I recently got a CB from a friend and I cant seem to pick up a signal. I think it may be a grounding issue, but I'm completely new to this so I don't know. The radio is a Cobra 19dxii with the antenna mounted to a roof rack. and help y'all can give me would be appreciated. Thanks.
First CB Radio Help (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter 1989FJ
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Post over on Portal too? Answered there. Yes, it very well could be a grounding issue. OEM roof rack or after market rack? How is it connected to your roof/gutters? You may need to run a ground wire to something better on the truck itself.
Other thing is to get ahold of an SWR meter and get the antenna tuned to the radio.
Other thing is to get ahold of an SWR meter and get the antenna tuned to the radio.
Looks like you got a lot more help on Portal too! Saw the close up pic of the mount. You may need to run a ground wire separately to the truck to be very sure of that. Is the antenna tunable? An antenna designed for a CB?
Hope you got it straightened out by now...
Definitely RF grounding. Under your mounting bracket you need to strip off some paint so the mount touches the rack. put a dab of grease at the contact point to keep it clean. Make sure the rack to body mounting is clean too. Its not so much that it as ground continuity but more importantly the antenna see ground. Your antenna is really half of your antenna system. The other half is the counterpoise which the rack is very good for.
Definitely RF grounding. Under your mounting bracket you need to strip off some paint so the mount touches the rack. put a dab of grease at the contact point to keep it clean. Make sure the rack to body mounting is clean too. Its not so much that it as ground continuity but more importantly the antenna see ground. Your antenna is really half of your antenna system. The other half is the counterpoise which the rack is very good for.
Since I didn't want to strip the powdercoat off my rack I just ran a 12 gauge wire with ring connectors from the mount (same as yours) to the bolt for the rear hatch strut. I got a good ground and a 1.3 to 1 SWR ratio right away.
I did a test a while back, taking off the ground wire reduces signal input to ZERO. It's like there's no antenna at all.
I did a test a while back, taking off the ground wire reduces signal input to ZERO. It's like there's no antenna at all.
