No One can hear me :(

Most modern radios have a circuit that try's to protect the finals from damage if you key up without the proper load applied at the antenna terminal by folding back the power. You should check the SWR of the antennas as if they are far enough out of tune it will cause to protection circuitry in the radio to kick in. An antenna that is out of tune will still receive fine but it will not allow the radio to transmit at full power.

It is also possible that you have blown the finals in the radio when trying to transmit with the antennas being loose as the protection circuitry dose not always work fast enough to prevent damage to the finals.

 

This is not good. Anytime you install new antennas, at the very least, you want to ensure the standing wave ratio (SWR) is at most, 2.0:1. A high SWR = less chance to get out...which = no one can hear you. A 2.0:1 SWR means 89% of your transmission is being sent out, the other 11 is wasted as heat. Now couple that with if you're running one of those 3 ft. fiberglass whips that don't get out for squat when compared to a real CB antenna such as a 102 whip or maybe a Wilson 2k trucker, and no wonder you might have issues talking to others.

If you do not know how to check SWR and/or tune antennas, I suggest you either learn how (it's very easy to do) or pay someone who does know what they're doing, to do it for you. Otherwise not only will your SWR be high and no one will hear you, but eventually you will damage the final transistor inside the radio which can be costly to fix.

Tuning the antennas will ensure you get max range out of your radio. However here's a few other pointers to consider to help you get out...

1. Ensure your mic gain is not turned down, or no one will hear you.

2. Ensure your radio is modulating when you talk into the mic. You can check this by looking at the radios meter; when you key up the needle will normally move to the right, and when you talk into the mic, it should move a little more. if it does not, then it's possible your mic is bad, or has a broken wire inside, or the mic element could be bad or even the PTT switch inside the mic could be bad.

3. How tall are the Firesticks you purchased? And how far away are the drivers when you hear them talking? What kind of S meter reading are they putting on you?

4. Are the antennas properly grounded? What's your SWR look like?

 

To tune the antennas:

1. you get an SWR meter. Radio Shack sells them for about $40. Get you a 2 ft. jumper wire too.

2. Drive the truck to an empty parking lot away from trees, buildings, other cars, light poles, etc.

3. Hook the SWR meter between the radio and the antenna.

4. Key up the mic and calibrate the SWR meter per instructions.

5. Then once you have the SWR meter inline and caluibrated, key up the mic but don't talk into the mic, and observe the SWR on the meter. You want to check the SWR on channels 1, 19 and 40.

6. If the reading is higher on 1 than it is 40, then you need to lengthen your antenna. Some antennas have a tunable tip that allows you to make it a tad longer. Not all though.

If the SWR is higher on 40 than it is 1, you need to shorten your antenna. Not by much. The tunable whip will help with this.

Standing Wave Ratio. It's a measure of how much of your signal gets out as opposed to what doesn't and in turn ends up going back into the radio as heat. In short, high SWR's decrease your talk range and overheat the final transistor in your radio which will make it not transmit.

No. The RF gain only adjusts your radios receive sensitivity. Look at the radio, you should see a mic gain knob. Make sure it's turned up.

The delta tune knob does nothing, really. It's a throw back to the day of the crystal controlled 23 channel CB sets (that haven't been in production since January 1 1977) that sometimes would get off frequency, thus the delta tune allowed you to dial them in. Nowadays, since most radios (built since 1977) have PLL chips in them, they rarely get off frequency.

The only reason the delta tune is on the radio, is for those who want to have tan echo board added and/or an adjustable talkback added, and need a place on the front of the radio for the control pot.

Sounds like the modulation is working, again though I'd verify the mic gain is up.

S meter is the signal meter found on the front of almost every CB radio.

Also those 3 ft. sticks are crap. They'll maybe let you talk 2-3 miles, and if that's all you care for, then fine. But you're leaving a lot on the table with them. For trucks I recommend the Wilson 2000. They're not the end all be all, but they're head and shoulders above any of the fiberglass whips IMO.

If the mounts aren't grounded, you will have high SWR issues which can affect your transit range. Running a wire from the base of the mount to the trucks frame can create a ground. Also some trucks now have so much fiberglass that theres no ground plane for the signal from the antennas to bounce off of, which will cause high SWR and poor transmit issues. (need metal all under the antenna for a ground plane) I'm not sure what that mysterious black box is in the cab of your truck. Perhaps a signal booster of some sorts? That may have something to do to, with your transmit. Me personally I'd run you some RG8X coax from the antenna straight to the radio and skip the black box gimmicks. I hear the factory coax in the trucks now is garbage.

 

If you have wacked a lot trees, your antennas may well be broken. Very common with fiberglass antennas.

 

Yes the dynamic is the mic gain knob. Make sure it's at least at the 3 o clock position.