Re: How do I tune my VHF fiberglass antenna?
Most CB meters are only good for 10-30Mhz, Marine VHF is 156-162Mhz. It won't be anywhere near accurate enough, take that from a long time ham radio operator.
Most marine VHF antenna's are not adjustable either anyway, if you had one with a stainless whip you can trim it a bit if necessary but i doubt it will make much difference as most marine antenna's are factory tuned and non-adjustable.
I have seen some fiberglass antennas where someone took the tip apart and whacked off some and then put the tip back on, but i wouldn't advise it. Just remember the old addage, Lower=Longer, the lower you go in frequency the longer the antenna needs to be. So likewise the higher you go the shorter it needs to be. Those marine antenna's are normally made to work independent of a ground plane and are a compromise to give you a wide bandwidth to cover the entire range of marine channels.
You can get a VHF SWR/Wattmeter from RadioShack that will give you a better indication than that CB meter will. Personally i use a Heatkit IM-4190 bidirectional meter which shows forward and reflected power, or i grab my MFJ antenna analyzer when i want to see whats going on without having to transmit with the radio.
My suggestion, unless you have a reason to believe that the antenna is working poorly just leave it well enough alone.
