Can't find any CB shops...

So I'm having a hell of a time finding any shops in San Luis Obispo County that work on CB's. Does anyone know of somewhere that would be able to help me troubleshoot high SWR? I've tried Lombards, Taps, Radio Shack, Rugged Radios, and still no luck. Any assistance is appreciated, thanks!

 

What kind of CB? How long is your Coax cable? How did you run it? Did you cut it and splice it? Are there any kinks or bends in the coax cable? Haha sorry for all the questions. Just some things off the top of my head to get a sense of your situation.

 

Cobra 75 WX ST
I haven't measured it, but I believe it's 18'
I ran it from the tailgate, through the bed rail, down the back of the cab, and up through a grommet underneath the drivers seat.
No, it already had fittings on both ends
Nothing serious, and the guy at rugged radios checked it with a meter and said everything looked okay.
No worries, I appreciate your help.
Also, I have the powder coated tailgate mount made by BAMF. Antenna is a Wilson 2000 Trucker, I was told it may be the coil in the antenna but I don't know how to test that

 

How about Fry's they have CB stuff. Any flying J, travel center or loves will have cb stuff.

 

Thanks Manwithoutaplan, I'll try to find one of those places.

 

no problem.

 

If you wanna spend a little time trying to figure things out yourself before going to a shop, you should check this out

http://www.rightchannelradios.com/b...uides/18473439-high-swr-troubleshooting-guide

Could be something simple that has been overlooked.

 

To test the antenna put a multimeter/ohmmeter probe at each end and test for continuity/resistance. Should be little to no resistance.

 

Thanks for your help guys, it looks like I'll be purchasing a multimeter when I get home today.

As of right now I can't get the SWR below 3.

 

The washer I had was old, rusted, and falling apart, so I went to the hardware store and picked up some synthetic washers and jerry-rigged my own, unfortunately it didn't help. I will do some work with a multimeter when it gets here and see if I can find a ground problem.

Just ordered one, I'll have to do some tests when it gets in

 

So I got my multimeter today but wasn't sure how to check the both the ground and center conductor of the cable I have (picture attached). I can't figure out with this type of cable whether I should be sanding off some of the powder coat underneath the mount or not. I've tested the center conductor, however, and it did not have issues.

I also uploaded pics of the plastic washer I made from hardware store synthetic washers, but I don't think that's the issue.

I believe my issue is grounding the mount. Where would you guys recommend running ground straps if I determine that's the problem?

 

The bottom of the mount bracket needs to be bare of powder coat in order to ground with the firering cable.

For what its worth, the firering cable ends suck. They corrode and your ground goes to shit. Mine was toast in under a year. I switched to a wilson 1000 mag mount on the roof and have WAY better range.

Its not as slick as my old Relentless hood hinge mount, but it actually works, which is what matters.

 

ditch the firestick. I know people like them for many different reasons, but range is rarely one of them. Wilsons are way better but I suggest looking into you ham. Many radios are the same cost and are much more versatile.
I personally run a CB and a HAM just to cover both bases

 

Final Update: Everything looks amazing. SWR of 1-1.3. I scraped off the powder coating on the bottom of the mount and a little more around the mounting screws just to be sure. Used a multimeter to confirm solid ground from the inside-the-cab end of the coax all the way to the negative terminal on the battery and everything had continuity. That gave me an SWR of about 1.5-2.5. Started tuning the antenna (had to shorten about 2") and everything fell into place. Thank you guys for your help, I'd buy each of you a beer if I could

 

This website (posted by Shmellmopwho) was very helpful in diagnosing the grounding issue: http://www.rightchannelradios.com/b...uides/18473439-high-swr-troubleshooting-guide

 

Oh cool, I'm glad that it helped you out!