hood channel mounted cb antenna problem(s)

[niceguy71]

I have zero experience with this company... but when my life slows down.... I'm going to look into this ham radio prep course. ham radio prep course

it will be the ham radio operators with ham radios that get the important info out when the world goes side ways.
in an emergency they can do a lot.... they do a lot of search and rescue work to name just one..... and many other useful communications help, for communities in floods fires and other disasters.

 

[K9KLC]

Unless it was the wrong pot / can. If one of the cans was turned it would explain a lot of what’s going on.

Henceforth why I said " mod pot". Obviously it he was in there cranking around on other things it would explain a great deal.

 

[K9KLC]

I’ll bet very few CB’ers have thought that through.

Maybe today's CBers, I can assure you the group I hung out with even in the 70s and 80shad the same attitude. We might have used old radios and the old style swr type only meters or Drake W4 wattmeters but those guys were always double checking things pretty regularly. Man if we would had the analyzers we have today they would have been something. I always had my W4 in line in the van back then. Hit too many things that I was worried would splinter the 96 inch whip we ran for a time back then.

 

[niceguy71]

I'm not sure, but I seem to remember WASC829 lived in Michigan.... or Detroit or something like that... I could be wrong.... if he lives 75 miles from you, you might ask if he would be willing to help... not sure if there are any other Radio Reference users in Michigan... but all seem to be great guys and very helpful

 

[WSAC829]

Henceforth why I said " mod pot".

Right, not arguing that, but there is a lot of bad info online / youtube, etc. An updated circuit board where the “pots” changed could wreck havoc on a radio if someone sticks their fingers in it and cranks the wrong “pot". Like not all Cobra 29’s use the same board. There are a few versions depending on what model/year 29 it is.

I'm not sure, but I seem to remember WASC829 lived in Michigan

Close. Wisconsin. If he was within an hour or 2 i would have no problem traveling to try to help him out.

 

[damion2492]

Like you, I'm 99.999% sure a simple mod pot crank up did not cause a problem in the radio. Good luck, don't give up the ship.

if idk wtf the problem is! been fighting this for almost a month now!!

 

[damion2492]

Sounds like you're narrowing it down which is what the desired outcome is. Let me ask you you're posting here on this forum aren't you? I suspect either a computer, tablet, or smart phone is involved in the process. You figure that stuff out right? The Nano VNA can be as complicated or basic as. you need it to be. Similar to the Rig Expert that @niceguy71, he has only posted photos of it doing basic SWR Checks at specific frequencies. The "collective" (a group of hams that loan stuff between each other) has one and we use it both as he does and the graphing capabilities on that device. It's a truly amazing device that is actually on my short list "one day" to have my own personal one.

I watched a video of a fella using the nanovna-2 setting up his stryker sr a10mm antenna. he didn't show how he to set the device up but showed the swr calibration readings and he had to aboot 3/4-1 inch off the whip. now, it "appeared simple"!! I do use a "smart phone", but im in no way a "techy"!! I didn't even have a email account until 2023!! I despise technology, as far as smart devices!! im 50, beat the living hell outtve my body for 40 yrs, mainly working hard, heavy manual labor work, now im paying for it!! I had to quit/retire from my construction job 2yrs ago. went from $85k a year, to $1,100 a month in disability!! 2 bouts with cancer, 2 fusions in my neck, 1 in my lower back, blocked bile duct that damn near killed me, 2 teenagers and a wife, house, property etc, so, I know this "adventure" requires the proper gear to do it "right", but, with extremely limited funds, its incredibly difficult. this new age **** seems to be much more difficult to understand than I remember. IF my problem isnt with my radio or antenna, then wth else could it possibly be??? I cant afford another radio or antenna!! I started with a hood channel mounted firestik FS 2 4 foot antenna, and I couldn't get ****!! found this forum, everyone said those ain't a good option, even a few pro's i talked to said they weren't gonna work! that cost me $150 for that setup! so, I did what others said, bought the stryker SR A10MM magnetic mount antenna, AND, I seem to be in the same damn situation, NOTHING!!! soooooo, what in the actual HELL could be the problem???? again, ive done absolutely everything and anything I can do, even put 8 tinned copper braided body grounding straps around the truck, ground the cb body itself directly to the truck body,(trans tunnel) ran the power and ground wires directly to the battery (with 12g wire and fuse links) nothing changed! I know my cobra 29ltdnw isnt the best, but my wallet isn't as "thick" as it used to be so I got what IT gave me. im trying my best but EVERYBODY tells me I gotta spend a **** load of money to buy all this equipment and I honestly can't afford it. I get it, you cant do it "right" w/o the equipment. but if I cant even talk to anyone from even 6 feet away with the equipment I have, how could the $250 in equipment i have NOT work? now pls don't think im being a *******, but if what I have isn't working, which i see no reason why it wouldn't, its telling me that theres more to this than needing a fancy antenna analyzer or something else! "plug & play" doesn't always "play", but it should at the very least get me on the field! IMO, ive got more going on than needing MORE analyzing equipment! its almost like my truck either has no groundplane, or, it just doesn't want a cb in/on it!! I do GREATLY APPRECIATE you and everyone else's help support and info, buuuut, sumthin just isn't adding up! I should at the absolute very LEAST, be able to talk to another cb thats 6 feet away!!

 

[kc2asb]

I have zero experience with this company... but when my life slows down.... I'm going to look into this ham radio prep course. ham radio prep course

it will be the ham radio operators with ham radios that get the important info out when the world goes side ways.
in an emergency they can do a lot.... they do a lot of search and rescue work to name just one..... and many other useful communications help, for communities in floods fires and other disasters.

Nice! You'll enjoy ham radio, especially 10 meters.

In a disaster, you'll also have convoys of trucks and other folks with CB's making their way to help. Radio will work when all else fails.

 

[damion2492]

I've tested the Wilson 5000 and the Stryker.... personally.... I think the Stryker is just a hair better... but both are about as good as you can get..... sounds like you ruled out the antenna

I'm sure that Radio is a problem.... please call Cobra and see if you can send it in for warranty work... DO NOT TELL THEM YOU OPENED IT....
just tell them you bought a Cobra and it's not working.... they will send you an e-mail and ask you to scan in your receipt from where you bought it.... you will do that... and they will give you a shipping label and you just mail it in..... don't talk about the refurbished store or it never worked or it's been opened... just provide what they ask you for,
.. the people there are the worlds best in customer care... I bet they will tell you to mail it to them and they will send you a brand new one... and you'll be done... all for the cost of shipping the radio to Cedar

I've tested the Wilson 5000 and the Stryker.... personally.... I think the Stryker is just a hair better... but both are about as good as you can get..... sounds like you ruled out the antenna

I'm sure that Radio is a problem.... please call Cobra and see if you can send it in for warranty work... DO NOT TELL THEM YOU OPENED IT....
just tell them you bought a Cobra and it's not working.... they will send you an e-mail and ask you to scan in your receipt from where you bought it.... you will do that... and they will give you a shipping label and you just mail it in..... don't talk about the refurbished store or it never worked or it's been opened... just provide what they ask you for,
.. the people there are the worlds best in customer care... I bet they will tell you to mail it to them and they will send you a brand new one... and you'll be done... all for the cost of shipping the radio to Cedar Electronics
800-554-31608

im gonna message the seller later today and see what they say. I did grind a small spot of paint off it around a body screw to run a ground wire to the Trans tunnel. ill see what happens. I know I need something better. I just watched a video that was posted by a pro shop out west, guy has been working on cb's and other electronics for 33yrs! posted aboot 6 months ago. he had the exact same 29ltdnw am/fm I have that was brand spankin new! some trucking company that he does all the cb work for wanted him to open it up and check it out. he did, he hooked his osiliscope antenna analyzer etc up and, out-of-the-box, brand new, it wasn't even hitting 2.5 watts!!!! he said cobra has definitely gotten "lazy" when I comes to power! sooo, if he's gettin less that 2.5 watts outtve a brand new radio, perhaps mine is the same!! he also said that opening up the modulation pot wouldn't really do much because it didn't have enough power to make hardly any difference!!! think im gonna save up the money and possibly go with that radioddity QT40!! I really dig that radio!!!

 

[kc2asb]

Henceforth why I said " mod pot". Obviously it he was in there cranking around on other things it would explain a great deal.

Agreed. Plus, those pots are relatively fragile and can crack easy if care is not taken. I also wonder if a static discharge could have "zapped" something when the OP had the radio open.

It does seem that the OP has eliminated the antenna as the problem, so definite progress has been made

 

[slowmover]

I watched a video of a fella using the nanovna-2 setting up his stryker sr a10mm antenna. he didn't show how he to set the device up but showed the swr calibration readings and he had to aboot 3/4-1 inch off the whip. now, it "appeared simple"!! I do use a "smart phone", but im in no way a "techy"!! I didn't even have a email account until 2023!! I despise technology, as far as smart devices!! im 50, beat the living hell outtve my body for 40 yrs, mainly working hard, heavy manual labor work, now im paying for it!! I had to quit/retire from my construction job 2yrs ago. went from $85k a year, to $1,100 a month in disability!! 2 bouts with cancer, 2 fusions in my neck, 1 in my lower back, blocked bile duct that damn near killed me, 2 teenagers and a wife, house, property etc, so, I know this "adventure" requires the proper gear to do it "right", but, with extremely limited funds, its incredibly difficult. this new age **** seems to be much more difficult to understand than I remember. IF my problem isnt with my radio or antenna, then wth else could it possibly be??? I cant afford another radio or antenna!! I started with a hood channel mounted firestik FS 2 4 foot antenna, and I couldn't get ****!! found this forum, everyone said those ain't a good option, even a few pro's i talked to said they weren't gonna work! that cost me $150 for that setup! so, I did what others said, bought the stryker SR A10MM magnetic mount antenna, AND, I seem to be in the same damn situation, NOTHING!!! soooooo, what in the actual HELL could be the problem???? again, ive done absolutely everything and anything I can do, even put 8 tinned copper braided body grounding straps around the truck, ground the cb body itself directly to the truck body,(trans tunnel) ran the power and ground wires directly to the battery (with 12g wire and fuse links) nothing changed! I know my cobra 29ltdnw isnt the best, but my wallet isn't as "thick" as it used to be so I got what IT gave me. im trying my best but EVERYBODY tells me I gotta spend a **** load of money to buy all this equipment and I honestly can't afford it. I get it, you cant do it "right" w/o the equipment. but if I cant even talk to anyone from even 6 feet away with the equipment I have, how could the $250 in equipment i have NOT work? now pls don't think im being a *******, but if what I have isn't working, which i see no reason why it wouldn't, its telling me that theres more to this than needing a fancy antenna analyzer or something else! "plug & play" doesn't always "play", but it should at the very least get me on the field! IMO, ive got more going on than needing MORE analyzing equipment! its almost like my truck either has no groundplane, or, it just doesn't want a cb in/on it!! I do GREATLY APPRECIATE you and everyone else's help support and info, buuuut, sumthin just isn't adding up! I should at the absolute very LEAST, be able to talk to another cb thats 6 feet away!!

Pleased to read it sounds as though you’ve prepped systems quite well (12V Power, RF Bond, DC Ground, etc) so I wouldn’t characterize things as wasted time or effort.

I spent a handful of years in my forties waiting to die. Becoming weaker with each passing month. No treatment possible. A revised diagnostic test changed my fortunes. I wouldn’t have been able to do what you’ve done. Cigar lighter & mag mount were my limits. Luckily, it worked well (enough). Was able to drive thru the edge of a tornado in Missouri to reach shelter, once (Voss Truck Port) as right antenna with upgraded PC76 were a great combo.

Take stock in

KØBG.COM

A Web Site For Mobile Amateur Radio Operators

www.k0bg.com

See what else you can do that free or almost that. I’d suggest the vehicle DC Grounds as a place where automobile life (see FSM diagram of ground locations; upgrade) can be helped as well as radio performance. Vehicles get traded off due to decreased reliability. 80% of that is the electrical systems. Bad Grounds is Job 1.

Or, the offbeat: Static Control

Today’s problem will be fixed someday. In the meantime why not the inexpensive TLC things?

Keep on in confidence that your ship will make it to port.

My solution back when (among others) was to accelerate and make perfect the family vehicles. I wasn’t going to be around, after all. Had a handy man to help me. And others at various places of service.

— I was getting UOA reports no one else had ever achieved (and reported) on a rock-solid design engine.

— Challenged the whole service department at a dealership to guess the miles on my ex-wife’s vehicle. No one even came close.


The work you choose now may well pay off in performance, later.

.

 

[damion2492]

Agreed. Plus, those pots are relatively fragile and can crack easy if care is not taken. I also wonder if a static discharge could have "zapped" something when the OP had the radio open.

It does seem that the OP has eliminated the antenna as the problem, so definite progress has been made

only thing I "crank'd" on was the VR4 & VR6, modulation pot and antenna warning pot. VR4 i went fully counter clockwise and VR6 i went fully clockwise. yes, I watched a utube vid, guy called it "splatter boxin"! said "everybody's splatter boxin these days". but ive looked up others and they've basically said the same! and ppl on here say that just turning up the modulation shouldn't or wouldn't cause problems. now I did just watch a vid from a fella out west who's been working on cb's and HAM radios for 30+yrs. he posted the vid 6 months ago. he had the exact same radio i do, cobra 29ltdnw am/fm. it was a brand new out of the box radio that a trucking company he does all their cb work sent him to have checked out. he hooked all his equipment to it and, according to his meter, the damn'd thing wasn't even getting 2.5 watts!! BRAND SPANKIN NEW RADIO!! and it had nothing for power. he said that, even if he just turned up the modulation pot it wouldn't make much of a difference because the radio was so under powered! could that be the case with mine?? I can hear some ppl fairly clear, but they cant hear me at all!! is this radio under powered to the point where it cant even handle transmitting??

 

[slowmover]

Show us some pics of your RF Bond work. May be room for improvement. Make progress where you can.

.

 

[damion2492]

Pleased to read it sounds as though you’ve prepped systems quite well (12V Power, RF Bond, DC Ground, etc) so I wouldn’t characterize things as wasted time or effort.

I spent a handful of years in my forties waiting to die. Becoming weaker with each passing month. No treatment possible. A revised diagnostic test changed my fortunes. I wouldn’t have been able to do what you’ve done. Cigar lighter & mag mount were my limits. Luckily, it worked well (enough). Was able to drive thru the edge of a tornado in Missouri to reach shelter, once (Voss Truck Port).

Take stock in

KØBG.COM

A Web Site For Mobile Amateur Radio Operators

www.k0bg.com

See what else you can do that free or almost that. I’d suggest the vehicle DC Grounds as a place where automobile life (see FSM diagram of ground locations; upgrade) can be helped as well as radio performance. Vehicles get traded off due to decreased reliability. 80% of that is the electrical systems. Bad Grounds is Job 1.

Or, the offbeat: Static Control

Today’s problem will be fixed someday. In the meantime why not the inexpensive TLC things?

Keep on in confidence that your ship will make it to port.

My solution back when (among others) was to accelerate and make perfect the family vehicles. I wasn’t going to be around, after all. Had a handy man to help me. And others at various places of service.

Challenged the whole service department at a dealership to guess the miles on my ex-wife’s vehicle. No one even came close.

The work you choose now may well pay off in performance, later.

.

im not exactly quitting, but ive done absolutely everything and anything I can to make things work but each "solution" just leads to another dead end. im a mechanic by trade. my dad built stock cars and racing engines by night, and worked at GM by day. I grew up in a garage, ive worked on vehicles my whole life!! I know theres gotta be ground wires on vehicles, especially these new vehicles! i had 8, 1 inch tinned copper braided body grounding straps w/copper lugs placed on all 4 corners of the truck, 2 connecting the hood cab and fenders, 2 connecting the cab to the frame!! I grounded the body of the radio(s) directly to the steel transmission tunnel, power and ground wires from the radio are hooked directly to the battery, I used 12g wires and fuse links! AND, yesterday, I even "scuffed" the paint on the roof, that really angered me🤬🤬 but it didn't do anything!! im not gonna fault the antenna! my buddy just said what I know is fact, his tuned peaked aligned radio worked as good, hell i think BETTER on my antenna than his!! so, thats telling me that the problem isnt necessarily with my antenna, I think my radio(s) are the problem!! like I said earlier, the vid i watched of the guy testing a BRAND NEW out of the box cobra 29ltdnw am/fm, just like mine, showed it wasn't pushing 2.5 watts!! IMO, IF the radio doesn't have the power, how can it broadcast/transmit signal/my voice? does it make any sense to you??

 

[damion2492]

Show us some pics of your RF Bond work. May be room for improvement. Make progress where you can.

.

I'll send pics later. I got 12 cord of wood i gotta start splitting up 😩

 

[kc2asb]

only thing I "crank'd" on was the VR4 & VR6, modulation pot and antenna warning pot. VR4 i went fully counter clockwise and VR6 i went fully clockwise. yes, I watched a utube vid, guy called it "splatter boxin"! said "everybody's splatter boxin these days"

OK. It's been a while since I've poked around inside a CB. I don't think I've ever owned one with an antenna warning light. As @K9KLC stated, adjusting the modulation pot should have no affect on SWR level/activating the warning light. I do not have the foggiest idea what turning the "antenna warning pot" would do - perhaps it changes the SWR threshhold for activating the light?

Splatter boxes are rigs that had the audio limiters clipped and the modulation turned all the way up. Throw in a power mic, and they will "pollute" several channels in each direction.

i do, cobra 29ltdnw am/fm. it was a brand new out of the box radio that a trucking company he does all their cb work sent him to have checked out. he hooked all his equipment to it and, according to his meter, the damn'd thing wasn't even getting 2.5 watts!! BRAND SPANKIN NEW RADIO!!

That is way off. Perhaps Cobra's quality control is not what it used to be. The Cobra 148GTL / 2000GTL / 142GTL from the late 80's era when I got into the hobby were all quality radios. Well, nothing is made like it used to be.

 

[K9KLC]

OK. It's been a while since I've poked around inside a CB. I don't think I've ever owned one with an antenna warning light. As @K9KLC stated, adjusting the modulation pot should have no affect on SWR level/activating the warning light. I do not have the foggiest idea what turning the "antenna warning pot" would do - perhaps it changes the SWR threshhold for activating the light?

Splatter boxes are rigs that had the audio limiters clipped and the modulation turned all the way up. Throw in a power mic, and they will "pollute" several channels in each direction.



That is way off. Perhaps Cobra's quality control is not what it used to be. The Cobra 148GTL / 2000GTL / 142GTL from the late 80's era when I got into the hobby were all quality radios. Well, nothing is made like it used to be.

Still hard to beat the transmit audio on the 148 or honestly any of those three. We we usually recommended an Astatic 636 with a Bob Heil HC5 cartridge installed in it. I had a ton of guys pick a 148 over various Galaxy's back in the day when they didn't know which as which.

 

[damion2492]

OK. It's been a while since I've poked around inside a CB. I don't think I've ever owned one with an antenna warning light. As @K9KLC stated, adjusting the modulation pot should have no affect on SWR level/activating the warning light. I do not have the foggiest idea what turning the "antenna warning pot" would do - perhaps it changes the SWR threshhold for activating the light?

Splatter boxes are rigs that had the audio limiters clipped and the modulation turned all the way up. Throw in a power mic, and they will "pollute" several channels in each direction.



That is way off. Perhaps Cobra's quality control is not what it used to be. The Cobra 148GTL / 2000GTL / 142GTL from the late 80's era when I got into the hobby were all quality radios. Well, nothing is made like it used to be.

so crankin the "antenna warning" pot needs to be done so you dont get that antenna warning light which, according to the guy that I watched, when ya crank the modulation pot all the way up it'll cause the antenna warning light to come on. from what ive looked at, that doesn't have any affect on the swr. the other vid of the guy testing the 29ltdnw did say that, "cobra has gotten lazy when it comes to power". no, nothing is made like it used to be!! ppl dont take pride in their work anymore! and companies dont build things to last because they won't make any money if they did that🤫

 

[damion2492]

Show us some pics of your RF Bond work. May be room for improvement. Make progress where you can.

.

 

[damion2492]

so for wth ever reason I cant even post pics!! keeps saying "file is to large"!! ive been trying for 10 minutes and says the same damn thing!!! so, ill tell you what and where I have them. im using 1 inch tinned copper braided body grounding straps with copper lugs. I have 1 on each rear corner from box to frame, 1 on each side of the cab underneath, going from the bottom of the cab directly to the frame, 1 on each side of the hood, underneath, going from hood to cab. each spot has the paint ground off and 1/4 inch self tapping screws. I pre drilled the holes, had to use thread lock on hood cause its soft aluminum but all screws are tight and multimeter reads perfect continuity! again radio body is grounded directly to the steel trans tunnel! I used 12g copper wires directly from the main radio connector(cut all but 2 inches of factory wires off) directly to the battery, with fuse links! I "neatly" ran all wires, including the antenna cable and all are in straight (as possible) runs, no kinks twists loops etc etc etc! no wires/cable is/are crossing directly over any BIG looms of other wires, ie, fuse blocks, computer etc. antenna coax is ran down between the cab and box, Fords, at least mine does, has a vent in the cab behind the rear seatback and firewall insulation, I ran the coax through that, down the driver's side slightly under the kick plate aboot half wayup, it then turns upwards just enough to go under driver's seat moldinway up, under the seat around the right rear of the seat bracket between the drivers seat and center seat/console, then up to the radio. ive seen a few vids of a guy that looped his coax through a 1.5 inch choke cable/ferrit ring, aboot 4 times, he said it help "tremendously" with his swr. unfortunately, I dont have any chokes, at least that big! do those really work and would they possibly help??