Troubleshooting my CB setup

So, this is on the verge of driving me bananas. I wanted a permanent CB radio setup in my Tacoma, and have been messing with the setup whenever I have time trying to get it working properly. Of course, like most who install one, I am having the dreaded SWR issue. I have read website after website, blog after blog and probably hundreds of forum posts all over the web trying to find the solution. The problem I run into is that everyone claims something different in terms of grounding antennas, routing coax, coax length, body grounding vs. direct to battery power, etc etc.

Let me list what I am using, and how I have it setup, and see what my issue might be.

Radio: Galaxy DX-99V2
Antenna: Firestik II 5 foot version
Mount: ArmorTech Off-Road Bed Rail Mount
Coax: 18 foot shielded low loss (The expensive high quality one)
SWR Meter: Radio Shack one (Same one used on CBRadioMagazine.com demonstration video)

Antenna is mounted on the side bed rail near the front of the bed, which as I understand it, shouldn't be a big deal since it is so long. It is about a foot and a half back away from the cab. The Coax is connected there and run down between the bed and cab, under the cab along the frame, up through a grommet under the seat and up to the center console area. The radio is powered direct to the battery with 10 gauge wires. Fuse in the line on the power lead near the battery.

I ran a ground wire from the antenna mount over the front of the bed and to a bolt halfway down the front of the bed between it and the cab. It is about 1.2 ft long.

No matter what I do, that Radio Shack SWR Meter clicks over and pegs up in the red when I key up. The built in SWR meter on that Galaxy radio doesn't even blip though. I got frustrated, and pulled one of my 102' Steel whip antennas off my old truck out of the garage and tried it just to see if there was any difference, and even it pegged that meter into the red a bit.

I'm becoming increasingly agitated, because no matter what I try to adjust, I'm just not seeing any improvement. Is it possible to have an SWR meter go bad? I'm just at a loss what to try next. I read every thread I could find on this forum relating to Tacoma CB installs, and tried to follow every precaution and piece of advice given in those threads.

Any ideas or advice from those with similar setups would be greatly appreciated.

 

It has been a long time since I fooled with CB's but you're correct in your desire to achieve the lowest possible ratio.
A 1:1 SWR is the theoretical goal but not possible in the real world. 1.2:1 is generally the best ratio one will see on a vehicle setup. What you're measuring is the impedance between the antenna and the feed line (coax) If the mismatch is great, you'll lose a lot of efficiency. A 4 watt output with a low SWR will outperform a 10 watt radio with a high SWR.
A couple of notes here:
1. Fiberglass whips and fixed length coax offers very little adjustment, if any.
2. Some combinations just will not tune given the available adjustment.
3. It sounds like you have a tremendous amount of resistance, like maybe a bad coax or connector.
4. I don't know much about Galaxy radios but if it's on frequency and putting out the appropriate power, then you issue lies in the coax or the antenna. (I'm betting coax)
5. As long as you have some load on the final output of the radio (you're feeding the output RF into a working antenna) you shouldn't burn the final amp in the radio. SO......if you check the coax with an ohm meter and it's good..AND, the radio/antenna system works.....you may just have to accept the mismatched system and live with it.

Good luck

 

Are you calibrating the SWR meter every time you key up?

 

What gauge wire did you use for a ground wire? I tried it with something small like 14 gauge and it didn't work, so I bumped it up to 8 gauge, I think, and it worked a lot better.

 

I used 10 gauge wire for the ground. I see all sorts of photos in multiple threads of antennas, mounts, and radios, but no one has shown a picture of where they attached the ground wire. Maybe one of you can show me a picture of that? I am thinking that has to be the issue. Every single piece of my setup is brand new parts. I didn't skimp on anything, so I am thinking it has to be I grounded incorrectly. Some threads said use braided grounding strap to ground with. I went to five stores today, and scoured online stores and found nothing of the sort.

I must not have grounded to the proper location, some detailed explanation or photos of that would be a huge help I'm betting.

Edit: Sorry, yes I am calibrating each time I key up.

 

Op, hopefully someone can point you in the right direction. Sounds like you did everything right to me.

Where did you mount that radio in your cab?

 

I haven't figured out where I'm putting the radio exactly yet, probably on the passenger side of the center console. I want to figure the potential RF ground issue I'm having first. I am thinking about getting a special bracket that is maneuverable for it. I'll post pictures when everything is up and running properly. Right now I'm just going nuts driving around to work and whatnot and not having it running properly yet. I have a trip coming up and I want to have it ready by then.

 

OK, my other thought is to check that you haven't grounded the signal lead. Check how the antenna is isolated at the mount. I've found a typical mistake is installing the stud wrong with the nylon washer on the wrong side.

Also, make sure the ground is bare metal contact.

 

Nylon Washer is on top of the mount with washer on top of that, with locking washer on top of that, then the antenna attachment, then a spring, then the antenna itself. Where exactly do I attach the ground wire to? The frame of the truck? I have it attached to the front of the bed where the metal curves around at the front corner to support the composite inner bed. I am thinking that is what is wrong and is the wrong place. A picture or detailed description where others are attaching at to get good RF ground would be greatly appreciated.

 

try a different antenna. I had a similar problem with a 4' Firestik. swapped antennas and immediately got a 1.9 SWR reading.

 

Have you tried moving the mount to the rear of the bed? I had 2 Firestiks and could never get the SWR low enough. Ditched them for a Wilson and never looked back.

 

Op. measure with an ohm meter your resistance from the inner conductor to the shield of your antenna cable at the radio. It should be nearly the same at the antenna. Also measure the shield of the cable to the radio chassis. This should shorted on a grounded design. Naturally perform both checks with the cable unplugged from the radio.

 

Get it away from the cab if nothing else it will screw up the pattern the antenna radiates top to bottom not just at the tip. If your mount is well grounded a ground wire will not help won't hurt but will make no difference. If you own an ohm meter check between the center connector and the body of the connector (at the radio) to make sure it is not shorted then check the ground of the connector body to ground to a know good ground and if you can make the meter leads reach check the center connector pin to the 3/8 24 nut where your antenna screws in.. Adding springs makes your antenna electrically longer if the antenna was factory tuned adding the spring will throw off the SWR (de-tunning the antenna) it will be resonate at a lower frequency then what you want.

 

i would want to say that a bad ground is you're problem OP, you should really ground it to the frame. also, here is a thread that goes into all sorts of detail on CB setup: http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/audio-video/280574-cb-radio-information-installation.html

 

^^^^this. I bought a BAMF tailgate antenna mount. Swr is 1.2:1 at highest. Looks great too.

 

Can anyone show me a picture of where their ground lead from the antenna mount attached to the frame? I believe this is my issue, and I want to try fixing that before I try anything else.

 

Here's what I did. I also used a #8 wire.

 

AllMotorRex: Thank you, that's exactly what I was looking for. My antenna is in almost the same spot as yours, and that is is exactly what I wanted to see. Thanks again.

I will try this grounding position, see if anything improves as a result.

 

No problem man. And remember to scrape off the paint in the spot you ground it. You can paint back over it once its on there

 

brushed alum ant mount bolted to post hole in rail cut bedliner works great