cb radio help

I bought myself the cobra 19 cb radio.
1st question I have is there a test channel? To see if it is working correctly.
2nd question do I need to ground the anntenna or does the radio and coaxial cable already take care of that?
Any advice would be appreciated!

 

Anyone ? Few views with no reply.
Are they stupid questions.

 

You'll need an antenna to get or output a decent signal. No test channel, 9 is used by emergency services so may be the most active. You'll most likely just pick up garbage from people far away with very high powered systems.

 

theres not really a test channel, however set ur swr on channel 1 or 40.. high and low..theres another post on here as of late,, a member gave some great advice as how to set up ur cb... make sure to be careful with ur stock cobra mike and cord,, they are crap from factory.. when it does go bad, and trust me it will. get a road- king 56 or an astatic mike..one safe bet is to head to a local (big) truck stop,, if they have a cb shop have them peak and tune ur cb,, it cost around 25.00 they can also set ur swr for you...

 

If you are close to an interstate you can go to channel 19, key the mike an say "break 19 for a radio check". usually someone will respond. Some of the people I hunt with ground the mounting bracket, with an extra wire, to the frame.

 

Thank you everyone for your help.

 

For the record truck stop cb places are hacks. Shoddy ass work and barley able to set up anthing right. My .02

 

well maybe ur right,, but for a simple peak and tune and swr set,, its pretty basic.. theres not much to get hacked on if that's all you want and are willing to pay for lol... but I do agree, theres a shit ton of hacks , I have been lucky and found a guy within my area that knows his business.. im not familiar with his area anymore as I run local, so u just may have a point..