Horrible SWR

[thetez]

hey,
i bought a new cobra 29 that was tuned, and it worked great, the SWR meter on it said it was great, i have a new antenna, and new coax, new mount and all, it was a complete upgrade, well something on the CB died, i think im going to get that one fixed some time this week, anyway, it died, and i think the culprit was high SWR, because, someone was saying i need to tune it who i normally talk with, because i could get out far, but not hear, ANYWAY,
i plugged in a different CB and went to tune it, the SWR was above 3.0 so i tried tuning it, replaced the coax, tried different ground combinations, i did a lot... and the SWR wont drop below 3.... anyone know what else i can do?

also... would a different CB have a different SWR?

[BobC]

SWR is a measurement of the match between the antenna & the coax.
The radio has nothing to do with that match.

The one thing the radio does change is the accuracy of the reading.
The swr meter in many radios is subject to calibration errors.
The knob on the front is not the only calibration point for an swr meter.
Someone, during tuning, may have disturbed the factory calibration of the swr meter.

If you suspect the reading on one radio, use a known good external swr meter to verify.

There's a number of reasons why you cannot get a better match.
One is grounding, another is a bad antenna.
The meter can be a significant source of error as well.
A poorly installed coax connector could prove to be a cause as well.

When you say the radio did not hear well, what does that mean exactly?

Does it mean you had a big signal coming in from skip or other noise & just couldn't make out anyone's voice or was there little signal from any source?

[thetez]

i got the standard noise, but i couldent receive peoples signals, if they were more than a mile away, and i also had to have the squelch all the way up to hear them anyway, Well my cobra 29 i cant calibrate it anymore, it stopped putting out enough power to even let me calibrate it, i need to get it repaired,

At one point i had it down to 1.2 and now i cant get it below 3 i replaced the antenna, coax and even the mount... its al basically new, ive even tried 2 and 3 cables. im going to try changing location... but i did have it at 1.2 in this location...

[VirginIs.trucker]

i got my lil 25ltd cause wasnt sure what to get. well i just had it peaked and tuned w/echo board put in. i had bought 2 oil cooled antennas prior to that and was working fine. since the mods to the radio, i gotta turn my squelch all the way up to cancel out noise/static. what am i doing wrong? what can i do to fix it? i'm running it through the stock coaxials/cables. should i get a noise clipper/filter or what?

[thetez]

wow... dont even remember writing this... my mobile set up is currently amazing... on side band i talk just as far as most of the base stations and i on am i talk and hear great! ive learned a lot since this post i guess,


i dont know much about the oil cooled antennas, i use wilson silverloads and they perform amazing. a problem after the tune up could be the guy had no idea what he was doin, or he could have turned the receive in the radio way up, but i doubt it.... it sounds like an antenna problems. either the coax or the antenna connection.... check out the connections, if you can try replacing the coax, and yeah... i think its a connection problem/ground problem, or ... what do you drive are their a lot of electronics in the vehicle?

Noise clippers arnt too effective, you will still need to turn the squelch way down.... have you checked the SWRs?

[VirginIs.trucker]

i spoke to another cb guy(GI Joe), he said to check out the wiring/coaxial. did that and it worked.thnx 4 da all help.

[truckstopcowboy]

i had a bran new antenna do that whants,so i whould start there, if i steel is above 3 try a beter ground