cf1k1

Good evening y'all. Today I switched out my Wilson fiberglass antenna for the radioshack 102" whip and their heavy duty spring. I heard some skip on 6 but it was so faint it could not be understood. The mount is just above the taillight so there is more than 2/3 of the antenna above the roof. I dunno if it makes a difference but I'm running the stud, lock washer, spring, lock washer, antenna. Also, when ever I have the FM radio on, I am picking up a whole lot of static. Any suggestions on what to do here?

ol'DixieJeep

where is your power wire connected?

spend the money and get the ball mount. gotta drill holes in quarter but it works great!!!

whats your SWR meter read at 1 40 and 20? dont forget to calibrate it at 20

cf1k1

The mount I have is grounded and works fine. Power wire is run to the battery however, I still hear engine noise that is easily squelched out. And SWR meter... haven't gotten on nor tested this new setup. But, since the 1/4 of a wave is 108" and this set up is about 106", no tuning SHOULD be necessary.

ol'DixieJeep

right but you gotta make sure everythings right.

i have a 102 and thought everything was right but i had a sliver of metal toushing the power on the base and thats what it was.

cf1k1

Power on the base? Power on the CB itself? I dunno. But it's weird with the FM radio static only in some areas.

cf1k1

bump

UJSLOST

You always have to set the SWR. If you have it set up right on that vehicle and swap it to another vehicle using all the exactly same components from the previous vehicle, the SWR still has to be tuned. Each vehicle/setup is differant.

Look at some CB forums and youtube if you havent already

reddonkey

OK so your vehicle is the ground. Picture this. If the antenna is in the center it has a better ground plane. Also provide better heat shielding. Make sure there is no metal contact with any thing sept the ground for the antenna and the ground wire. Make sure all including the coax are not near any wires coming from the engine. Funny fact. If you have a bad wire on the alt or spark plug wire you will never get rid of engine noise. Bunch the extra coax in a non electrical area and make sure its just crammed in there not coiled. use the full 20' coax not the short stuff. The most important thing about a good CB system is a good ground.

jake89xj541

Mine was kinda doing that but I had my annt. cable running with speaker wire is yours?

UJSLOST

Make sure you have the plastic bushing on the antenna mount where the antenna screws in. That is there to make sure you dont ground out the "hot" side of the antenna. It will work without it but you might get squeeling when you key up. Although you might not hear it others will.

cf1k1

So there is supposed to be a plastic water between the antenna spring and the antenna or where? Here's a pic of what I have

UJSLOST

Looks like you have the plactic washer/bushing installed in the correct spot. I see it there under the flat washer, which is under the lock washer.

ol'DixieJeep

where is your ground.

and yea 18ft is actually the most desirable length and dont coil it.
mines wired to my ingnition wire under the dash.

cf1k1

Ground on the unit is to the battery.

ol'DixieJeep

ok. that sounds good. id switch it to the body. i did mine to the floor on the trans tunnel.

where is the coax wire grounded to? you need a really really good ground for these things. wire to bracket to paint isnt enough usually.


heres how i did mine. isolated power so you cant accidentally ground the antenna out and grounded to the body twice.