Next question with my swrs: steel or aluminum mount?

The reason they move the antenna out is to avoid the trouble you are having.

 

The bar is also there for slip seaters that use the vise grip antenna mounts.

I have several friends working for Yellow, and UPS and their trucks have the bar so they do not destroy the mirrors.

 

Let me get back to the basics on standing wave ratio or swr so that anyone who is reading this thread and is unfamiliar with the topic can follow along.
.
When your cb radio is transmitting, you want the signal to go out the antenna. When a small portion of that signal fails to go out the antenna, it is bounced/reflected back to the radio. We can measure the amount of signal that is bounced/reflected back to the radio in comparison to the amount of signal that is transmitted and that result is the standing wave ratio or swr. When the swr is small it is not a significant problem. However, when the swr is 3.0 or higher when measured on a standalone swr meter it can and will damage the power transistors (the "finals") of your cb radio.
.
The most common causes of damaged power transistors is either operating a cb radio with out being attached to either a cb radio antenna or dummy load and operating a cb radio while the swr is excessive (3.0 or higher).
.
Personally, I do not trust the setup of the new trucks that have the cb radio and am/fm radio using splitters to separate the various signals.
I therefore would run a separate coax (rg 58 or rg8 of short length from one single antenna directly to the cb radio and check the swr. You need to use a stand alone swr meter. The swr meter that is installed in some of the cb radios is just not accurate enough.
.
Again personally, I avoid 18 foot lengths of coax like the plague. There is no requirement for 18 feet of coax and shorter lengths avoid the problem of what to do with the excess.
.
The most important things I can tell you about cb radios are 1. never operate a cb radio unless it is attached to a cb antenna or a dummy load, 2. The very first thing you do immediately after installing a cb radio is to check your swr with a standalone swr meter, 3. if the swr is 3.0 or above, you have a connection problem and it must be fixed or you will screw up your radio.

 

First off, and listen closely-DO NOT START A NEW THREAD TO CONTINUE TALKING ABOUT THE SAME ISSUE YOU STARTED ANOTHER THREAD FOR.

Ahem, OK. The point he was trying to make is that it's SWR, not SWRs. It's a ratio, it's not plural. Definitely picking nits, but it's not SWRs.

I agree with the others, get the real mount designed for your truck to move the antenna further away from door, and be done with it.

 

Actually, most people who understand what an "SWR" is don't call it "SWR-zzzzzzzzzzzzzz". ONE feedline has ONE Standing Wave Ratio. If you were talking about "waves", I suppose it could be plural, but it, for the sake of understanding, is ONE ratio in ONE feedline, and it is the ratio of power radiated OUT to the ether, versus the amount of power that is reflected BACK to the transmitter. While it DOES, ultimately, relate to the amount of power enventually sent out, when we refer to this "ratio", it refers just to that difference, or ratio, or mismatch the radio is experiencing. Grabbing the whip doesn't really tell you anything, but if you grab it while packin' heat, it will letcha know it with heat or even a burn--enough to make you let go! And, yep, I've gotten "lit up" by antennas and RF before! Your troubles seem to hint at grounding problems. Find out what's not making connection, or is shorted, and you'll find the trouble. Coax length is NOT a fix.

GF

 

As long as we are nit picking what about an array? Could you then say "SWR-z", since after all each antenna 'sees' a radio down a single coax? In effect we are talking about two ratios in this case.

 

Yes, yes I did read your other thread, which is about getting the antenna set up on your Cascadia, is it not? You started this new thread, also about getting the antenna set up on your Cascadia, then expected everyone to know what you were talking about from your original thread, but nobody knew what you were talking about, right? You could have avoided that by continuing your original thread. You got some great feedback on that thread, like JJD showing pictures of his fender-mounted bracket and grounds on his work truck.

You're probably right, 90% of the people that read it probably did know what you meant by "swrs," but clearly, YOU don't, or you wouldn't be calling it "swrs." It's going to be really hard for you to diagnose something when you don't understand what you're measuring. Yeah, that's being really picky, but when you come here, presumably to learn, you're not going to get anywhere by telling other people they're being too picky, you need to figure out what it is that you don't understand about what you're doing.

Part of your problem might be that the loading coil on that Wilson 5000 is going to be right next to the metal in the cab with it mounted on the lower part of the door like that. Wilson makes an antenna called the SW-2000, which looks like a T-2000 with a longer bottom shaft and a shorter whip, specifically for this kind of application, I think they originally made it for the KW T600 mirrors, which were the first ones that only mounted to the lower part of the door. The loading coil is above the cab that way (whether or not it would be on a Cascadia, IDK) Just to troubleshoot, you might try a top-loaded fiberglass antenna, and see what that does for you.

 

If you do have the stock mount up high on the body side, move your antenna up there and coax and just check the swr.

OH, and Just for fun