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New CB terrible electrical interference

Old Sep 14, 2010 | 08:59 PM
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Default New CB terrible electrical interference

So I got a new midland CB an its got terrible electrical interference I cant hear hardly an I cant talk at all. Its all grounded good and I got a 4 ft antenna on my roof. We cant figure out whats the problem any ideas?
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Old Sep 14, 2010 | 09:04 PM
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did you tune the antenna?
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Old Sep 14, 2010 | 09:07 PM
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Originally Posted by Defiance665
did you tune the antenna?
Elabroate - how do you tune the antenna?
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Old Sep 14, 2010 | 09:10 PM
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depends on what kind of antenna...
If its a steel "whip" you cut small pieces off the bottom until it reaches a 1.5 or less SWR.
Fiberglass may have an adjustment screw that just needs to be turned until proper SWR is reached, or you have to pull pieces of the coil out and cut them until proper SWR is reached.
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Old Sep 14, 2010 | 09:11 PM
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goto radio Shack and get a ferrite loop.
http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2103222

Its not perfect but it will remove a large portion of line noise.
I've battled line noise lots of times in Semi trucks.
The next option is to build a cage around your ECM, called a faraday cage.
The Cheaper the CB the worse the noise problem, but I've had expensive radios that had issues too.

The choke above will help some.
Put it over your wire and loop your wire through it as many times as you can.
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Old Sep 14, 2010 | 09:21 PM
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^ X2
might also want to mention that if your antenna isnt tuned, you will end up killing your radio.
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Old Sep 14, 2010 | 09:48 PM
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Its fiberglass an its tuned
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Old Sep 14, 2010 | 09:51 PM
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An I dont just mean on my CB I hear the electrical noise when im tryin to talk to other people on it like the jeep 20ft in front of me on a run they cant hear me they just hear the real loud electrical noise.
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Old Sep 14, 2010 | 09:59 PM
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Originally Posted by Backwoods Country Girl
An I dont just mean on my CB I hear the electrical noise when im tryin to talk to other people on it like the jeep 20ft in front of me on a run they cant hear me they just hear the real loud electrical noise.
Perfect SWR is 1.1 but in reality 1.5 is good.
I need to know where your radio is mounted and how is the coax ran?
How long is the coax? You want a division of 36, so 18, 9, 4.5 foot.
You do not want the extra coax rolled in a coil shape. That creates a Choke and you loose power.

Double check your grounds and make sure you antenna mount is grounded too.

Turn on your stereo on AM and see if the noise is there too. If it is, its an likely a body ground issue. If not, resource the ground and power lead your using to supply power to the radio.
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Old Sep 14, 2010 | 10:18 PM
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Its 9ft an it aint rolled or coiled anywhere an everything's grounded an it makes the noise radio on off am fm everything.
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Old Sep 14, 2010 | 10:23 PM
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Originally Posted by Backwoods Country Girl
Its 9ft an it aint rolled or coiled anywhere an everything's grounded an it makes the noise radio on off am fm everything.

Heres something I just thought of.
A bad diode in the alternator will generate a large noise level and since your getting it over the AM/FM and the CB I would suggest you unkhook the wires from the alternator and see if the noise goes away.
If so you got a bad diode (alternator has 3) generating the interference.
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Old Sep 14, 2010 | 10:30 PM
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Explain diode lol
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Old Sep 14, 2010 | 10:35 PM
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Originally Posted by Backwoods Country Girl
Explain diode lol
Alternators actually produce A/C power internally, and diodes are like a one way gate that converts it to DC, then the DC power goes to the Voltage regulator then out the wire to the battery.
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Old Sep 14, 2010 | 10:56 PM
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ok...........an how would you check that
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Old Sep 14, 2010 | 10:59 PM
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Originally Posted by Backwoods Country Girl
ok...........an how would you check that
Easy,
just remove the wires off the alternator and start it up and see if the noise is gone. If it is, replace the alternator, or take it to a shop and have them replace the diodes.
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