New CB wont' tune

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Brentbba

Brentbba

Former Golfer
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Stole an original '07 post in the Electronics section as it seems like I have the same situation, but not sure how or where to ground this Diamond mount. The original coax connection under the mount, which I assume was the coax itselt had corroded and broke off.

Take a look and let me know what you think.

Thanks!

https://forum.ih8mud.com/electronic-toys/186107-cb-wont-tune.html
 
Anyone local have a SWR meter. May as well see if the ancient one I have has crapped out. I've spent hours with a multimeter trying to trace down why this set up won't tune up. I've now got the mount properly grounded to one of the bolts on the hatch side of the struts.

I get good readings on the outer sheathing and inner pins end to end on the coax I'm using. When I plug in the cable to the antenna mount, I'm getting a good ground at the radio end. I've got the SWR calibrated correctly and get a 1.1 reading using the dummy load antenna. It's only when I plug in the antenna from the mount to the SWR to tune that I get readings of over 3 on both channels 1 and 40. Makes absolutely no sense at all!

I know Solder Joint has closed it's Orange location and is now part of PCI Race Radios in Signal Hill. Watched a quick video on tuning and they calibrate the SWR differently than I've done with the dummy load antenna so I'll give that a try tonight after the gym if I've got time to see what I get. Outside of that, I don't know outside of driving the truck up to PCI to have them take a look.

Any other suggestions? Wiring a CB and tuning an antenna just isn't that difficult and this has me totally baffled.
 
Brent, Bradon has one and you are a good to use it. Let me know and I will PM you his phone number.
 
SOCALFJ said:
People still use CB>? :)
Click to expand...

True....but still much more efficent than his previous method of communication:

indian-smoke-signals-thumb5077161.jpg
 
SOCALFJ said:
People still use CB>? :)
Click to expand...

RFJTOY, when he's not on a mission in Malawi, does. TLCA sanctioned events do to. Lots of trucks at CruiseMoab this year did have hams, but all had CB's. Gunned Fins & Things and only Ken Romer and I had ham radios so comms was by CB and mine wasn't working!
 
Well, it wasn't a bad SWR meter on my end. Thanks to Bradon and Tare for hooking me up with a different SWR meter to be sure!

I'm back to just not having a good ground plane with the mount. Off to HRO tomorrow to pick up the specific coax to this mount and we'll see. I've inspected the sheathing on the antenna a couple of times and it's got no nicks, etc. even as many times as its been whacked by tree limbs.
 
OMG - it was the :censor: antenna! Open circuit tip to base on the ohm meter - the one thing I'd not tested! I'd run my finger all the way up/down the wire and didn't feel or see any cuts.

I'd purchased the coax specific to my Diamond mount, so I know it's properly grounted, etc. I'd even borrowed another SWR meter only to find that mine is just fine - worth a try tho!

I ended up borrowing RFJTOY's antenna as a last resort test when the SWR meter was still off the charts with my antenna.

BINGO - SWR on channel one was a perfect 1.0 and channel 40 was about 2.8 with no tuning at all with his antenna.

Just ordered a new one!

Thanks for the help Stan. Good seeing you again.
 
Glad you got it figured out. I had an issue with high SWR on mine when it was mounted to my bumper. Ended up being a poor ground to the bumper. Ground the PC off down to bare metal so the mount could bite better and problem went away.
 
sdnative said:
Glad you got it figured out. I had an issue with high SWR on mine when it was mounted to my bumper. Ended up being a poor ground to the bumper. Ground the PC off down to bare metal so the mount could bite better and problem went away.
Click to expand...

Yea - paint can affect a good ground plain. I went so far this time as to take the four set screws on the mount and drill holes through the aluminum shim and then grind the paint away where those set screws hit the hatch. Didn't do that when I first installed this mount and had a good enough ground plane to tune the antenna.

What confirmed it was the lack of reading on my own antenna tip to base. Says there's a break in the wire somewhere. Guess I shouldn't be surprised as many hits as that antenna has taken over the years where it's mounted. Just wish I'd have found it before! :doh:

Got lazy and ordered a new antenna thru Amazon to save a trip up to Anaheim to visit HRO. I won't get around to burying the cable and tuning this until next weekend anyway.

Just glad I finally found it. Huge thanks to Stan for taking a break from painting his bedroom to let me borrow his antenna!
 
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