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CB problems - seems to be the antenna

S

-Spazmatic-

Member
Feb 17, 2006
39
1
16
West, Texas
www.trophyshoponline.com
I don't understand this, but that's what you guys are here for. Here's my story:

I first got my CB a month or so ago, and was only getting a half a mile or so of range. I knew this couldn't be right, but never had time to fix it. Well here recently, my antenna was sort of knocked off it's mount by a railroad arm (long story...) and when I put it back on I changed the coax cable too (since someone had told me the cable may be shorted out, giving me no range). When I did this, I had NO range, not even any engine noise, and my mic power (I have a midland 1001z, it shows your mic's broadcasting strength) was at 2 out of 5 bars, when it was always full before. Well, I thought my radio was busted (hence the bad signal) so I went and got a new radio from Walmart (just to test it, I wasn't going to pay shipping both ways to send my current CB to the manufacturer only for them to tell me it was not the radio's fault) and low and behold, same thing. So, I'm certain it's my antenna....but honestly, how could the antenna be the problem? I mean, it's essentially just a stick with wire wrapped around it, right?


My setup (not meant for a thousand miles of range, just 3-5 would be nice):

1995 Ford Bronco
Mount is on the rear tire carrier
4ft fiberglass whip (grounded to the truck via a 12ga wire) with half of the whip over the top of the truck
Midland 1001z with stock mic
Originally 18 ft coax (unsure of shielding %) and now a 20ft 95% shielded (copper too)

What the hell did I do wrong? I thought this would be easy for me but I am sadly mistaken. :cry:
 

No need for bitch slapping, lol. WalMart has multi meters pretty cheap. There are discount stores that have Chineese ones for like 7 bucks. Lacking that, Try ungrounding the antenna. A buddy had a fiberglass one with a wire that had a ring on it. If you grounded it, it wouldn't work. :shock: It grounded the radiating wire in the antenna. Never know.
 
Well, I found out that the little plastic washer that goes between the mount and antenna isn't there. Could that be the problem? I made this:

noname9ni.jpg


From our laser we use to create signs and other things. It's plastic, will it work the same as the other one did?

Also, what do I do with the multimeter once I get it?

Another thing, does the 3ft length of coax thing really apply? I've heard that lengths of 3ft (like 3, 6, 9, etc) are better for CBs, and I have a 20'. Is it ok?

Thanks.
 
Well, I found out that the little plastic washer that goes between the mount and antenna isn't there. Could that be the problem? I made this:
Click to expand...

That's it. Has to be one top and bottom. Coax length doen't matter. Your antenna was grounded, the part that shouldn't be.
 
The insulator has to prevent the stud from grounding out to the mount.
Think of it this way for right now, the center of your coax is the positive (+) and the braid, or the wire mesh under the outside plastic is the negative (-)
If they touch, they short out, just as if you were to short the red and black cables on the battery of your car.
That power needs to get to just the antenna.
If you pull your mount apart again and look closely, you will see that were the metal stud goes thru the mount, it fits "sloppy"
This is because the plastic (nylon) washer ( insulator) is not flat, it has a lip that fits around the stud, that keeps it centered, and stops it from touching the metal of the bracket.

If you have a radio shack close, go look to see if they have a stud mount, if you eyeball the package, you will see how the washer is made.


73
Jeff
 
Last edited:
Also, it is very wise to test every new antenna with a device called an SWR meter. The meter tests what are called "standing waves" which deals with current on the antenna. They musst be kept at a low level for the antenna to work properly. High level standing wave ratios can damage the radio and keep the radio from transmitting normally. The "how to" is in the links Audio posted.

And just as a side comment, if there is a problem with a radio. transmitting, first thing to check is the antenna and the feed line.

73
 
For the third time....

Wow, this is the third time to try to post this. Somehow firefox crashed the first time, the second time I hit a shortcut key combination on the keyboard and closed the tab, so here we go a third time.



Alright. I went and got a little washer yesterday, but it didn't help, so I went back in and bought a replacement 4' antenna. She said I could bring it back if it didn't fix the problem so I thought what the hey. I went out there, put it together, and suddenly I have signal. Problem is, I'm right back where I started. I only have about half a mile of signal, and EVERYTHING is new, coax, radio, and now the antenna. I don't know what to do. The antenna hasn't been SWR'd yet, but there are no cb shops closer than an hour away from here, and the only shop that tests SWRs that I found within about 30 minutes of me doesn't look very trustworthy, and they are in the middle of town (testing for SWR's in a bunch of buildings and trees isn't very effective, is it?). I don't have cash for an SWR meter, but I'll try to find a buddy who has one (I'm hoping..).

Another problem I face is that I cannot fit the lock washer, the regular metal washer and the non-conductive washer all on the stud that the antenna screws on to. I took the lock washer and regular washer off, but 2M guy told me I needed two insulated washers (one on top and below the mount) on there, and that's pretty much impossible, I won't be able to have enough threads on the stud to screw the antenna on to.
 
You might not need 2 nylon washers, look at the stud that the coax hooks to, does it have a plastic sleeve that will center it, and the nylon washer would center the top part?


73
Jeff
 
Don't you have a manual with installation instructions with the antrenna? They usually have a drawing or several showing the parts and how they are assembled. You've got something assembled wrong if you're not getting out with either antenna. It could be the mounting, the coax, or the connectors. If you know of anyone with GOOD knowlege of radio theory who knows how to test antennas, ask tht person for help.

And one more thing: The spare tire carrier may be the problem. The antenna has to have connection to the vehicle frame. If that carrier is not making contact with enough metal for a decent path to ground, the radio won't get out very well.
 
o

If you had "X" amount of signal before and the thing got broken or something changed, THEN bought another antenna that has NOT been properly set up, then it may be that you had high SWR in the beginning and STILL have high SWR with the newer antenna. So you STILL don't have much signal. So,
get access to an SWR meter, or a CB shop that can check it for you. Just another guess. :)

CWM
 
Try the SWR

Before going into a "Hi-Tech" approach to fix this problem, I would definately check the SWR. The SWR should have been checked before you even keyed the mic for the first time anyway. Checking the anetnna for the correct parts or correct assembly is not a Hi-Tech approach, but what I can see coming in the near future is going to be.
I know that some things on autos will give you a real hard time getting a good SWR reading resulting in a tremendous signal loss. A perfect example is: My brother! Well, actually his truck. He has a work truck (pickup with a cap) he has ladder racks on the top of this truck. As soon as he puts an aluminum ladder on top of his truck, his SWR goes from 1.2:1 to over 3:1.
What you should do is either go to you LCBS (local CB Shop) and get an inexpensive SRW meter or get one online. Check it out and take it from there.

Hope all works out well for you. BTW...... welcome to the world of CB!

73's
-Jim
 

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