CB troubles

let me start off by saying i only know what i know about cb's from the interwebz. so with that said, here is the setup i have.

4' firestik II antenna
spring shock

$30 firestik k-8r18 18 foot fire-flex coax cable with fire-ring

firestik k-8r18 cable
this mount, mounted between my tail light and tail gate
and

$90 midland 75-822 40 channel cb-way radio

midland 75-822


now since i'm new to cb radios and such, i was not happy to see that i had to assemble my coax cable. the directions were terribly vague, and i'm not sure i even did it correctly so that might be my problem there...anyone have a good link or how to assemble the ends of one of these cables?

anyway heres my problem. i bought an swr meter, and i cant get lower than 8:1 on any channel. i'm leaning towards the cable and my inability and noobness to this as my problem. i ran a "jumper wire" from the mount to my frame to see if it made a difference, i saw no difference. any ideas?

 

Here's the guide that i am going to use when i get an swr meter... i just need to get one, but don't wanna spend money...

Maybe this will help, it seems really informative.

http://www.rightchannelradios.com/pages/cb-antenna-tuning-guide-pv-c0-61.html

 

The big confusion is the "ground plane", which isn't necessarily an electrical ground, per se- but a perpendicular ground that acts as a reflective surface to the antenna- usually the bed of the truck. Because we have composite beds, we get these SWR problems.

 

if it helps, here's a picture of my setup so far.

 

here's the antenna in relationship to the rest of the truck.

 

update. so i measured wrong, my cb is a 3'. also i was reading the wrong line (as i've been told) for my swr meter. i'm still in the red, i'd say its 3.5 to 4:1 if i had to guess.

i noticed that the tuning part of the antenna was extended all the way out. i lowered it down and it got much closer to the 3:1 mark. so here is my thinking, tell me if i'm wrong.

buy a 2' firestik and see if it gets better?

 

On the SWR meter...Be sure you have the antenna connected to the correct side of the meter. Make sure that your 3' jumper to the radio is good. When testing the SWR close your doos and be quite! You can not have music playing or be talking you must be quite ! Place meter in to the calabrate mode key the mike and adjust the meter. Set meter to the read mode and key the mike (about 1 sec). Adjust the antenna screw (see below). Check SWR on chanel 40 and again on chanel 1.
Repeat as needed.

ON the antenna... Lower the screw all the way down. Then check your swr. Adjust the screw as needed (only turn screw 1/8-1/4 of a turn at a time. Check swr again. keep repeating till you get your swr as close to 1:1 as you can.

On the radio... Both power and ground wires should got to the battery. Ground (extra wire) the radio good. Ground the antenna mount good as well.

This link should help
http://www.bellscb.com/cb_radio_hobby/swr.html

 

NO. You need the tip of the antenna above the roof of the truck. Keep the antenna that you have.

 

i had it at a local radio shop today. the guy there is baffled by my problem as well. with the adjustment screw all the way in i got close to 3:1. if i turned the screw out at all, it got worse. he checked the cable for shorts, checked the ground, went over how i installed everything, he isnt sure what the problem is.

ok, so shorter antenna is not want. maybe i'll buy a new cable to make sure somethign isnt screwy with the one i have?

i've been messing with this thing for a while now, and now that a local radio shop tells me he has no idea whats wrong with it makes me wonder what i should try next. i've tried just about ever possible combo with the antenna, so far the closes i cant get is like 3.5:1 without the spring on the bottom of the antenna, and the adjustment screw turned all the way in.

 

i purchased a 4' firestik to see what would happen. its a good 2.5 feet above my bestop now, no change on the swr. actually if anything it got worse. i'm not sure what the problem is. i may fold the bestop down to see if its getting some sort of interference issue with the antenna.

 

What kind of coax are you running? How is the extra coax secured, and where? You should also check continuity between the antenna and the mount and make sure you are not shorted to ground. Also make sure that when you are testing this, you have your hood down, tailgate up and doors all shut.

 

i didnt check for shorts or grounding myself. the guy at the cb shop did it while we were troubleshooting. he said he doesnt get readings of a short, and it is grounded propertly. i'm running a 17-18 foot fire ring coax (i forget the exact amount). i have the cable zip tied in areas i could fit a zip tie along the frame. (made sure not to pinch the cable) the remainder of the excess (less than 3 feet) i have coiled up under the truck. i did pull the cable straight to see if it made a difference. if it did, it was negligible. maybe at this point, buy another fire ring cable and just run it outside the truck to the radio to see what happens? the guy at the cb shop said it may be worth a try but he isnt seeing any shorts in the one i have now.

 

Hey dude,maybe this will help.1st start by not being close to anything like a house or powerlines for this will interfere with it.
2nd you will need to maybe change out your coax 18 ft. is the standard and if you do that have the local radio guy put in in and hook it up he should make his own cables.
Hope this helps.

 

Are you running the CORRECT coax? That coax you have looks like NGP coax, which will not work with your setup.

 

Where is the radio shop as in is it at a truck stop and if so what hwy and what exit

 

I run a wilson trucker 2000 antenna with a galaxy radio and 18 ft of cable.

 

PM sent

 

This is bad ^^^
I know you already tried uncoiling it, but make sure it stays uncoiled going forward.

 

oh let me revise that. its not coiled up under the truck, its coiled up under the seat. not sure if that makes a difference. and i will double check on the coax and see if its for a NGP

 

$30 FireStik K-8R18 18 Foot Fire-Flex Coax Cable with Fire-Ring

http://www.amazon.com/FireStik-K-8R...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1309286834&sr=8-1

this is my antenna