couple noob questions

Hello. Try to get your swr lower- shoot for 1.5 or alittle lower. Tuning your antenna length and rechecking the swr and retuning, etc will tweek it. You will have better transmission and sound better. Mikes make a big difference. Most of the stock mikes with inexpensive radios are not very good. Look into Astastic (sp) they are great mikes and will help you get out better and more clearly. Then you can consider getting a "tune up" by removing some of the restrictions put on radios. The power can be increased from around 4 watts to close to 30 depending on the radio- this will help with transmission also. Hope this helps. Your SWR of 2.5 sounds high and will cause you performance issues.

 

Factoy junk is just that...junk.

You are better off buying an antenna bracket and coax and putting your own antenna on. That should cure your high swr problem.

On thbe mic, get a noise canceling mic. Like an astitic 636.

On those 29s, there is a modulation limiter on there. Cut it and your modulation will be louder...

 

If your Cobra 19 had the stock mic, it's likely the culprit. I too have that same radio I bought for cheap. If I talk too close to the mic, it sounds like I'm garbled, if I hold the mic about 6-8 inches away I sound clear. It's the stock mic which IMO is garbage. But nevertheless I think the Cobra 29 is a better radio than the 19.

The SWR is a measurement of how much RF power is sent out vs. how much is sent back into the radio as heat, also known as "reflected power". You want your SWR to be as low as you can get it across all 40 channels. A 2.0:1 means your radio is transmitting 89% of it's power and 11% is reflected. A 1.5:1 means your radio is transmitting 96% of it's power and 4% is reflected.

Obviously you want as much transmitting out power and less reflected power as possible. So you tune your antennas for as low as you can. You tune your antennas by adjusting length until you get your SWR's within 1.0:1 to 2.0:1, with 1.5:1 being the ideal spot. Keep in mind 1.5:1 is good, 2.0:1 is satisfactory, anything over 3 is bad, anything lower than 1.5:1 is #### good.

What I do is I tune my antennas for as close to 1.5:1 as I can get on channels 20, 1 and 40. If you never plan to use any channel other than 19, you can tune just for channel 19 but I figure on a 40 channel radio you should tune for all 40 channels.

Also keep in mind when checking/setting SWR's, the SWR meter on the radio is not that good, that an external meter is better, and when you tune for low SWR, you want to have the truck away from any buildings, metal poles, etc. An empty parking can be a good spot for SWR tuning.

You also want to run the best antenna you can for your truck as well as the best coax. The antenna is the heart and soul of any radio and will make or break any radio. A crappy antenna or coax will also contribute to high SWR issues.

A different mic might help. On the newer stock Cobra mics, I think they are iffy. My stock Cobra mic if I talk like an inch away from it, the output sounds garbled, but 6-8 inches I sound ok, and that's into my Cobra 19 which doesn't have a mic gain knob. A noise cancelling mic is designed to where you touch your upper lip to the mic guard and talk. Plus they help keep the background noise down so they only hear you and not your truck. I personally prefer noise cancelling mics.

Hopefully this helps you.

 

Well, as I mentioned, the stock mic on my Cobra 19 I feel is garbage. If I can talk 1 inch from it and sound distorted yet I hold it back 6-8 inches and I sound ok...but my radio is stock, not peaked, or tweaked or snipped or clipped. And I don't have a mic gain.

With a pair of diagonal cutting pliers, aka "dikes". However I strongly do not recommend this unless you want to sound distorted on the radio.

I'd start off with a good SWR meter, since this is the most important step. Then look into a noise cancelling mic.

 

Hi. Look, I'm no expert. Neither are you. Next time you hear a CB shop, advertising on 19, Call him back. Stop in. Won't take him, if he knows his stuff , 15 min. to calibrate your antennas, and adjust your radio. If he's good , you might have to wait awhile. He'll have a line. Time well spent. When it's your turn, ask him questions, he'll be happy to talk to you. Just like I am. Won't cost much, for his work. Don't be gung ho , and buy everything in the store. Learn, if you choose, BEFORE you buy.
There are VERY FEW radios, which can put out 30 watts. At least for more than a few seconds. Burns out the finals. Wanna spent that kind of money, buy a linear. First , though, get your radio set up correctly.
74 sporty,03 Ultra

 

I fussed with My Cobra for weeks and finally stopped at a shop the guy looked like a bum acted even weirder took him 15 mins and a new antenna and poof I was talking to the world better than I ever thought. 125 dollars well spent for antenna and labor

 

The antenna and coax cable that comes with the truck is not very good quality stuff. But, if you got it and it works and the SWR reading is below 3.0, then I would use it.
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The three most important things I can tell you about cb radio are:
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.1 - Never, never, ever operate a cb radio without a real cb radio antenna.
No you cannot use the rabbit ear antenna for a TV instead.
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2. - Always, always, always use an external SWR meter to determine the SWR reading of your cb radio setup BEFORE, I said BEFORE, you start using the radio.
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3. - Never, never, never operate a cb radio that has an SWR reading of 3.0 or higher because you can and will damage your radio.
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If your SWR reading is 1.1 to 1.5 that is very good. You could leave it alone and just be happy. Perfectionists will tinker with it but it is not at all necessary.
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A SWR reading in the 2's usually indicates that the antenna needs to be tuned for optimal performance. For the record, you can operate the radio and you will not damage anything. You just are not going to get your signal out as far as you could with a properly tuned antenna. Kinda like your car runs but would get better fuel economy if you got it tuned up.
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Now if your SWR reading was 3.0 or higher, that is completely different. Operating a cb radio with a reading that high would damage your radio fairly quickly. A reading that high indicates a connetion problem. Often but not always this is an antenna ground plane problem.

 

I've got a 29 LX. On Ch 1 SWR is under 1.1, 19 is 1.1 and on 40 it's 2.5. Any suggestions? Thanks.