CB problems.

its 16 wire ground.

 

I believe you have a mounting issue. take your multimeter, set it to ohms, take one lead to your mount (which is grounded), and then take your other lead and place it to the very most lower end of your antenna where it screws into your stud. your should have an "open" reading. meaning that your meter should read nothing at all or it will read "OL". if it does read a resistance, then your have yourself a true ground on your antenna. if that is the case do the following. you should have a little white plastic insulator "spacer" that fits between your mount and your antenna. make sure that plastic insulator is in the correct sequence on your mount. I believe you have an amphenol connector (female) that is mounted below your mount that is connected to your male connector molded to your coax end. on top of your mount should be where the insulator sits. one side of the insulator should be tapered so that it seats in the hole of your mount where the 3/8" male stud comes through that attaches to the end of your antenna. then place your flat washer and lock washer between the insulator and the antenna bottom. If I have completely confused the hell out of you then send me a message and I will further help you figure it out. I'm a steel mill electrician by the way just so you can have a little faith in what I just explained. haha. later.

 

yep, when I had my firestik mounted on my bumper, my swr was 3+

I got a new anteanna, cable, and mount (well, all one piece..wilson 1000 mag) put it on my roof and with no tuning I was damn close to 1:1.

 

pm sent thanks... Are you guys sure its a mouting problem? i have seen bunches of people here that mount their antennas in the bed. now thats covered by metal. on the bumper there is only a little corner covered. (it sticks out past the bumper)

 

Wolfgang,

NOT to be a mean "Old BA$T^&*" BUT WE are trying to give you OUR lifes experiences without "Hammering" on you ..

I drive a "DUMP BUCKET".....biggest metal area around and STILL mount my antennas up high and away....Yes I get "Reflect " from my "Tip cart" BUT I can hear and talk without LARGE SWR's.....

Mounting the antenna through the Black foot pad ?????..Leaving the antenna and ground wire EXPOSED on the drivers corner...any corner I should say......1st shopping cart or off-road tree will TEAR your hard work off....

Ok back on "target"..did you check to see that is a "TRUE" ground..not just a wire running to a frame bolt???

IF you insist on putting that antenna out back PLEASE look up Grip right antenna mounts...they make them specifically for Toyotas....OR Invest in a small Mag-mount for now...K-40 or Wilson and mount it up on the cab roof...watch those SWR problems disappear ...then re-try the "Out back" idea later ( once you find a good mounting surface and GROUND.....)...

CB radios and their accessories can be as addicting/costly as "Mods" to your Tacoma.....and the "Learning curve " Sucks...

S

 

my learning curve was about $65....5' Firestik II, Firestik HD spring mount, HD stud mount, and 18' Coax just sittin in the garage collectin dust since it didnt work anywhere near as well on the rear bumper as my Wilson 1000 mag mount works on my roof.

 

haha ok thanks guys i understand your just trying to help. i dont mean any disrepect. i am planning on checking my grounds when i get home with the multimeter. and the wires arnt exposed on the side of the truck or back. (the pic makes it look like it because i have been messing with them trying to get them to work) once i test my grounds and if they are good i will remount the antenna in a diffirent spot.

 

I think your asking how to work the SWR meter, right?

1. Turn radio on
2. Set to ch. 20
3. If your radio is a typical 4watt, then set the power range on the SWR meter to the lowest setting like 0-10W. Your meter may not have this, so skip this step.
4. Put the switch on the SWR meter to SET.
5. Key the mic.
6. Turn dial until the needle lines up with the set mark
7. Release mic button.
8. Put the switch on the SWR meter to SWR.
9. Key the mic
10. Read display for SWR reading

Should be around 1.5 or less, if over 3 you risk burning up the finals and making the radio inoperable.

If it turns out to be over 3, you have something seriously wrong with your antenna line (coax, antenna, connectors or mount)

If less than 3, you probably just need to adjust the antenna.

I can explain that too, but lets handle one thing at a time.

 

no i know how to use the swr as stated previously and im leaving to check the grounds right now if they are good. then i will be mounting the antenna in a different spot.

 

any luck?

 

ok so i found out how to use the meter and the ground is perfect....i dont know what to do. i just bought a welder so i guess i will try fabing up a new mount and mounting it higher. are there any good ways to see if the swr meter is bad???

 

any one?

 

I reluctantly installed a CB (Cobra 75WX) over the weekend. I had no problems getting the SWR down around 1.2.

The black bracket is home-made and for my HAM radio.
The Stainless bracket is something I bought at the local shop cause I was too lazy to make another.

 

thats basically what i am planning

 

Get rid of all that excess coax! Contrary to popular belief, you should use the shortest amount of coax as possible (alot of people swear you need to have 18' to get a proper match, but thats bogus). How about the connectors? Are they tight? Is the coax loose inside the connectors? I've always had the shortest amount of coax possible for my radios. I learned this from a friend of my dad's years ago. He used to own a cb shop in San Gabriel...

 

Check the coax with the meter next. Using it the same way you did on the mount. Unhook both ends of the cable then you can check the center pin to the outside of the connector to see if there is a short there.

 

ok, i will check the cable next. the 18 feet of coax i have now is just enough to make it work. if i put the ant. up higher i am going to have to re-do the way i ran the wire so it will be long enough.

 

actually you don't need to cut the coax short as possible. all you need to do is take the excess coax and place it into an overlapping figure 8 shape under the carpet or wherever your want the excess to lay. if you just coil the excess coax into a circle, then you are making an RF choke and that will mess with your transmit and your receive. just make sure you make the cable overlap each other in a 90 degree angle...... such as a figure 8 shape. But if you want to cut it..... by all means cut it. Just make sure you terminate the cable perfect to the bnc connector so you won't have a grounded state.

 

Just putting this out there, where are you trying to tune it? You should really be in an open field with no cars, trees, light poles, buildings around you. And there should be no one outside of the truck. You want a clear area for about 30-40 feet in all directions.

 

I have to disagree. You shouldn't run excess coax, if it's not needed. The shorter, the better (in 3 foot increments ). While it's not impossible to get a good match with excessive coax, it's easier to get that match with less (and a good ground). That's how I was taught, and that's what I've always done, along with good grounds, and patience while tuning the antenna to get perfect to near perfect matches. But you're right...if you have excess coax, lay it in a figure 8, rather than coil it.