Don't Fear "The Snip"
Now that I have your attention... (You too can turn your long dipole into these tiny wires!) Back in the day when CB Radios were all the rage (We're talking late 1970's here), most of us had a pretty standard 1/4 Helical antenna attached to some kind of pole so we could have a base station. We were kids then, so not a lot of money to spend on my radio hobby. People told me I should tune my antenna for "optimal SWR", but I never did so because: I really only ever contacted local folks, so range wasn't a problem. I was afraid of cutting my precious antenna in case I cut too much off it. It worked, so I just didn't mess with it. These days however I want to contact people further afield than Sydney and with a limit of ten watts right now, I need all the help I can get. It's definitely time to get past my phobia and do things properly. As an aside, if you are taking your 4WD into remote regions and you're going to be relying on a radio for emergencies,...