antenna/swr frustration

[haze1]

i currently drive a freightliner century with stock antenna setup, i tried using a wilson 5000 with my cobra 29 but never could get the swr readings to an acceptable level. i have tried mounting the antenna on its separate mount and the on the factory mount that is part of the mirror, but the results are almost the same, also when i tried a new 18ft coax the results were even worse. would like to get a response from anyone with similar setup and if so did you experience the same and what can i do to fix the problem, which is bad swr and poor performance.

[squirrellsgnwild]

what is an acceptable swr level? and what is your swr on 1 and on 40? Is your antenna grounded?

[haze1]

i was led to believe an acceptable swr reading is 2 or at least 1.5 but keep in mind i am not that knowledgable when it comes to cb radios. the readings i had on channel 1 was 2.5 and channel 40 well over 3, and when i tried using new 18ft coax the red warning light on my radio came on when i keyed the mic. no i have not grounded the antenna, would that help and how do you ground the antenna.

[thetez]

is it a magnet mount or is it a permanent mount, and does the bottom of the antenna have a little wire coming off?

[haze1]

nope, not a magnet mount. its the mirror bracket type of mount and no the antenna does not have any wire coming off of it. are you suggesting that i might have to ground the antenna with some wire, if so where do i run the wire to on the truck? btw thanks for responding to my questions.

[thetez]

Well, im not sure exactly how your antenna works, so it might work that way it might not, but you would have to attach the wire to somewhere you know is grounded... chassie, some bolt, anything grounded.

i may be setting up dual antennas, and i need to pick up another antenna, and the cable, so i may be going to a shop tomorrow, ill check out that antenna and ask how to ground it if need be.