uhf and aerials

[leyland]

hello all i just fitted a uniden sundowner uh011 radio to my rangie, i guess it is an old model, i bought a new aerial also (uniden at470 6.0db gain 477mhz. the new aerial came with a small allen key as the aerial has several screws on it do i need to get the standing wave ratio meter and adjust it to it to get it to work properly ,i have tested it by calling radio check and they say its fine but i dont know how far away they are the radio may not be working to its full potential
thanks from leyland

[langy]

Generally, no - most aerials marketed as UHF CB are sufficiently close to a decent SWR for the 1-40ch range. Depending on where you are, if you can key the various repeaters around Sydney, that will give you an idea on how your radio is performing distance-wise. ( Look the locations and channels up)

[JDNSW]

As Langy says. In practice, UHF is very close to line of sight and antenna performance rarely makes much difference in my experience, except in that higher gain allows you to talk over the top of other users.

Height is the most important factor, but putting it on your roof is rarely a good idea - tends to get wiped off in carparks in the city and low hanging branches in the country!

John

[JamesH]

This is probably no help but the CB guy here in Perth told me that your common or garden UHF unit is fine for most users and that when there are any problems with performance it is almost invariably the ariel and the cable. He also said throwing money at the problem is not the answer either. He sold me an ariel for $110 and told me my existing stubby ariel was fine for close convoy work (which to be honest is what it is used for mostly) but the new one would give me better performance when the vehicles started to spread out.

He said he could help himself to a $700 ariel from his own shop but he knows he didn't need it.

So I guess I'm saying get your ariel right and you'll be fine. Treat salesmen encouraging you to trade up your equipment with scepticism.