CB Issue

The body alone or tire carrier alone is NOT a good enough ground. The best ground on your vehicle is the frame. You can run a piece of 10gauge wire from your mount to the frame and it will help out a lot.
Another thing to consider that has been known to be an issue with some radios is voltage. Some people tend to tap into the vehicles wiring in places such as the cigarette lighter but doing so doesn't give the radio the full amount of voltage it needs to operate properly. I always recommend going directly to the battery whenever possible, just be sure to use an inline fuse.
 
OverlanderJK said:
For what it's worth I haven't grounded my mount and I have never had an issue
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Mine isn't either. I hooked it up, checked the SWR's and they were fine so I figured if it isn't broke don't fix it. But at the same time, what works in one rig may not work right in another, I've gone through the same issues just swapping to an exact same make and model truck here at work.
 
The wiring harness that came with the cb should already have a in line fuse (at least mine did). As for a ground , I grinded down the powder coat on the mount to bare metal on the bottom.. It works just as good as a ground wire to the frame. Sometimes the antenna warning comes on when: (1) Antenna itself or coax is loose, (2) Coax is bunched up or looped together, (3) SWR is too high.

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ridg3runner said:
Mine isn't either. I hooked it up, checked the SWR's and they were fine so I figured if it isn't broke don't fix it. But at the same time, what works in one rig may not work right in another, I've gone through the same issues just swapping to an exact same make and model truck here at work.
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yup... I have too. it sucks. but most issues all revolve around proper grounding. unfortunately, jeeps do not make great platforms for optimal performance for DX chatter.
 
witchdoctor said:
fyi for those who don't understand how antenna position on a vehicle affects where you transmit.


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That makes sense but how much effect does the amount of unobstructed antenna above the vehicle change the outcome? Would a corner mounted antenna with enough above the vehicle change the coverage curve?
 
Beyrgut said:
That makes sense but how much effect does the amount of unobstructed antenna above the vehicle change the outcome? Would a corner mounted antenna with enough above the vehicle change the coverage curve?
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Nothingto do with vehicle blocking it. Has to do with ground plane. Signal will travel in the direction with the most metal. Hence. Mount a antenna on a rear corner and you'll transmit towards the opposite corner. It's called being directional.
 
Beyrgut said:
That makes sense but how much effect does the amount of unobstructed antenna above the vehicle change the outcome? Would a corner mounted antenna with enough above the vehicle change the coverage curve?
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Obviously, the longer the better, but you really just need the tip, (Yeah that came out all wrong, lmao), to be above the vehicle to achieve what is depicted in the pic.
 
if you have a multimeter you can check for ground continuity - one end on the CB antenna bracket the other on a good ground like the rear washer ground wire.
if you don't have a good solid tone you don't have a good ground. When I installed mine I also took off some of the powder coating so the bolt heads made good contact with the mounting plate.
 
If you are still having problems check the connections , if you have the fire ring that can sometimes brake . The guy that came to our club found two of our members that had broken ones . He cut them off and crimped new ends on and got them up with no problems .I have a 29 ltd that's been tuned up and a few other mods , with a TF mount and no ground wire my swr is right around 1 and I'm good for about 3 miles front to rear .
 
Great information from all you guys, thanks! I'm going to put some of that into play and see if I can resolve my SWR issue. I don't really want to burn up the radio and my range pretty much sucks unless your within 100 yards.
 
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