SWR 3+ on a Little Will

I hope you can help, I've just replaced my old broken Mag Mount with a Wilson Little Will.

Previously I had an SWR reading of 1.25 -1.5 across 01-40. however I adjust or position the Little Will I'm in the Red well over 3.

Any ideas?

Is it a band specific antenna? Maybe it for US band which is lower than UK

Hi Andrew,

As Pat, (Mr.Tang), has pointed out, a little bit more information will help us to help you.

Your profile states that you are using a TTI rig? So is the SWR higher or lower on the EU or UK band?
Did you buy the Wilson antenna from a shop or eBay? Was it new or secondhand?
Did it ever work or was the SWR high from the start?

All extra info is helpful otherwise we're taking guesses and stabs in the dark.

All the best,
Victor

MrTang wrote:

Is it a band specific antenna? Maybe it for US band which is lower than UK

The "Little Wil" is supposed to cover 26-28 Mhz (see link below). I suspect damaged coax and / or connectors may be the problem.

https://www.thunderpole.co.uk/cb-antenna-kits/wilson-little-wil.html

Hi Phil,

It's advertised as 26-28MHz but that's across it whole tuning range, it's actually quite a narrow banded short antenna.
(They used to advertise it as being OK for 10m but most struggled to achieve that).

--------

Andrew, 

You could check the length of the whip and make sure it's 36 inches long. As Phil mentioned check the coax and connectors for any problems, (it has been known to pinch the coax when mag mounts are popped through the window or door sill). 
There have been horror stories regarding the matching coil within the base having poorly soldered capacitors which if came loose makes the antenna completely unable to SWR(!)

Like I say, we can only make educated guesses

Of course there's the obvious stuff too......is the SWR meter any good? How are the patch leads when checking SWR? etc.etc.

I know, we are all trying to be helpful, (we are a helpful bunch at Charlie Tango), we seem to be throwing questions back at your question. 
But we're happy to help a fellow Charlie Tango when we can


All the best,
Victor

I would say either damage coax or or inside the magmout the coax may have become de soldered on its connection, as for the band range 26 to 28 it will or should (if you didnt have the problem)SWR on UK FM and EU mids because EU mids is exactly the same as the old U.S. FCC cb frequencies,I would definitely check the coax first for any damage before blaming the antenna, especially inside the mag mount as Victor said that's a old problem crap soldering.

Thank you for all your responses so far,

The Antenna was bought brand new through an Amazon seller.
The SWR reading is well in the red on both EU and UK but fractionally lower on EU
There is no visible damage to the Coax
The SWR meter is was fine and showed a reading on my previous antenna between 1.25-1.5 last week, I only replaced it because somehow I managed shut the old antenna in the garage door and snapped it. 
The patch lead again no visible damage and worked fine last week
The whip is 36 inches 

I am suspecting it may be a manufacturing fault so will attempt through Amazon to get a refund.
I will do a continuity/resistance test on the Coax just to confirm.

https://youtu.be/uX4Sek6-8iM
I found this old review on the the Little Wil
dont know if you've seen it might interest you ,no offence mate 
I was looking at some other reviews on this antenna and TBH there not very good considering its price,  the price of those you could get a Sirio antenna  ie: the 3000 model which are very popular from Knights http://www.kcb.co.uk/contents/en-
Or if you want to go old school you could £15 brand new  and buy a original Les Wallen Modulator look on ebay for one of these but it must be the original not the copy version that are about ,I had one back in the late 70s early 80s on my lorry brilliant antenna better than some of the expensive ones that was about TBH.

Hi Andrew,

Cheers for that info mate and I wholeheartedly agree, should've worked from new so sounds like a manufacturing defect.
I wouldn't bother with the continuity test, it'll either show a short or open circuit neither of which gives you a true meaning. An antenna analyser isn't in everyone's toolkit but that's required to truly test an antenna.

Think you're right, chase up a refund, (Amazon are usually pretty good).

If you was an inquisitive weirdo like me..... you'd be pulling it apart


Nice find from Martin, (Nubster), with the video link. Just goes to show what's going on in there and how bad it can really be!


All the best,
Victor

Here you go Andrew a link to the original Modulator, take a look a its specs , just a note this antenna goes from 25MHz to 31MHz
for price I  would put better than the Little Will
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/164272598375

Littleyellowenterprise wrote:

Thank you for all your responses so far,

The Antenna was bought brand new through an Amazon seller.
The SWR reading is well in the red on both EU and UK but fractionally lower on EU
There is no visible damage to the Coax


I am suspecting it may be a manufacturing fault so will attempt through Amazon to get a refund.
I will do a continuity/resistance test on the Coax just to confirm.

I'm guessing it's a magmount?

You need to check where the coax comes into the vehicle through the door or boot/hatchback that the coax in that area hasn't become pinched or crushed. The impedance of the coax is determined by the spacing between the outer surface of the centre conductor and the inner surface of the outer braid. When you pinch or crush the coax you alter that which affects the SWR. It's perfectly possible to do it so much that you get SWR in the red but it tests OK with a DC multimeter. The only fix is replacing the coax.

If you're checking the coax you need to do it with the antenna removed due to the way some matching sections in antennas work which can appear as a dead short to DC.

it could be mag mount coax antenna and when they come from the states ok for there fm and am, with the money you
spent you could have a sirio 4000 and there a very good antenna as mine never needed swring in and it had its own mag mount and gets out great, And if you go down that way use the silver foil on the mag and put you rubber boot on, and the very strong mag mount mine never moved at 100+mph

hi all iv just bought one and got the same problem swr very high ....

understandably this thread is over 4 years old did anyone find a resolution ?

ive purchased one due to its small whip however my s.w.r is seriously high !!!!

my antenna is brand new and unmolested, i see one of the posts it states there whip is 36 inches ? mine is about 2cm longer is it advised to cut off in small increments ?

ch1p2014 wrote:

my antenna is brand new and unmolested, i see one of the posts it states there whip is 36 inches ? mine is about 2cm longer is it advised to cut off in small increments ?

Before trimming it, check the vswr at each end of the band. This will tell you whether the antenna is resonant at a higher or lower frequency. If lower, then trim a few mm, if higher add a few mm if you can. Repeat the process until you get an acceptable vswr.

A better way would be to buy or borrow a NANOVNR, this would show you exactly at what frequency the antenna is resonant.

Deb