Just upgraded......but need HELP!!!

Okay...well took it to Walcot CB shop this morning when they opened at 9a. basic P & T was $30. I needed a 'limiter' something installed, they found some of the solder was poor and the mic was cutting in and out. Also told me that the antenna that i bought at Bosselman's needed to be grounded (even though its a goundless antenna). I get on the road, and find out that when i keyed up my mic (this was after i checked the SWR on my seperate meter) that it pegged the needle clear to the far right.

oh...and was told by the shop in bosselman's that the SWR meter on the radio was 'good'....but the walcot CB shop said it wasnt working at all.

I noticed too that when i have my truck up and running, the needle bounces all over. I shut the truck off. switched back to the dual antenna setup that came with hte truck, and ask for a radio check. i'm curious to see when i get rolling down the road, if i still have the needle bouncing all over when i key up the mic. dont do me any good to waste more money on a radio setup if i cannot get any use out of it going down the road.


i'm about fed up with even trying to get a good setup. after the P&T at walcot CB shop...the ground strap...that all cost me $70. added to the $100 i paid for a piece of !#$% galaxy from the Indy CB shop and the $45 3ft antenna .... i'm thru dumping anymore money into it. after $200 and i still dont have a radio that is usable.

 

So i get stopped for the night. Take a good look at my radio, and cannot figure out why when i've tried to key the mic for the past hour, i get NO movement with my needle. In fact, it even goes backwards....ever so slightly.

i am about to put this galaxy under my trailer and roll the hell over it. $210 wasted in a used radio....a $45 antenna and 'work' done at Walcott CB shop....and i still dont have a usable setup.....WTF !!!!

 

well after i was 'sold' the ground strap, and got the tuned radio in my truck, i was running that 3ft wilson antenna. I was getting higher SWRs than i was before, but got them down to around 1.4-1.9s on ch. 1-40.

When the needle was bouncin' all around it was when i was keying up. Last night i stopped at a Pilot in southern MI, and a guy had his passenger window down, and radio was on. i could hear when i keyed up....all that came over was static. just for kicks i turned on the 'roger beep' and keyed up....and got "SHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-beep". I switched mics, and still got static. Cause i thought the 9 volt battery in my noise-cancelling mic from (gulp) road pro was going bad. but its in the radio.

Lucky right now, where i stopped for the night, i'm back in Walcott, IA. so i'm heading back over in the morning, going to get them to look at the radio again, on their dime, since they didnt seem to get it fixed the first time. and maybe this time the tech from inside can actually come out, look at my setup and tell me what i need to change.

i told the goofus i had an '09 Volvo, and he started talking like i had peterbilt window brackets.....um....DUH.


oh...i think i am going to take that wilson setup i was sold.....cut it up into tiny 2-3in pieces, and ship it to the cb shop in altoona, ia. and attch a note with it, saying this is what i think of this, and your expert advise.

 

Thats part of my problem....i cant even sound like crap.

i know the galaxy is a good radio. i like spending the extra $$ on equipment that is quality...just not the service that isnt. I notice that all the bolts on the volvo are almost all powder coated. the frame is painted, almost everything is painted. What i might do is take the whole window bracket off the bottom, unscrew all the window bolts, buy one that matches thats galvanized, and take out my palm sander, and sand the paint off down to the metal. =)

 

whats talking skip? I just left the CB shop....the 'work' is under 'waranty' so its not costing me anything to fix it. The guy did tell me about a 'bird pertch' to use. He actually did what i would have thought they'd do last time i was there, and actually go out to my truck and look at it.

He said to unscrew one of the bolts holding the bracket on the door, and screw the pertch in. I wont have to worry about grounding wire or anything. Just mount the antenna to the bracket, bracket to the pertch, pertch to the metal in the door, foot bone connected to the heel bone, and i'm all set.

Different tech is REALLY looking into the radio. resoldering all the 'questionable' connections, etc. Had something in the radio keeping me from transmitting. "something in the saddle".....dont have a clue what it means, but sounds like they are really working on it this time.