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No, that’s not quite right. Antennas have impedance. Radios have impedance. Transmission lines have impedance. RF power exists as a wave. That power wave passes easily through the connections between the radio and the feed line or between the feed line and the antenna if the impedance on either side of the connection matches, but reflects from the connection when impedance is poorly matched. SWR is calculated based on the ratio of power that is reflected to the power that gets into the antenna. An antenna “tuner” changes the impedance of the antenna in the same way adding a coil or capacitor to an antenna does. It does nothing to the resonance of the antenna and it doesn’t fool the radio into seeing a lower SWR; it literally changes the impedance of the system which actually results in lower SWR.

I would never try to tune an antenna by reading SWR. You would get better results tuning by ear, looking at receive meter values, and I would never do that either. LOL Spend $100-$130 on an 'okay' VNA and do it correctly, tuning for resonant frequency and best SWR. If you can't get the SWR where it needs to be without getting away from the target resonant frequency, use an LC tuning network to make the radio happy.

Welcome! You are in the right place.

I have not heard of any new model 9800 D Pro's having the problem that the early ones did. Just beware of buying an older one.

Yes it is hard to beat the performance of a dipole. The downside is finding room to properly deploy one. a 10m dipole is pretty easy as it is small and does not have to be really high above the ground. Mine is only 22 feet above ground at the balun. Another downside of a dipole is they are harder to use portable as you need a mast and plenty of space to set them up. A bit of advice for setting up an inverted v dipole. You want the angle between the two side to be no less than 90 degrees and no more than 120 degrees. I found the 100 degrees was the sweet spot for my setup. The G90 is really a good auto tuner that just happens to have a transceiver built in. It is my favorite portable HF radio and it is my main POTA radio. Plus it doesn't use much battery power at 20 watts so you can run quite a while on a smaller battery.

It’s really hard to beat the performance of a dipole overall, especially (as you already mentioned) if you have an antenna analyzer and tuner. That’s what really sets the Xiegu G90 apart in my mind: it includes the functionality of a decent enough radio with a spectrum display, a very wide impedance 10:1 autotuner (much more versatile than the 3:1 autotuner built into the ftdx10), and the ability to perform as an antenna analyzer.

and enjoy the forum!

That’s a great find; I’ve been looking for something like that. I did find this: Workman S1 3/8" x 24 Thread 1"... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DMGCRWM?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share But your find appears to eliminate my need to buy the Rez Scout base, which is pricey for just one piece! Once the JPC-12 comes in, I might add this piece, consistent with your recommendations:

I ran a 10m inverted V dipole for a while. I worked stations in western Europe using that antenna and my G90. I originally tuned it as a flat top to 28.400 and the resonance point lowered to around 28.000 when I hung it up as an inverted v. That still worked out for the SSB portion. And the internal tuners on my Icom IC-7300 and Yaesu FTDX10 will still tune the antenna for the upper SSB and FM portions. An added bonus with the resonance point being lower is that it also works for the CB, with a type accepted CB radio. I would never use a MARS modded radio on CB

Reaching out to anyone in the turlock and Stanislaus county for decision on forming a local emergency coms protocol that can be used to communicate and coordinate communications on the turlock gmrs repeater during natural and or local emergencies.

Even with the couple hours I spent on 10M SSB I can see how HF can totally spoil you with the range you can get from Simplex. I was picking up folks from Canada, Japan, Michigan, Texas and if my antenna would have been tuned better I'd have had a contact in Maryland. I just wasn't making it out well enough for him to hear me even though I had him in at 5/6-7 without issue. I just wish the FCC would open up more of the HF Bands for Technicians than just 28.3-28.5MHz SSB. If we could have all of the 28MHz Band that'd still leave 29MHz for the General and Extra guys. Also a little 12M would be nice too since I can mod my radio to do 12M. For now though I'm just going to get my antenna sorted out and have some fun.

I am pretty sure the 2 meter SSB Bozo Net is active in Arizona; track down the times for their Net. Here it is Sunday and Wednesday 7pm. You acquired 2/1.25/0.70 meter SSB equipment?

I think what I was trying to say is that the antenna tuner doesn't do anything to actually "tune" the antenna like if you physically lengthened or shortened it to bring it into proper SDR. It just makes the radio "think" the antenna is the right length to be the correct SDR.

So when the G90 "tunes" the antenna, what it is really doing is adjusting the signal it sends out based on its analysis on the impedance of the attached antenna? So it's not really "tuning the antenna" so much as it is "adjusting what the radio outputs?"

I suppose it doesn't help when people like me say/type stuff like "use an LC tuning network to make the radio happy". I mean, we want the radio to be happy, but the way I phrased it, it probably sounded like I was saying we are just trying to trick the radio.

While tuners do work, it's still better to use a resonant antenna. You lose transmit power (ERP) when you use an external tuner. As @SteveShannon said, you get a higher return loss on the coax when the SWR is high. Plus you will get all kinds of nasty RFI back into your radio and shack when using an external tuner if you don't have good common mode chokes on the coax. I spent the money on a Rig Expert Stick Pro since I am always working on antennas. I like building them for myself along with helping others build/test antennas. But if you can't afford an analyzer then at least look into getting a NanoVNA. They will save you time and headaches.

Yes you can use a SWR meter. The problem is that a SWR meter will not tell you if the resonant point is high or low. This will keep you guessing on whether you need to shorten or lengthen the antenna. A NanoVNA and antenna analyzer takes the guess work out. Both will show you if the antenna is short or long.

It only took them 90 minutes on a Sunday to send me notice of the refund! Other than using the SWR sweep on my Icom 7300 and now my 705, using the NanoVNA will be a new experience for me, so thanks for all these tips and I’m off to watch the video! The Sun’s out in Los Angeles…

There are plenty of YouTube videos to help you learn how to use the NanoVNA. It will definitely help you tune your antennas once you learn how to use it. I would not dare try to use the Radioddity HF-008 antenna without an analyzer since it is very narrow banded. A mm or two difference when adjusting the whip can really change the SWR and resonant point.

OK: I ordered your SEESII NanoVNA-H4 and the Gabil PL259 to 3/8" plug from Amazon and they should be here Friday. I will cancel my order from American Radio Supply.

@WRYS709 That ground radial plate works and will make deploying ground radials easier. You can use it with the JPC12, JPC7 and similar bases that do not use banana plugs. For those with the JPC7/12 antennas, Get rid of the computer ribbon cable ground radials. Get yourself some silicon wire instead. I use BNTECHGO 18 Gauge Silicone Wire Spool 250 ft Yellow Flexible 18 AWG Stranded Tinned Copper Wire for making all of my ground radials. It is available in different gauges and colors. I use the yellow 18 gauge to keep things light and visible since I use my 1/4 wave vertical mostly for POTA. For those with the JPC radial plate, use fork terminals. And you can use 16-14 or 12-10 terminals to fit multiple radials per connector. A note on the RadioddityHF-009. It uses 3mm banana plugs for the ground radials. Make sure to buy 3mm male banana plugs if you plan on making your own ground radials. 1/4 wave telescoping whips work well for portable/temporary use but you really do need an antenna analyzer or NanoVNA to tune them.

It’s $30 less expensive directly from Radioddity in this flash sale bundle: https://www.radioddity.com/products/radioddity-hf-009

Here is an option for running the HF-008 with the HF-0009 triple mag mount. SM-1M - PL-259 to 3/8" x 24 Thread Stud Antenna Mount Adapter I have the HF-009 and while it does work, it's very narrow banded on most bands. No matter if you go with the JPC-7, JPC12, Radioddity HF-008, or other similar antennas, you want a good ground radial system. I run the REZ Antennas Recon 40 and REZ Scout. REZ antennas come with four 33ft ground radials. I ended up buying some 4mm banana plugs and made up 24 8 1/2 ft ground radials (3 wires per banana plug). I found that in most instances that the 24 short radials work better than the four long radials. Having an antenna analyzer or NanoVNA is highly recommended when using these types of antennas. It makes quick work of tuning them to each band.

Mines on order even cheaper from AliExpress

Welcome!!

Thanks. I’ll definitely check that out!

Imagine how it felt on the East Coast. Simplex from the Rockies is crazy to a guy who was previously impressed his GMRS radio would talk to a repeater 40 miles away.

I've certainly read enough negative reports about the 9800. My guess is that it's a quality control issue -- one is a diamond, the next one is a turd. Maybe it depends upon who the foreman is that day or some such factor.

Yeah, I was listening to that guy, too. I couldn't hear everyone else he was talking to, but I could hear some.

Funny. I was just coming back to post that it may not be the antenna that was the problem, but the user. The manual on this antenna is written in the absolute worst Chinglish I've ever seen. So I watched a few videos tonight. Turns out I had it configured all wrong. I had the coil on it. Coil isn't need on 10m, only on 20 and 40. I also had the coil at the bottom, not the top. I also had the counterpoise wire laid out in a single strand, not realizing that the idea was to separate the cable and lay it out in a circle. So yeah....operator head space error. Probably headed back out tomorrow afternoon to try it again, now that I know the gear is probably not to blame. And to answer your first question, it's the JPC 12 from amazon.

Exactly what type of a vertical antenna are you using? 13 feet is too short for a end fed half wave antenna and too long for a 1/4 wave antenna. You want about 8.7 feet for a 1/4 wave and 16.8-17 ft for a half wave. A 1/4 wave antenna does not need any type of balun/unun other than a common mode choke to keep RF out of the radio. But it will benefit from multiple ground radials. An EFHW needs a 49:1 unun and will either use a portion of the coax as a counterpoise or you can install a separate short counterpoise. EFHW counterpoise length is 0.05% of a full wavelength.

12 versus 14 gauge wire won't make a difference. In fact wire diameter really does not affect SWR. Larger diameter wire can give you more bandwidth across the band. I would not worry about 12 gauge versus 14 gauge. What you do need to do is get the antenna tuned properly. I suggest shooting for your lowest SWR at 28.400 since that is in the middle of the tech SSB portion. But as long as you are under 2:1 then you are fine. Some of your better radios will start to cut transmit power once the SWR gets to 1.7:1

LifePo4 batteries are nice since they are lighter. They are very popular for portable/field radio operations. And they are becoming more common for trolling motors too. I recently switched from a Group 24 lead acid deep cycle battery to a group 24 LifePo4 battery to power my trolling motor on my 10ft pond hopper boat. The weight savings was noticeable. The Lead acid deep cycle battery weighs around 55 pounds while the same size LifePo4 battery weighs 26 pounds. Ideally one should use a step down converter so that the current draw of any accessory is the same across all batteries. The converters will take 36V or 48V down to 12V to power your accessories without worrying about uneven current draw on the batteries.

Oh, I'm very familiar with HamStudy and the explanations. The "silly answers" are my favorite. "S" for silicone and seven is 100% how I will be remembering that!

The golf cars do have a charging system or the battery would discharge too many times and piss off the old people. Also, Laird/T E Connectivity has non-ground plane antennae in various styles from base loadcoils to Phantoms. I use their non-ground plane antennae with great success and they tune very well.

It may be beyond most people's skill level, but I would tap into 12v

Merry Christmas!

My kids and my nieces are all adults now. And no grandkids to spoil yet. I sometimes think my sons don't want kids because they know I will spoil them and get them jacked up on sugar.

Yes, Merry Christmas to you all!!

Merry Christmas to all. PS: make sure to get any grandchildren/nieces.nephews jacked up on Mountain Dew and chocolate before sending them home.

Circling back to the beginning, the standard ham protocol on a repeater is just to state your call and say "monitoring" or "listening". It works fine for ducting situations. "CQ" is for when you have found a clear HF frequency and are looking for recordable contacts.

The whole using Q-codes (or whatever they are called) on voice transmissions is tiresome. They were designed for Morse Code. I feel the same way about saying "73s". I have a daughter who is a Speech Language Pathologist who works with children who have problems speaking. She often encourages her clients to "use their words". People can and will do what they want but I encourage people to use their words when transmitting on voice. Of course I don't try to make random contacts even on the Amatuer bands. If I need something I just ask using sentences.

Sounds like my trips. Drove from Elgin IL to SW VA yesterday. 15 hours. couple multicar pileups on 65 in Indy area. CB was pretty chatty. Heard one repeater with a WX announcement but that was about the only traffic I heard on GMRS. Was the same for my trip north 2 weeks ago.

45 hours on the road from central MD to Waco and back, I spoke to 2 people on CB and one on GMRS. CB in a 8 mile traffic back up due to an overturned load of frozen chicken about 50 miles east of Memphis. GMRS contact was with some guys about to take their boat fishing.

RE use of Channel 9 for active Search and Rescue, I would note that Colorado and Wyoming have recently published plans to use Channel 3 for such purposes…

The Midland MXT-400 ran fine the whole trip and off road this past weekend on the Cumberland's Jeep Jamboree in Kentucky. Knocked the magnetic mount off once tho going too fast to the brush! Rained the night before we left and the dang Jeep filled with water! My fault, I left the drivers door partially open. Red Bird trail took out only one Jeeper this year on Saturday by breaking a control arm. Indian Creek is getting washed out on the way to the meadow and we all had fun the whole weekend.

We have fallen a long way when someone feels like this... I'm sorry. I love offroading and GMRS is a big part of my offroad entertainment and safety.