Cobra 29 LTD issue

[Nulltone]

Hello, I have a Cobra 29 LTD installed in a Pete 579, with dual antennas. While talking on the radio, my meter jumps around while keyed up. When I switch it into SWL calibrate, it also jumps around from right to left. Could anyone explain to me what this means? I have done a little troubleshooting myself but still does not work right, I cannot talk while the meter is swinging but if it stays steady, I can talk and receive just fine.

I had found that the antennas were shorted to ground, so I removed the antenna mounts, cleaned them with contact cleaner, resealed them in their mounts and I no longer have this short to ground issue. (I'm using a dc multimeter, its all I have) The mounts are grounded, and the shielding of the wire is grounded to the chassis through the mounts im guessing. I now have an open from the coax center pin to ground, before I had resistance due to water intrusion in the mounts. I had no ground to the CB, found a wire pulled from the connector so the meter was grounding through the antenna mounts. I figured I had this nailed down but I'm still having issues.

The CB has a warranty void if removed sticker on the side of the radio, does this mean the radio was tweaked by someone or is this standard cobra practice?

Thanks for knowledge shared ahead of time.

 

[222DBFL]

Your meter jumping around. How much we talking? From one end to the other or does it move a bit? Could be picking up background noise. Turn the dynamike all the way down and key the mic. Does the meter still jump around? Is the radio receiving okay? And have you used an external watt meter to check the swr and power. It will also help you trouble shoot. Get an external watt meter. I would not keep keying the radio until I put an external watt meter in line and check the swr with the dynamike turned all the way down. There should be no modulation when testing for swr, even background noise can skew a reading. As far as the warranty sticker it may be factory or it may be from a cb shop. Hard to tell. Also check your mic. It may have a bad wire or connection. If possibe try a different mic. But it sounds like you have some other issues as well and need to address all of them. Don't stay on the key for too long if you know the swr is bad, the radio will end up blowing at some point. And you don't have to spend a fortune on an swr meter. Even the truck stop cheapo would work for what you need. But if you want a decent one that doesn't break bank, radio shack sells one that is good for the money, at $40. You'll also need a short jumper between the radio and swr meter. Most truck stops carry some decent ones. A 3ft coax jumper will work fine. Good luck and hope you get it resolved.

 

[Tripple Nickel]

Follow 222dbfl suggestions to a tee. As for the void sticker, those are generally put on by CB shop seller after they have supposedely done a peak//tune. If you are using a power mic, the battery may be going, if not, I suspect a wiring solder connection @ the mic plug.Try another mic and see. 3's to you/yours, and a good evening.
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