hood channel mounted cb antenna problem(s)

[slowmover]

A 36" tall CB antenna is not going to be a good performer. And $50 is way too much for that.

If I was in your shoes, and drilling a hole was off the table, I'd get a Larsen NMO27 and a suitable NMO magnetic mount. That'll give you some decent performance at a reasonable cost.

Keep it all LARSEN if the NMO27 appeals.

The problem with mag-mount is coax routing. Can’t afford to pinch it in door even once.

In big truck (temporary) I used memory foam cut to fit window opening and used a hard collar inside that to avoid the pinch and that it allowed me to open door with cable slack.

My son’s SUV we were able to run it vertically a ways under weatherstrip to avoid same. That door wasn’t opened except to move antenna.

It would be possible to have a second coax jumper run from cab to an exterior point. Thru rear cab vents, or from under floor and up between cab & bed. Connect with double male adapter.

Others have slack to drop it into bed.

Take your time and research solutions.

It’s best you aren’t giving up. What brought you to this decision to have 11M comms wasn’t accidental.

— How & Where to mount Radio plus Extension Speaker should be next.


Bible of Mobile Radio Installation

www.k0bg.com

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[slowmover]

Future Suggestion

An external speaker is a significant upgrade. I have less than $30 into what’s shown. It’s much easier to listen to radio vs the built-in.

A KENWOOD KES-5 Public Service Speaker bought xtra-low price off eBay mounted under drivers seat. Fires forward into footwell. (k0bg suggestion).

At 40-yards with door open and Cummins idling I can listen to NOAA with ease.

Quality of professional gear worth the search.


.

 

[slowmover]

idk wth the issue is but today I put my neighbors very high end cobra on my setup and it was the same result, high swr. only difference is his has been tuned and aligned with the antenna warning "removed"(idk what he meant by that)

Third time:

Cobra 29 LX ANTENNA Warning

Dear sirs I have a 1 year old Cobra 29lx. Thats getting the Antenna Warning. My Stryker A 10 is about 4 years old. I checked and cleaned of my radios ground. Checked the guts of my A 10, nothing appears to e burnt or out of place. Been through the Swr Calibration with the radio...

forums.radioreference.com

C29 & Stryker antenna.

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[slowmover]

Radio QT40 upgrade at $140 is better performance than $550 worth of comparable radio gear just three years ago. CB has had a revolution.

Plus you’d have Sideband.

Stryker antenna plus QT40 puts you out ahead of 97% of whom you’ll hear. The goal is overcoming the deficiencies of the other mans radio rig.

C29 to the F250.

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[slowmover]

Radio Mount

Have a pic of radio as mounted?

If to plastic ought to have a case ground attached from back of radio or mount bolt and take that to same point as radio power ground.

Stray RF

Just as insurance (Noise).

To mount radio is to attach 4-systems:

Power
Coax
RF Bond
Audio

— Expect that this phase can be the biggest pain of all to have a neat, efficient and secure layout.


On a CB/Scanner hybrid radio I experimented using a WORKMANN Lightning Arrestor to ground the coax shield to cut noise.

Am using it again on present mobile with a feedpoint choke at antenna.



With the U885 you can see I had a little too much time on my hands that afternoon. I’m not recommending for or against this approach; YMMV.

These adapters are cheap. Price & quality. Tap it into place then screw threads. Don’t pull it on with threads. Tap tap, (turns). Again.

3-Point Radio Case & Coax Ground



As was noted above experimentation is part & parcel of Radio!

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[slowmover]

Michigan — being part of the Midwest — is an excellent state for CB as @billdean with his extra-recent high perf radio rig has testified.

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[damion2492]

Radio Mount

Have a pic of radio as mounted?

If to plastic ought to have a case ground attached from back of radio or mount bolt and take that to same point as radio power ground.

Stray RF

Just as insurance (Noise).

To mount radio is to attach 4-systems:

Power
Coax
RF Bond
Audio

— Expect that this phase can be the biggest pain of all to have a neat, efficient and secure layout.


On a CB/Scanner hybrid radio I experimented using a WORKMANN Lightning Arrestor to ground the coax shield to cut noise.

Am using it again on present mobile with a feedpoint choke at antenna.

View attachment 189446

With the U885 you can see I had a little too much time on my hands that afternoon. I’m not recommending for or against this approach; YMMV.

These adapters are cheap. Price & quality. Tap it into place then screw threads. Don’t pull it on with threads. Tap tap, (turns). Again.

3-Point Radio Case & Coax Ground

View attachment 189448

As was noted above experimentation is part & parcel of Radio!

.

thanks for your information. I have the radio mounted to plastic, really no other place, or metal, in these newer vehicles. I do have a ground wire from the radios body(sanded paint off body) screwed directly to the steel floorboard under carpet. I have ordered a lightning arrestor. i cant go any further until I get a different antenna.

 

[niceguy71]

thanks for your information. I have the radio mounted to plastic, really no other place, or metal, in these newer vehicles. I do have a ground wire from the radios body(sanded paint off body) screwed directly to the steel floorboard under carpet. I have ordered a lightning arrestor. i cant go any further until I get a different antenna.

not sure what your 2011 Ford interior looks like compared to my 2011 ford ... but you can see some pictures of mine here my install
if you have a pull out cup holder under the middle seat... it's the greatest place to mount a CB in history!... you will be able to pull out the cup holders and use it to hold cups... and you can slide it in to gain access to the little cubby hole under the heater controls.

 

[damion2492]

not sure what your 2011 Ford interior looks like compared to my 2011 ford ... but you can see some pictures of mine here my install
if you have a pull out cup holder under the middle seat... it's the greatest place to mount a CB in history!... you will be able to pull out the cup holders and use it to hold cups... and you can slide it in to gain access to the little cubby hole under the heater controls.

I dont have a touch screen in my truck. I considered mounting it their, where you did yours, but it looks like you have a different type of radio. i have cobra 29lx and 29ltdnw and I really didn't want to drill holes anywhere in the dash or anything else but ended up drilling 2 small holes and putting it as low on the center of the dash as the 90° pl259 adaptor would allow me to! i can easily adjust everything and it was easier to run a short ground wire from the cb body to my floor. yeah, I know im picky, but if the truck wasn't "rare", it wouldn't bother me that much. unfortunately I can't afford to get anything else right now so im doing my best to make everything look as "professional" as I can. some where on either ebay or some website I found a mount that can go where that center fold down seat back headrest goes!! buuut, I didn't save it and cant find it on ebay or amazon!! that would've been perfect!!

 

[niceguy71]

I dont have a touch screen in my truck. I considered mounting it their, where you did yours, but it looks like you have a different type of radio. i have cobra 29lx and 29ltdnw and I really didn't want to drill holes anywhere in the dash or anything else but ended up drilling 2 small holes and putting it as low on the center of the dash as the 90° pl259 adaptor would allow me to! i can easily adjust everything and it was easier to run a short ground wire from the cb body to my floor. yeah, I know im picky, but if the truck wasn't "rare", it wouldn't bother me that much. unfortunately I can't afford to get anything else right now so im doing my best to make everything look as "professional" as I can. some where on either ebay or some website I found a mount that can go where that center fold down seat back headrest goes!! buuut, I didn't save it and cant find it on ebay or amazon!! that would've been perfect!!

I would love to see a picture
we should have the same dash? my touch screen is just an option it's a GPS stereo... you're opening will be the same as mine.
I'm not sure where or how you mounted it to the dash, as I like having that little cubby hole ( under cigarette lighter in my picture).... I didn't want to block it.... having it on my cup holder I can slide the cup holder and CB in and out and still get at my cubby hole.
it works for me.
down the road you may buy a bigger CB Radio like the Radioddity QT-40 that has 40 watts output!!! and AM/FM and SSB and also it has about 500 channels
with SSB you can talk all over the country/ world..... all for $149.99 bucks... if you get into the hobby you may upgrade down the road.

I installed a $12.00 dollar relay on mine so when I turn the key to "on" my CB gets power and when I turn the key off the CB stops when the stereo stops... but as you can see, I had to take everything apart to wire the relay and get a #12 wire directly to the battery

looking forward to seeing how your antenna does for you.

 

[damion2492]

I would love to see a picture
we should have the same dash? my touch screen is just an option it's a GPS stereo... you're opening will be the same as mine.
I'm not sure where or how you mounted it to the dash, as I like having that little cubby hole ( under cigarette lighter in my picture).... I didn't want to block it.... having it on my cup holder I can slide the cup holder and CB in and out and still get at my cubby hole.
it works for me.
down the road you may buy a bigger CB Radio like the Radioddity QT-40 that has 40 watts output!!! and AM/FM and SSB and also it has about 500 channels
with SSB you can talk all over the country/ world..... all for $149.99 bucks... if you get into the hobby you may upgrade down the road.

I installed a $12.00 dollar relay on mine so when I turn the key to "on" my CB gets power and when I turn the key off the CB stops when the stereo stops... but as you can see, I had to take everything apart to wire the relay and get a #12 wire directly to the battery

looking forward to seeing how your antenna does for you.

I cant take pics cause I have a "unlocked" phone. its one of those phone former cia agent builds. no social media, no google and cameras are disabled. I only have fakebook on my tablet but it's cameras are disabled as well. like my "privacy". I have mine mounted on the upper lip of that cubby. I never used it and its the easiest spot for me. I have another 2011 parts cab I got from a friend that rolled it. cab is actually in 90% good condition. he rolled it in a ditch 2 winters ago and the box took 90% of the damage and the frame bent so since he owned it and the insurance would've just took it and sold it to copart so just he just kept it. I bought the cab for $500!! windshield is busted but still in place, back window was busted out so i just cut a sheet of 1/4" treated cdx board and screwed it in place and sealed it up with window silicone! its just a standard cab so no other windows besides the doors and they didn't get hurt!! same color interior as mine, same everything basically except its a standard cab so it doesn't have the fold down arm rest/seat back👍 im gonna stick with the cobra for now. probably upgrade nxt yr. I ran the power wire directly to the battery and cut the ground and screwed it to the steel floor under carpet but not with the cb's body ground. the biggest problem i had was the high swr!! and after speaking with ppl on here, and I called a shop my cousin knows in Florida and he said the odds of those hood channel mounted antennas working properly are aboot 2 outtve 10 at best!! he recommended a roof mounted/magnet mount so I ordered the stryker SR-A10 directly from stryker. the refurbished one! slightly cheaper than the firestik kit i bought, so I asked my wife and she said......................soooo, I ordered it 🤣🤣

 

[damion2492]

your hood is aluminum.... ground plane works exactly the same on Steel or Aluminum .. only problem with aluminum is the magnet won't stick
so "if" the washer is strong enough to hold it in place you should be fine..... I was able to bend it down 7 feet to go in and out of the garage and hold the base in place... it didn't take much to hold it in place ...but I have no idea how strong it will stick to the steel washer THROUGH the aluminum?

it's just an antenna the police will not have a problem with it.... I was not able to get it on the corner of the hood as the corner is curved on the F150..... the only place I could get it was where it is in the pictures.....

when we did my friends Jeep i said oh God that looks awful!! we left it until I could buy the Larsen NMO27 ... he kept using it every day and after a week you didn't even notice it... his wife a school teacher has to take the Jeep to school once a week hates it... but I think she even got used to it..... so you will get used to it pretty quickly.... just like you never think of your stereo antenna.. after a couple weeks you will not notice it.... if you don't like it there... put it on the roof..... if you put the washer under the hood... just use a small bead of 100% silicone and you will never get that washer off again... it will stick it great... under the hood makes a little heat and will dry out double sided tape.

I have set many magnetic antennas on my hood and run a long coax into my house to my base station .... just to try them out.. they will not stay in place if I was driving... but sitting on top of the aluminum hood they get a great SWR and work great.... they just won't stick... I don;t know how the washer will work out??? you'll let us know I hope.

ok, I bought the stryker sr a10mm magnetic mount antenna put it on the roof dead center as I could. ran the coax down the back of the cab between box and cab on the drivers side, run the cable through that vented area behind rear seat, I took rear seat off to get to cable. ran it under the silplate making damn sure there was absolutely no crimes kinks twists etc etc etc! ran it under the driver's seat between the seat and armrest/center seat and hooked into my cb! and now, I still cant get any reception or transmission! im using a astatic pdc1 swr meter and on 100w i get nothing, needle barely moves if at all. on 10w I can only get it to move on channel 1 but not much. used my buddies meter and got the same result! it doesn't matter what radio is used im getting nothing! wired directly to the battery, wires ran cleanly and neatly with fuse links! ive done absolutely EVERYTHING i can think of and im getting the same damn results! except now I cant seem to get swr readings! still all static, some voices come through but fade, and with my buddy in his truck 100 feet away he cant hear me, or me him! 4, digital and analog multimeters show continuity is perfect! but same results!! what in the actual HELL am I doing wrong??? I can understand 1, maybe 2 radios or swr meter MIGHT be bad, but not 3 radios including a upgraded cobra 148(or 184, cant remember) but his radio is tuned and aligned by a pro shop in Florida!! can you please help me figure this **** out because I'm a half step from scraping the whole damn cb idea!!!!

 

[mmckenna]

im using a astatic pdc1 swr meter and on 100w i get nothing, needle barely moves if at all.

Which would be expected with a stock radio running around 4 watts.

on 10w I can only get it to move on channel 1 but not much.

That doesn't sound bad. Setting the meter to the 10 watt range puts you closer to the radios power output.

Did you properly calibrate the meter?
Left switch set to 10W/FWD
Right switch set to SWR (standing wave ratio)
Key the radio
Use knob to set needle to full deflection (all the way to the right where it says "SET").
Right switch to SWR
Left switch to REF (reflected)
Key radio, read SWR. Lower is better, but don't get hung up on anything below 2.

some voices come through but fade, and with my buddy in his truck 100 feet away he cant hear me, or me him!

Check SWR on both radios using above procedure. Don't assume it's your radio that is the issue.

4, digital and analog multimeters show continuity is perfect! but same results!! what in the actual HELL am I doing wrong??? I can understand 1, maybe 2 radios or swr meter MIGHT be bad, but not 3 radios including a upgraded cobra 148(or 184, cant remember)

When everything starts testing bad, it may be your test procedures or test equipment. Sectionalize everything and test individually if you need to.

but his radio is tuned and aligned by a pro shop in Florida!!

"Tuned and aligned" isn't necessarily a good thing. There's a lot of hack job shops that diddle with radios and make things worse. Beware of "Billy Bob" in the single wide behind the truck stop. It takes more than an SWR meter and a golden screwdriver to set up any radio properly. Have your friend try a radio that hasn't been screwed with.

 

[WSAC829]

Shot in the dark here, but could your jumper coax between the radio and meter be bad?

 

[damion2492]

Which would be expected with a stock radio running around 4 watts.


That doesn't sound bad. Setting the meter to the 10 watt range puts you closer to the radios power output.

Did you properly calibrate the meter?
Left switch set to 10W/FWD
Right switch set to SWR (standing wave ratio)
Key the radio
Use knob to set needle to full deflection (all the way to the right where it says "SET").
Right switch to SWR
Left switch to REF (reflected)
Key radio, read SWR. Lower is better, but don't get hung up on anything below 2.



Check SWR on both radios using above procedure. Don't assume it's your radio that is the issue.



When everything starts testing bad, it may be your test procedures or test equipment. Sectionalize everything and test individually if you need to.



"Tuned and aligned" isn't necessarily a good thing. There's a lot of hack job shops that diddle with radios and make things worse. Beware of "Billy Bob" in the single wide behind the truck stop. It takes more than an SWR meter and a golden screwdriver to set up any radio properly. Have your friend try a radio that hasn't been screwed with.

Shot in the dark here, but could your jumper coax between the radio and meter be bad?

nope. tested both with multimeter and 1 meter was brand new!

 

[damion2492]

Which would be expected with a stock radio running around 4 watts.


That doesn't sound bad. Setting the meter to the 10 watt range puts you closer to the radios power output.

Did you properly calibrate the meter?
Left switch set to 10W/FWD
Right switch set to SWR (standing wave ratio)
Key the radio
Use knob to set needle to full deflection (all the way to the right where it says "SET").
Right switch to SWR
Left switch to REF (reflected)
Key radio, read SWR. Lower is better, but don't get hung up on anything below 2.



Check SWR on both radios using above procedure. Don't assume it's your radio that is the issue.



When everything starts testing bad, it may be your test procedures or test equipment. Sectionalize everything and test individually if you need to.



"Tuned and aligned" isn't necessarily a good thing. There's a lot of hack job shops that diddle with radios and make things worse. Beware of "Billy Bob" in the single wide behind the truck stop. It takes more than an SWR meter and a golden screwdriver to set up any radio properly. Have your friend try a radio that hasn't been screwed with.

I have a cobra 29ltdnw am/fm thats had the modulation turned up and antenna warning turned up but its stock. a cobra 29lx thats all stock. bells cb shop in Florida is a very reputable business, he has a store not shed behind his double wide🤣 i talked to the owner few wks ago when I was having the problem with the hood channel mount kit. I can see 1 radio being "bad" but 3 radios and 4 multimeter and 2 swr meters, 1 was brand spankin new, theres no way that many pieces of equipment were all bad!! my biggest problem is why can I not transmit or even hear anything, and what i do hear starts "loud" but fades away within a few seconds! and the fact that my buddy couldn't even hear me on his radio 100 feet away is really bothering me!! its almost like I'm not getting anything from anything no matter what I do!! I moved the antenna all around the roof, and it won't work on my aluminum hood even with the washer or heavier piece of steel, but nothing seems to work!! I just dont understand what the hell is going on with this!! ive watch dozens of videos and ive done absolutely everything I could but nothing seems to be helping! radio body is grounded good, I put tinned copper braided body grounding straps from the cab to the frame, that didn't help so i took em off, antenna seems to have good groundplane and everything usual is checking out on all equipment but swr readings. on 10w I cant even get the needle to move far enough to the "set" marking on 1 20 and 40! almost like the antenna isnt pulling anything in! all I get is static and muffled voices that fade out within a few seconds!! idk, but im pretty much done with this ****! ive got almost $700 into everything and still nothing is happening!!

 

[mmckenna]

on 10w I cant even get the needle to move far enough to the "set" marking on 1 20 and 40!

I totally get the frustration, I remember feeling that when getting started in radio. Takes time to build up skills and knowledge, and until them, frustration city….

So, a couple of possibilities here:

Radio issues. I know, you've tested several, but never rule anything out unless you have the means and test equipment to prove it's working. Been there, done that. Easy to assume that not everything can be bad, until you realize it can...

Jumper is bad.

Connector is bad.

SWR meter is bad.

Like I said above, disassemble everything and test individually. Continuity test all your cables individually, test for opens and shorts. Wiggle all the cables and connectors while you do that. Cheap connectors will drive you nuts. A lot of premade cables are low quality. I've run into this several times in the past. Don't assume they are good just because someone else made them.

If you are using any adapters, remove them. Then throw them away.

With all your testing failing, it really sounds like one bad component that is common to your system. Narrowing that down will take some work. Hard for us to help you over the internet like this….

almost like the antenna isnt pulling anything in! all I get is static and muffled voices that fade out within a few seconds!! idk, but im pretty much done with this ****! ive got almost $700 into everything and still nothing is happening!!

That's a lot of money to spend to have this many issues. I still think with some careful testing you can fix this without spending more money.

 

[damion2492]

I totally get the frustration, I remember feeling that when getting started in radio. Takes time to build up skills and knowledge, and until them, frustration city….

So, a couple of possibilities here:

Radio issues. I know, you've tested several, but never rule anything out unless you have the means and test equipment to prove it's working. Been there, done that. Easy to assume that not everything can be bad, until you realize it can...

Jumper is bad.

Connector is bad.

SWR meter is bad.

Like I said above, disassemble everything and test individually. Continuity test all your cables individually, test for opens and shorts. Wiggle all the cables and connectors while you do that. Cheap connectors will drive you nuts. A lot of premade cables are low quality. I've run into this several times in the past. Don't assume they are good just because someone else made them.

If you are using any adapters, remove them. Then throw them away.

With all your testing failing, it really sounds like one bad component that is common to your system. Narrowing that down will take some work. Hard for us to help you over the internet like this….



That's a lot of money to spend to have this many issues. I still think with some careful testing you can fix this without spending more money.

been there done that! we were up until 230am last night messin with EVERYTHING! antenna is brand spankin new, just got it yesterday! 4 multimeters said the same thing, all read 0, 2 digital, 2 analog! the stryker sr a10mm has the rg8 coax cable and its reading perfectly on all 4 meters! I find it utterly impossible for all my equipment to be bad, especially the multimeters! I use them regularly, im a mechanic by trade so I work on vehicles pretty much 4 days a wk and with these new vehicles a multimeter is like a extra hand most days! HOWEVER, i failed to mention that we hooked both my cobras up to my buddies system and they both seemed to work fine! its almost like theres something on my truck itself thats causing the issues! except the hood, the entire body of the truck is steel! I have a fiberglass topper but that shouldn't cause any problems like im having, at least my buddies didn't, he's got 2023 dodge 2500 with a glass topper and he has the Wilson 5000 magnetic mount antenna and he said he didn't have to do anything to his except set swr and his system works awesome! Last night he was talking to a guy around the Indianapolis Indiana area, and were in the thumb area of Michigan!!!! yet I couldn't hear him from 100 feet away and he couldn't hear me!! frustration is a understatement!! I just dont understand wtF the problem is!! but my wife said, NO MORE CB ****!!! so if I cant figure this out asap im calling it quits and selling EVERYTHING!! just not worth the money and hassle that ive been dealing with for 3wks now! if I had a "beater with a heater", I'd just by the 102" whip and mount it to the body and call it good!! but ive got an oddball f150 and no way am I drilling holes into the body, anywhere! I didn't even want to put a magnetic mount antenna on the roof, but thats what everyone said to get, so I spent $100+ and bought the "best" according to ppl on here and other forums! Just doesn't make sense to me why im having issues like this!!!!!

 

[mmckenna]

OK, I'm going to ask a few questions here to help clarify what is going on. This is just so we understand you clearly:

been there done that! we were up until 230am last night messin with EVERYTHING! antenna is brand spankin new, just got it yesterday! 4 multimeters said the same thing, all read 0, 2 digital, 2 analog!

OK, 0 ohms when checking continuity. That's good.

did you check for shorts between the outer shield and the center conductor on the jumper cable between your CB and SWR meter?

Readings through the antenna will vary, so that's not something you can necessarily test with a multimeter.

the stryker sr a10mm has the rg8 coax cable and its reading perfectly on all 4 meters!

What is reading perfectly?

SWR?

I find it utterly impossible for all my equipment to be bad, especially the multimeters!

Yes, unlikely. I doubt your multimeters are bad. It's the SWR meter that I'd be concerned about.

I use them regularly, im a mechanic by trade so I work on vehicles pretty much 4 days a wk and with these new vehicles a multimeter is like a extra hand most days!

Understood. First tool I grab out of my work truck is usually the multimeter.

HOWEVER, i failed to mention that we hooked both my cobras up to my buddies system and they both seemed to work fine!

OK, that suggests that the radios themselves are fine, and your friend's antenna is good. That's a very useful test.

its almost like theres something on my truck itself thats causing the issues! except the hood, the entire body of the truck is steel! I have a fiberglass topper but that shouldn't cause any problems like im having, at least my buddies didn't, he's got 2023 dodge 2500 with a glass topper and he has the Wilson 5000 magnetic mount antenna and he said he didn't have to do anything to his except set swr and his system works awesome! Last night he was talking to a guy around the Indianapolis Indiana area, and were in the thumb area of Michigan!!!! yet I couldn't hear him from 100 feet away and he couldn't hear me!! frustration is a understatement!! I just dont understand wtF the problem is!!

Keep in mind that low SWR does not mean the antenna is working properly. All low SWR tells you is that the RF energy is passing through the meter and not being reflected. There's a number of faults that can cause that. SWR might look good, but antenna is crap. The fact that you tested this on your friends truck and it works fine is starting to suggest that something downstream from the radio is bad. That could be the jumper between the radio and SWR meter. The SWR meter itself could be bad. Antenna coax could be bad. Antenna could be bad.

but my wife said, NO MORE CB ****!!!

I'd listen to her.

so if I cant figure this out asap im calling it quits and selling EVERYTHING!!

You'll lose money and not have a working radio.

just not worth the money and hassle that ive been dealing with for 3wks now! if I had a "beater with a heater", I'd just by the 102" whip and mount it to the body and call it good!! but ive got an oddball f150 and no way am I drilling holes into the body, anywhere! I didn't even want to put a magnetic mount antenna on the roof, but thats what everyone said to get, so I spent $100+ and bought the "best" according to ppl on here and other forums! Just doesn't make sense to me why im having issues like this!!!!!

So, you've tried one magnetic mount antenna?

Here's my concern:
You tried the fender bracket antenna, and that sucked, as expected.

You purchased a magnetic mount antenna and tried that. It should work, but isn't.

You tested the radio on your friend's truck and it works fine.

You've tested two separate radios on your truck, and performance is poor to non-existent.

You've tested your coax jumper cable, and it tests fine.

SWR shows low, but that doesn't necessarily mean everything is OK. An SWR meter just tells you part of the story.

SWR meter could be bad. Try removign that and connect the antenna directly to the radio and see if that helps.

If it doesn't, see if you can borrow another magnetic mount antenna and see if that helps.


The farther we get into this, the more it sounds like either the SWR meter is your problem, or the antenna is bad. Both are real possibilities.

 

[damion2492]

OK, I'm going to ask a few questions here to help clarify what is going on. This is just so we understand you clearly:



OK, 0 ohms when checking continuity. That's good.

did you check for shorts between the outer shield and the center conductor on the jumper cable between your CB and SWR meter?

Readings through the antenna will vary, so that's not something you can necessarily test with a multimeter.



What is reading perfectly?

SWR?




Yes, unlikely. I doubt your multimeters are bad. It's the SWR meter that I'd be concerned about.


Understood. First tool I grab out of my work truck is usually the multimeter.



OK, that suggests that the radios themselves are fine, and your friend's antenna is good. That's a very useful test.



Keep in mind that low SWR does not mean the antenna is working properly. All low SWR tells you is that the RF energy is passing through the meter and not being reflected. There's a number of faults that can cause that. SWR might look good, but antenna is crap. The fact that you tested this on your friends truck and it works fine is starting to suggest that something downstream from the radio is bad. That could be the jumper between the radio and SWR meter. The SWR meter itself could be bad. Antenna coax could be bad. Antenna could be bad.



I'd listen to her.



You'll lose money and not have a working radio.



So, you've tried one magnetic mount antenna?

Here's my concern:
You tried the fender bracket antenna, and that sucked, as expected.

You purchased a magnetic mount antenna and tried that. It should work, but isn't.

You tested the radio on your friend's truck and it works fine.

You've tested two separate radios on your truck, and performance is poor to non-existent.

You've tested your coax jumper cable, and it tests fine.

SWR shows low, but that doesn't necessarily mean everything is OK. An SWR meter just tells you part of the story.

SWR meter could be bad. Try removign that and connect the antenna directly to the radio and see if that helps.

If it doesn't, see if you can borrow another magnetic mount antenna and see if that helps.


The farther we get into this, the more it sounds like either the SWR meter is your problem, or the antenna is bad. Both are real possibilities.

I'll take a video on my tablet later. I have a "unplugged" phone and the security system i have has the cameras removed. I cant buy anything else for this!! as I mentioned, my wife is done with me spending that much money and getting nowhere! we tested everything on both swr and multimeters and there were no issues, both seemed to work fine on my buddies. however on my setup, when I key the mic to set the swr, the needle doesn't move up to the set, even with the adjustment knob turned all the way clockwise (to the right). its like the whip is to long, so, I cut aboot 1/2 inch off the whip but nothing changed so I didn't cut anything else off. (FYI, im doing this testing in my yard well over 100 yards away from buildings trees and power lines! last night we went to a 55 acre hay field which was WIDE OPEN not even a power line in sight to try everything, and results were the same!) on channels 1,20, and 40 the needle doesn't move past 3/4, it mainly stays around the halfway area, the way to the set mark, but on ref it reads around 1.5 to around 1ish. im not understanding why I cant get in to the set mark. on my buddies cobra 148(?) both worked perfectly, and his swr is aboot 2wks old, cant remember what brand but it was $66. I set the swr on the cobra 29lx radio itself and it says im under 1.5 on the 3 channels but on the cobra 29ltdnw am/fm when I key the mic the swing meter shows in around 3.8 maybe 4 but the modulation is turned up on that radio so im "assuming" thats the reason. but on the external swr meters I cant set the actual swr because the needle doesn't move! thats what's got me completely baffled!! AND, the fact that i cant transmit or even get clear voices that I can understand is really aggravating me to the point of just throwing everything away!! its like theres something wrong with my truck itself that the cb or antenna just doesn't like! maybe my stuff is prejudice against fords cause everything worked on my buddies dodge(RAM)🤣🤣 something just doesn't make sense! and worst of all theres absolutely nobody around me, that i can find, that works on or knows anything about cb's!! idk man but im standing at the proverbial "fork" in the road and am aboot to make a sharp "U" turn and call it quits!!!!!!