, and the SWR is more than 2:1, it is most likely bad. Above 3:1 is really bad for the radio.

If you've been operating above 3:1 for a while, you may have burned your radio too. So something to check out.

Also, I forgot to ask, is the 1.5 miles in obstructed transmission (trees, hills, mountains, buildings)? Or clear line of sight? I figure in Sequim you should get P.A., P.T., San Juans, and B.C easily.

Their should be some good CB shops around your area that could do the diagnostics and tuning for maybe < $20. Hopefully all that is needed is an antenna tune, but it sounds like the wiring installation is bad. Hopefully not a new radio is needed.

...but this is all guessing since I'm not their actually diagnosing and seeing the problem. But for sure, if you aren't surrounded by mountains and trees, you should be reaching a lot further than 1.5 miles.

 

The actual range is about 1/8 mile. I can still see the chip or log truck I'm yakking at, and lose radio contact. Richmond 2-way radio in Port Angeles checked my antenna tune, and he said it was right on the money ($10).

For the most part, I chat when I'm on the highway. Mostly clear line of sight, occasional small hills and curves. Trees usually line the side of the highway in places.

The reason I asked if I was doing damage was I read something on the Firestik website that was to the effect of "If the meter on your radio goes into the red when you key up, do not use your radio, because you have a short which will damage it."

The radio that I have installed now came out of a Green Crow Resources truck that was getting parted out. I have a couple spares just in case; I have the CB that was in my truck when I got it (pretty old) and one that came out of a buddy's Toyota that is one of those sort of consolidated units with the display and controls all on the handset, and a little box that mounts under the dash with just the handset going in and the coax going out. If the one I have in now is toast, I don't want to burn the others up if there's a problem with my setup.

You know how the saying goes... "Electronics work off of smoke. When you let the smoke out, it quits working."

 

Hey snakyjake, were you planning on going to the G2G? Maybe you can check out my trucks' radio setup and see where I can make improvements?

 

Jimmy, are awake?

 

Tom, are you awake!?!?

 

Nope, going back to bed

 

You're lucky!!

 

WOW...this thread is a real sleeper......!!!

 

That it is!!

 

I'm awake, going back to bed again.