yeah i asked somewhere if a 4 foot would be better because it was on sale actually, and was cheaper than my 3 foot, but i got no response. i saw everyone having a 3 foot there so i figured it worked for many people so why not.

just seems to me like something is dramatically wrong here, i mean i can hear a friend when he is parked 4 feet behind me, but once he gets to 30 feet he starts fading, and then by 60 or 70 feet away hes gone. but i can pick people up long distance if i play with it.

i am getting engine noise. how can i put it to the battery so i dont? put it under the other wires on that post? ive always heard wiring straight to the battery is the only way to not have noise, but ill wire it to the fuse pannel if people think thats what it is.

the coax i used as a jumper was either a 6 or 8 foot from radioshack.

ill probably get back from the beach, order a 4 foot firestik, a spring to get it a little higher and buy me insurance in case i hit it on something, and then the tuner with 3 foot jumper they sell. so i guess i really need to know how i should run my 18 foot coax cable, and how to tune it in right.

and its wierd but putting the cap on my firestik severely messes up my swr.

and another thing thats wierd is my friend who i have been messin with cbs with has a 2 foot firestik ant., the same radio as me, and hes wired through the fuse pannel, his is great and clear, no engine noise, nothing, but at full squelch (most counter clockwise) i pick up some distant voices that he cant. so i know im getting more distance than him.

just confusing.

and i wish i knew how to check the ground like the guy above me was explaining.

 

It sounds more and more to me like you have a bad antenna or bad coax. Try swapping your buddies antenna with yours and see if your receive improves.....SWR will do nothing for receive on a radio system. A piece of wire will suffice as a receiving antenna and if cut to the proper length, will TX with the best of them. The radio could also have an issue. If you are not receiving, its likely the equipment, not the installation or tuning

 

so is it possible to get engine noise through the battery? what do you think thats coming from?

 

Something wrong with the shielding - which would point to a bad coax.

 

you can get engine noise from coax? i have the coax from walcott with the removable end.

so if i use a welding strap to ground my bed to the cab, where would i find that, and whats the easiest way to ground the bed

i dont seem to be transmitting more than 2 lights, and when i crank the rf up, its constantly got 2 lights picked up

should i just go to a 4 foot firestik

 

FiveSpeed... couple things you probably want to check/change.
1.) You want coax cable with soldered ends. If they are removable there is more opportunity for poor quality connection resulting in a number of effects. RF (Radio Frequencies) do unusual things even with the tiniest space or gap between connections.
Note (added 5/24/2010): There are connectors that have two pieces, the inner that is soldered and the outer peace (which threads onto the RF antenna connector on the radio) threads onto the inner piece attached to the coax. This style is acceptable, I was speaking of the removable ends which simply press and twist into the coax insulation.

2.) Avoid coiling your Coax cable. a coil is an electrical/electronic component and by coiling the coax you introduce another component causing, induction which presents a resistance load to the radio/amp circuitry. If you look inside old radios you will see "tuning coils" of various sizes and they are tuned by stretching the coils apart or pushing them closer together. Coils on the antenna coax = bad unexplainable results for RF transmission.

3.) Grounding directly to the battery will present the best ground condition. When using the bed, even if you add a ground strap from the frame to to the bed, there is added resistance. Best case scenario with using the bed (or cab) for ground is if you run a ground from the battery to the frame directly. From factory ground runs through the engine block, and the frame but over time those connections become corroded and the connections begin to break down.
Note (added 5/24/2010): I am speaking about electrical grounds, not antenna "ground plan".


3.a.) I am not familiar with the firesticks, but all antennas need a "Ground Plan" this is the surface which the antenna couples with to recieve and transmit the actual RF signal. Most likely it is coupling with the roof of your cab which is also limiting your effective antenna length. 1/4 wave length antenna is recommended for good/best operation. 1/4 Wave length measures 102".... Those are the crazy long whips you don't see much any more. The way around this is by coiling wire and placing it the base like the K40, K30 and Wilson 1000, 5000 and their Lil Wilson. The coil presents itself or acts as a 1/4 Wave Length even though it is not. Antenna's are a special field of knowledge in itself and I am not an expert by any means. Other manufactures achieve this in other methods. The point being, the antenna will couple with a ground plan (surface) and up on the bed rail will not provide the most efficient TX, RX possible. It should be better then what you are experiencing though.
Note (added 5/24/2010): Here is an article on Firetik's website. It even mentions a Ground Plan (GP) antenna will provide better and stronger singal on Rx/Tx even mounted in the same location. http://www.firestik.com/Tech_Docs/GP-or-NGP.htm

4) SWR = Standing Wave Ratio, this is cause by Harmonic frequencies which actually travel back into the radio are amplified on TX and they rob power from the Carrier freq. that CB's receive on. So those harmonics being sent out are wasted and not efficient. The ideal is to TX only on the Citizens Band freq. Ideal, being key, in a perfect world. here is a link for more info on adjusting your SWR. http://www.cbradiomagazine.com/Artic...WR%20meter.htm

5.)Just a simple FYI... Electrons flow from negative to positive, it is common thought as the opposite but that is not true. From negative to positive. Now think about where the ground in your vehicle travels, and all the things that can cause noise, even in Audio systems. Add RF and it can become even more sensitive.

I think if you address the ground and the antenna coax being coiled. Try running the extra coax back and forth behind the rear seat from drivers side to passenger side, repeatedly until there is no more excess. If it gives you good results, try pulling each end together and zip tie it, and maybe a few in the middle.

Hope that helps. Let us know how you make out.

Over and out.

Updated for clarification. Thanks Frmboybuck... post #22

 

You are talking about two different animals.....Do NOT ground your antenna to the battery. Ground it to the bed and make sure the bed is grounded to the frame. A ground plane is way different than an electrical ground

 

When I was talking about grounding, I was referring to grounding the unit (CB Radio). Sorry I was not clear about that. I understand, ground plan, and electrical ground clearly refer to two different concepts.

Thank you for the clarification. Sorry for not specifying. I updated my previous post.

 

yeah i think later on this week ill mount a wire to my mount, run it under my bed somewhere, grind some paint down and then mount that to my bed, that way making that grounded. then im ordering an swr tuner of my own, a 4 foot firestik to pick up better, and a spring so if i hit it it wont rip off. then well see what i can get my swr to. i used it all week and i can hear my friend until he gets about 70 yards away then i cant hear anymore. oddest thing though is that with the firestik cap on the top when i transmit it lights up only 2 lights, but with the cap off, it transmits 4 and the 5 blinks. hoping a lower swr will correct all this. still need to get rid of some engine noise. does walcott sell noise reduction filters? the cbs powered from my battery.

 

As for the noise....if you unplug the coax from the radio, do you still have the noise? If not, a filter won't do a bit of good. You will need to find the noise and filter it at its source. What radio are you running?

 

midland 1001z

 

bringing this back frmo the dead. i think im going to get a spring for my 3 foot firestik, an swr tuner, and a shorter piece of coax. my coax is tightly coiled under my driver dash board above the pedals. can i cut the coax i have and put an end on it? i have allot and dont want to string it out somewhere to avoid the mess.

also should i worry about grounding the mount out to the bed? i might just pull the mount off, and sand the paint off where it sits.

as said before i couldnt get my swr under 1.8, and i have no continuity between the firestik mount and the bed of the truck.

 

in my experience with springs... they are JUNK. dont waste the money on them i have 2 3' firesticks and i drove 50 miles of interstate and pulled into a drive through and snap, both broke.
when i mounted mine i just took the mirror mounts and turned them around and mounted them to the front lip of my box, through the bedliner. i can talk to people up to about 30 miles away and i have done no tuning to mine.

 

Do not cut your coax, Soldering the connectors correctly takes a bit of skill and practice. Can you run the extra and lay it out behind your back seat? You will need a good ground for your antenna mount at the mount itself, Then for best results pick up a few 4"-5" bonding straps at your local parts store, Place them at or near all four corners of your box going from your box to your frame.(Don't rely on any factory strap to provide a good RF ground. They're meant solely for DC grounding tail lights etc. and are just inadequate for RF grounding) The antenna is 90% of your installation. Here is alot of information on antennas and bonding, If you took a week and read everything on this link you would be the one answering everyones questions.

http://www.k0bg.com/

 

In regard to your SWR meter, set it on the 20 watt setting, not the 2000 watt setting. As someone here has already mentioned, SWR is reading the ratio of signal that is bouncing back into the radio, and has nothing to do with what your antenna is rated at handling. Now if you have a typical mobile CB rig, then you are most likely transmitting at about 5 watts or so, if even. The setting should be relative to your output. Now if you are running a 1000 watt linear amplifier I could understand using the 2000 watt setting. When you change your setting on the meter to the proper output range, you should see your SWR reading change as well, make sure that you are reading the correct scale. And as already said, a 1:1 is a perfect SWR. Lastly, is your antenna an 11 meter antenna? Did you buy specifically a mobile CB antenna? If you bought an antenna designed for the 10 meter amateur band, then you may have some difficulty getting it to tune well on 11 meters. CB is in the 11 meter band.