Galaxy DX99V

[loosecannon]

fm,
that was funny!

Big Dog,

i have a sneaking suspicion that your SWR is high because of the location of your antenna.
it is NEVER a good idea to mount your antenna on the bumper, because any metal that is within two feet off the sides of the antenna will cause reflection and mess up the radiation pattern of the antenna.

the only part of your antenna that is getting a signal out is the part that actually sticks up above your hood.
with a 4 foot antenna, that cant be more than 2 feet, if that much.
mounting it on the roof would be best, but you can mount it in one of the rear stakeholes in the bed of the truck also.

the bottom line is to get the base of the antenna above the metal of the vehicle.
yes, you have to make it obnoxious looking for it to work well.
sorry, thats just the way it is.

also, please describe to me in great detail, how you connected your coax cable to the antenna.
was there a screw on connector on the mount?
did you have to strip one end of the coax and hard mount it to the antenna mount?
tell me exactly how you did it, and dont leave anything out.
i have a suspicion. hmmmm...
later,
LC

 

[Big Dog]

fm,
that was funny!

Big Dog,

i have a sneaking suspicion that your SWR is high because of the location of your antenna.
it is NEVER a good idea to mount your antenna on the bumper, because any metal that is within two feet off the sides of the antenna will cause reflection and mess up the radiation pattern of the antenna.

the only part of your antenna that is getting a signal out is the part that actually sticks up above your hood.
with a 4 foot antenna, that cant be more than 2 feet, if that much.
mounting it on the roof would be best, but you can mount it in one of the rear stakeholes in the bed of the truck also.

the bottom line is to get the base of the antenna above the metal of the vehicle.
yes, you have to make it obnoxious looking for it to work well.
sorry, thats just the way it is.

also, please describe to me in great detail, how you connected your coax cable to the antenna.
was there a screw on connector on the mount?
did you have to strip one end of the coax and hard mount it to the antenna mount?
tell me exactly how you did it, and dont leave anything out.
i have a suspicion. hmmmm...
later,
LC

LC, I have aborted any atempt to attach the stripped coax to the antenna, the wire was getting pinched by the hood. So I now have the ant. on the original bracket on the bumper, about 3 ft. is above truck. I hauk\l a slide on truck camper frequently so I dont have many ant. mount options due to the camper overhang. Lou

 

[loosecannon]

if you cant move the antenna then you are just going to have to deal with the high SWR and poor range.

personally, i would not run an amp with that setup because you are just asking for it to burn up eventually.

you will be able to use just the radio as long as you dont key up for more than a few seconds at a time.

good luck,
LC