I am brand new to cb's have basic questions, and problems

[nomad20012]

this is my first cb and im know i must have something basic screwed up but id like some help to save me time please.
I have a cobra 19 dx IV powered direct to the battery and grounded well. It has 15 ft of good quality cb coax running to a Wilson silver load 4 ft 200 watt antenna mounted to the rear passenger body of my jeep.
Ok, I have had no luck recieving anything. I dont have any signal at all. Everything seems ok, when i key the mic, i get a full bar graphic on the lcd. I am trying to adjust for the swr but am not sure if i have another problem. Would i get any kind of incomming signal if it is not tuned perfect? I have adjusted the tip of the antenna all over and still nothing. I have checked all my connections they look good. Is my voltage in too low? because i have only 12 volts at the radio, i read it should be above 13?
Any ideas? thank you

 

[High Miler]

Yeah... First of all get yourself an SWR meter... Your going blind on this one trying to adjust with no meter... Can buy one that will get you by at Radio Shack.

And because you don't have a Meter... Those little red lights mean nothing... If you have something grounded out you won't receive and if that's happened I am surprised you havn't burned the radio up.

On the other hand you could have a perfectly good antenna system and the radio could be messed up... You need to get an swr meter and start there.

Are you getting any static at all out of the speaker?? If not your internal speaker could be blown, seen it many times, and a quick external plug-in would tell if that's all it was.

You cannot adjust SWR without a reliable meter ... Those little red lights on the front won't tell you much.

Hope this is a good start for you.

 

[RugRat235]

try turning the squelch and rf gain if it has one.

 

[Happy_Hamer]

looking at the picture your PL-259 does not look like it put together correctly? Where is that wire on the side going? show us a picture of that as well.

I would start with that PL-259 can you get another close up of that from the coax to the antenna mount?

 

[Happy_Hamer]

The circled part is what looks wrong to me and the arrow is where I would like another picture following the wire.

 

[MUDDOG7375]

I have a Cobra 19 Ultra that I have shot ALOT & I mean ALOT of skip with without an amp... I dont think I own a radio that I havent consistantly shot skip on...I love them...As for cheap yes they are but they are a good starter radio...Its what i started with...& I have my original one & my original base also

 

[High Miler]

The circled part is what looks wrong to me and the arrow is where I would like another picture following the wire.

Excellent observation! That definately looks like something is amiss there for sure... I had that happen on a PL-259 of mine too... Re-cut and another PL-259 put back in place and I was back in buisness..

Stupid me... I am sure it was my fault... 1 too many twists of the pliers trying to get a good connection.

 

[Happy_Hamer]

the PL-259 is for sure WRONG but I am also concerned the wire he has for a ground is actually going to the "hot" part of the antenna?

 

[High Miler]

Yup... Sure looks that way... So my comment earlier of "May be shorted out" may be true afterall...

I had a Hustler 5-BTV that you had to cut the PL-259 off and put the Conductor between Washers or the Antenna would short out... Couldn't receive or Transmit.

That Ground wire may indeed be wrong.

 

[Happy_Hamer]

well at the current set up the wire seem to be just holding the coax in place because the PL-259 is not correct, soooooooo the wire right now would be doing nothing UNTIL he repairs the PL-259 THEN he may have a short, right now there is just no connection, hence no rx or tx and makes the final feel icky bad

 

[High Miler]

I've had them break and still have it working(As long as that Center Conductor on the PL-259 is shoved far enough up inside)... But if that Ground wire is wrong....

But yeah your right.... Finals don't appreciate that type of abuse very well.... POP goes the final!

 

[nomad20012]

Thank you for your analysis of this. I have since replaced the PL-259 , it still looks wrong there is plenty of thread left. However, in light of the new info you gave me, I think I did screw this up in that I had connected the tiny wire at the bottom of the antenna to the ground wire that you see going to the ground. The wire at the bottem of the antenna was slightly exposed and I naturally assumed that this is how it was to be connected, not thinking this could be the "hot" part of the antenna. So if this is the case, and I have not corrected this as of now, then yes indeed I really screwed that up. here are more pics for your expert disection. Why do i always have to learn the hard way!? Oh well, you can bet i will never do it again. I appreciate your help, there is allot of good info on here, please have patience I am trying. I am looking for a tuner but before that i want the rest to be right for starters.

 

[Happy_Hamer]

OK NOW I MAY SEE ANOTHER PROBLEM!

The wire is part of the fiberglass antenna? It connects to the windings inside of the antenna coating near t he base of the antenna?

If this is the case you have a bad antenna?

 

[Happy_Hamer]

just for an experiment disconnect the wire where you have it to the chrome bracket and connect the wire ABOVE the nylon washer on the antenna and see if you can hear anything DO NOT KEY UP THE MIC just listen and see if you hear channel 19

 

[nomad20012]

Happy_Hamer I have tried connecting that wire as you said and nothing happened., ive looked over the connections. Where that wire was attached to the antenna, I have removed it and taped the antenna wire to its base, then fastened the little ground wire above the washer and back to the chrome bracket again, and still no change.
I think I might have to bite the bullet and take this thing in for someone to troubleshoot...