Yes, you need to tune your antenna unless you want to fry your radio.
I just use a radioshack SWR meter, you dont have to leave it hooked up after you tune your antenna.
Try to get under 1.5:1 swr.

 

alright...they would be alright with a firestick right?
and is tuning it pretty self explanatory?

 

Im curious about this too ^^. I was planning on getting a nicer cobra so i can get a PA as well, anyhoo, will the cb and antenna be listed as tuneable? I like the look if fire sticks the most, they can be tuned right?

 

Any antenna will be tunable. Most newer fiberglass ones have a screw in the top you turn back and forth.

 

I've got the Midland 40 off eBay, a Firefly, home made mount with good grounds, and the spring and install kit from Radioshack. Love the setup, hard to beat for everything less then $70.

Got a local club member whos finally gonna help me tune it.

 

+1

i have a wilson 1000 antenna that was tuned, a Cobra 25 LTD WX Classic with an echo board and and RK 56 mic i think it is. people say they hear me pretty well so im happy

 

I got my 29 Ltd wx classic for 50 bucks of eBay.

 

SMH....if you guys want a cb but don't want an swr meter than go buy a handheld.

 

you can get a radio with the swr meter built in and firestick still sells the fiberglass antenna without the screw in the end and u have to grind it down to tune it but if you go too much then your stuck with it like that and make sure you tune it in a big open area or you will be a little off on your tuning

 

If your worried about tuning, I mentioned this once already, a 102" inch metal whip plus a 6" spring, does not need tuning.

 

the swr meter isnt a big deal lol works pretty easy and gives your antenna a good tune.

 

Wrong!!

You just got lucky. Every rig is different. Tuning is critical if you want to keep your radio operating properly and safely.

 

Those built in meters are good for reference but not for initial tuning.

 

I have the same antenna with my cobra 25 nw tuned to 27 watts. I get 10 miles trans and receive in the city.

 

Wrong? That antenna set-up has been tested and proven to work, so long as 2/3 of the antenna is above the roof line. To further prove my statement, your tuning the antenna so it can roughly be about 1/4 of a wavelength. Look at a firestik, all of that wire that is wrapped under the, err, sheath(?) when unraveled is 108". Hmmmm, a quarter of a wave length. 102" whip plus a 6" spring = WOW! 108", a quarter of a CB's wavelength. Hell, some people even run a 102" and get EXTREMELY low SWR's.

To the OP and anyone else who wants to learn. Go take a look at a CB radio forum. There are people there who, like us with Cherokees, seem to know a crap ton about CB radios and their interface. You'll find more useful information there rather than a bunch of opinions here. No offense, but the research has been done. The results were then tested.