CB specifics

Looks great! Very similar to my setup. I recommend a remote Mic jack so your mic cord doesnt get damaged by the lid. Have a remote jack on my Ham also. Cleans the cockpit up a little more . Bells CB sales them in a couple of lengths

 

I'll have to get me one of those so I can run my mic cord out of the center console nicely.

Another question I have for you guys...I got everything installed but I'm not sure if my antenna is grounded 'well' or properly. I made a steel bracket that attaches to the bed rail then goes up and over the side of my bed (I have a tonneau cover). I've made sure to clean off paint where the antenna touches the bracket and also where the bolt/ground wire is connected on that bracket. I then ran the wire down to my frame, where I've made it bare for the ground to go. I tested my SWR with a spare CB that has a tester built in..and it was reading 2-3..which I've read is too high. What can I do to get that down? I plan on ordering a SWR meter here soon.

 

Scrape more paint off, gotta get it to bare metal

 

I've scraped the paint off where all my connections are already, should be good there.

 

What gauge is your ground wire

 

I wanna say 10 or 12, is that too thin?

 

Mine is 14 and my swr is 1, mind posting a pic of the mount?

 

Mind you I haven't cleaned up the wiring yet.
So the top part of the mount, where the nylon washer is, there is paint still there. But under, its been cleaned where it contacts the antenna.

 

That looks fine, I’d wait until you had a more reliable swr meter it might be misreading

 

Sounds good. Just ordered one from Amazon, will be here next week on Tuesday. Hopefully it gets a good reading. I'm not looking for perfect, but something under 2.

 

Actually I just had a thought, is the ground wire running to an unpainted bolt?

 

Yes, same as the one you see in the picture.

 

I wouldn’t worry too much about it then

 

Thanks for the help, man.

 

I wouldn't DO any adjustments till you get a reliable swr meter, and I wouldn't transmit If you're hitting 3's. You need to know which end of the spectrum that your swr is high on..Is Ch1 higher than Ch40? Or is Ch40 Higher than Ch 1? Here's the sight I used to tune mine. It talks loud and proud
https://www.rightchannelradios.com/blogs/installation-guides/18330687-cb-antenna-tuning-instructions

 

This article is a.must read also. Learned a lot from thishttps://www.rightchannelradios.com/blogs/troubleshooting-guides/18473439-high-swr-troubleshooting-guide

 

Where's the other side of the ground wire running to? Any ground wires should run directly to the frame for the best ground.

And don't transmit with an SWR that high because you'll fry your radio.

 

That's where its running to, my frame.

 

How long is your ground wire? Like 3-4feet? Too long and it starts doing funky shit. And optimally would be flat ground strap, not insulated braided wire like you have. To ground my rail mounted antenna mount for a better SWR I took apart a leftover length of coax and removed the ground braid and flattened that out as a diy ground strap. Crimped the ends and my SWR went down to <1.5

But bed mounted antennas can be an issue. Works for some and then some can’t get a good SWR no matter what they try. Id also check to see if you have continuity to ground from your mount to frame with a multimeter.

 

If your swr is 2-3, I would say your grounds are fine. Your antenna length needs adjustment.