A common question among new ham radio operators, particularly those that may have ‘migrated’ from CB radio use concerns the use of CB antennas with their ham radio systems and whether they are suitable.
Often this is as a result of cost, new users already have CB equipment and wish to try and dual purpose some of it if possible.
In standard form CB antennas will not work very well with ham radio as they are designed for a different wavelength. It may be possible to physically alter the length of a CB antenna to make it suitable for the 10m ham band but, unless your antenna is adjustable, this would mean cutting or other physical intervention. which may or may not work.
Why a CB antenna will not normally work on ham radio
A CB antenna is designed for use on just one set of radio frequencies or band. CB typically operates on the 11m band and CB equipment is made to work specifically on that radio band.
Ham radio operators have access to many more frequencies and bands than CB radio users and CB antennas are made for use on none of those bands.
The nearest ham radio band to the CB frequencies is the 10m band and, unless you have a CB antenna that is designed for use on both the 11m and 10m band then, unless you make alterations, your standard CB antenna will not work correctly.
Is it worth trying to make a CB antenna work with ham radio?
One thing about ham radio enthusiasts is their willingness to experiment and try new things to get results and if you are the type of person that enjoys experimenting then there could be some fun in the exercise.
You’ll probably have to make some physical adjustments to the antenna and need to remove some of the material.
It’s also possible that if your ham radio transceiver has a built in antenna tuner that it might be able to get some level of match to make the antenna useable.
In reality however, you are unlikely to get the results that you would if you used an antenna that is suitable for ham radio and for the time and effort involved, an investment in a purpose made ham antenna would be better.
You could also construct your own ham antenna from wire, making it the correct length for your chosen band – this is relatively easy and also cheap to do.
Can you use a CB antenna for the 2m ham radio band?
A standard CB antenna will be longer than needed for the 2m ham band.
By cutting the antenna down to around 19.5 inches you will make the length of the antenna suitable for the 2m band, in effect you will have created a quarter wave antenna for 2 metres.
In reality, considering the price of a new 2m ham radio antenna, you would be better off either keeping the CB antenna for CB use, or selling it to offset the cost of the new ham antenna.
Final Words
In it’s standard form a CB antenna will not provide good levels of performance for ham radio and it could even cause damage to your ham transmitter.
CB operates on a different wavelength to the ham bands and, as such, CB antennas will need alteration to make them suitable for ham radio – even then they might not function well.
If you’d like to learn more about antennas and how they operate then there is a good, free training resource on TutorialsPoint – which you can find here.
Read Next
- Can ham radio survive EMP?
- Why do you need a ham radio license?
- What is 2m ham radio?
- What’s better ham radio or CB radio?
- Is morse code still useful?
- What does QRP mean in ham radio?
