CB Issue

ridg3runner said:
See the white isolator? You have to have that on the antenna side of the mount or your antenna itself will ground out. It is there to prevent the center stud from touching the sides of the hole on the mount. If you simply disregard it like Jersey Devil suggested you WILL end up burning up the finals in your radio. View attachment 84088 View attachment 84089.
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Mine looks like urs.....
ty8ama8y.jpg

Is that right?
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Jersey_Devil said:
Why would i be getting those messages? He fixed his by doing that but mine is correct already..... I'm grounded directly to the frame, been getting those messages since day one

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You may have too little or too much coax, or it just needs the antenna tuned if it is tunable. Let me ask this, how big is the antenna and how long is the coax?
 
When I was messing around with mine, I took the antenna mount apart and started over, grinded the bracket on the bottom to bare metal , put it back together the right way, went to the coax cable. Made sure it wasn't bunched up anywhere (which it was) so I straightened it out and when I was done, checked the CB .. I still got the message. So I turned the antenna tune screw all the way out till I didn't get that message. But here's the catch... I get the message if the rubber tip for the antenna is ON. But if its off, my SWR is around 1.5 on every channel .

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Another thing you can try is a small spring like the one in the pics I posted. If you are extending the tip of the antenna then it might help. Not sure what to say about the rubber tip though, first I've heard of that happening. It really won't hurt anything to leave it off if it comes to it but just be careful it doesn't get knocked around if you get into low trees.
 
Random related question.. how many feet of coax do you need about to run from the tailgate to above the rear view mirror?
 
Thanks guys. I got a cobra 29 I am mounting in the glove box... just wasnt sure how long of a coax to get
 
If you are still having problems check the coax make shur its not pinched anywhere .also take a meter and disconnect the coax ,go from ground to the top of the stud you should have NO conductivity at the stud . The guy that came to our club , also told us about the springs and if you are running a quick disconnect you can have a problem , the spring has a wire in it that can break over time and cause a problem and the disconnect becomes loose and will give you spotty problems .:)

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Thanks! I'll check those things, but it don't have a quick disconnect that I know of....

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cozdude said:
i didnt read thew whole thread so stop me if you fixed it but i got that warning to when trying to tune my Cobra 29. what i did was grind off some of the power coat on my tire carrier. i cleaned it off in the hole, on top around the hole and on the bottom around the whole. havent had an issue since.

also since you have the 29 you should have an SWR built in.
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My swr is fine on one setting and on another it's thru the roof, so I usually just leave it on the low setting. And my mount is aluminum, it wouldn't need to be grinded. Maybe my radio has just been bad from the gate....

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18ft of coax is what is recommended. If excess must be coiled up, it needs to be a figure 8 pattern. 99% of cb issues are user install errors and grounding. If you think it's the radio, you could always have it tested. Even if the antenna mount was attached to a frame mounted bumper, I would run a ground wire. Good quality coax can make or break a cb setup as well. Those coax cables with molded plastic ends and junky crimped on connectors will not perform nearly as well as RG8X with good PL259 compression or soldered connectors. Of course with that being said, the best parts can't make up for improper install, ask me how I know;) remove any springs or quick disconnects, recalibrate and test again. You could check grounding by using jumper cables from the frame to the antenna mount. If you have a buddy with a cb, try his antenna to rule out yours being bad, cause yes, they can go bad. Good luck to those having issues:beer:

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Most of this stuff really isn't rocket science and I'm really gonna catch hell for even suggesting this, (be gentle on me Duff), but if you feel you just can't work it out on your own, there's sure to be a Golden Screwdriver (radio shop) close by, usually at or near a truckstop that can do the install for you for a nominal fee.
 
ridg3runner said:
Most of this stuff really isn't rocket science and I'm really gonna catch hell for even suggesting this, (be gentle on me Duff), but if you feel you just can't work it out on your own, there's sure to be a Golden Screwdriver (radio shop) close by, usually at or near a truckstop that can do the install for you for a nominal fee.
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Haha, why would I attack you for suggesting that:rolleyes: that's always an option:beer:

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I have always recieved the antenna warning since I installed my 29. My SWR never seems to change regardless of what I do to the Antenna. I had a 4' Wilson tunable but broke it off in some trees (my Jeep sits really high and the antenna is on the tire carrier). I bought a 4' whip from the truck shop and the whip can be adjusted up or down similar to the tunable tip. But regardless of what I do I can never seem to get the SWR down to a reasonable reading. It usually hangs out about 3 or just below regardless of channel.

I do have the isolator in and my mount is aluminum. I also ground off the coating behind the mount to get a better ground but didn't have any success with SWR. It seems as though I can pickup truckers from quite a ways off but I can only talk and be heard a short distance. I also can't seem to pick up other Jeeps when I'm in the woods once they are a few hundred yards off. I know trees and terrain make a difference. Any ideas? :idontknow:
 
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