New to the CB thing, need some friendly advice!!

I ran a cobra 29lxin a cascadia midroof with the mirror bracket on the drivers side as well with the same antenna. The best I could do was 1.5 on the external swr meter, which I'm told us pretty good for that truck.I also ran 18' of 97% shielded coax. Also you want the antenna as straight as you can get it it will lead forward a bit because the mirror and bracket. Start with the whip all the way down and see what your swr is on 1,20 and 40. If it is higher on 40 then 1 then the whip needs to be lower and the opposite of higher on 1 than 40. When you get it set it should be flat across the board for your swr. Also have you tried it with the ground removed?

 

Probably just a bad coax connector...may try replacing the connectors or just grab another piece of coax with new connectors.

 

I have always used 18' of coax, also i have a 2016 Cascadia Evolution with the antenna mount 18' of coax and a 4' wilson silver load whip my SWR is 1:3 on my Cobra 29 which is about right, it may be coax length

 

Ammoman0110 can you please give us your SWR readings on Channels 1,19 and 40?
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.You put a ground going to a ground stud. What is it you are grounding to that gound stud? Have you tried disconnecting the wire going to that ground stud?
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.WX4JCW, if you want to use 18 feet of coax I have no problem with that. Your money; do what you want.
.Just so anyone else is reading this thread understands, there is nothing magical about 18 feet of coax. Coax can be any length you want as long as it has enough length to connect the radio to the antenna. The 18 foot coax length as a requirement is a myth. And coax does not have to be a multiple of 18 feet either. Lengths of 3,6,9 and 12 are all good. But so are 5,7,8 and 1/7th plus any other length as long as it can connect the radio to the antenna.

 

Your SWR is likely high because you're using a low-center loaded antenna where you should be using a top loaded antenna. I recommend a 7-foot Firestik or SkipShooter.

That K40 antenna is the wrong antenna for the Cascadia, period, full stop.

You can get a 7 foot Firestik at Bob's CB in Strattanville, PA - I-80 exit 70. 7-foot SkipShooters are available at the CB shop by the Petro in West Memphis.

 

I agree with Volvo244t......but he said it is mounted on the mirror?? That has to be a really old Cascadia to have mirror mounts. When we first started using Freightliners and the antennas were mounted on the mirror, some had good SWR and some didn't. Several, at my suggestion, did the bonding thing and solved the problem.

 

My guess and im pretty sure im right is the antenna isnt grounded.

 

I've tried about everything (on WalMart Trucks)...here is what I've come up and it works really well.


http://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/threads/cascadia-antenna-solutions.249124/