New member here and first question

Sounds to me like you have a short in either the antenna or the coax. Maybe water has gotten into the coil on the antenna base or the coax has been damaged. You need to get it checked out because it you transmit with a SWR that high it may burn out the final transistors on the radio. The cb shop you mentioned should have an antenna analyzer that would determine the problem and most cb shops don't charge much, if anything, to check for you.

 

REPLACE IT !

PL-259 connectors exposed to rain leak and I can tell you PERSONLY How much LMR-400 GOOD coax got trashed untill I found something to seal the connectors.

Now RG-58 and RG-8x If the jacket has got nicked will wick up water over time .... no cure but to REPLACE it.

 

I wouldn't trust it any longer if it was me. No longer than you have had the antenna it should be under warranty and the K40 company is good about honoring their warranty's from what I've read about them. I currently use a K40 trucker (it's been a great antenna) and it's warrantied for 5 years. The bad thing in your situation is having to box it up, (if it is indeed your antenna that's at fault), and mailing it at your expense to K40 and have to wait for the turnaround time. After you get it checked out and if the antenna is bad call the company and see if they'll send you one immediately and include a RMA shipping label that you can send your antenna back in the same packaging at no cost to you. I haven't had to deal with K40 but I have got other manufacturers to this. Good luck and don't hurt your radio as the radio manufacturers don't normally warranty burnt finals.

 

I don't think it's anything you did unless you cut your coax by accident somewhere along the line. The reason I first suggested moisture damage was because I've seen a couple other posts on other boards with the same problem recently during these heavy snow and ice storms some of us have been experiencing. The reason I use a K40 trucker is I got it on sale a good price and the only place I can really mount an antenna is on my tractor's mirror brackets. I've had all kinds of antennas that mount there. I like the Wilson 2K/5K too. This one is comparable for my needs at about half the cost. If you like a mag mount antenna and a lot of folks do because of the portability and ability to use the ground plane of the roof. They are very good antennas and usually tune very well. Most of the posts I've read, people prefer the Wilson's but others say the K40 brands are every bit as good. I can't offer an opinion as the last mag mount I used was over 20 years ago and I can't even remember the name of it. Google around and you might get a perspective you can feel comfortable with. Maybe someone with more experience with mag mounts might chime in too.

 

im surprised no one has asked this. have you moved the antenna since it was first tuned? are you using an in radio meter?

 

with that antenna you will need to adjust swr each time you move antenna. even if its back to the same relative spot