Help with CB setup

I don't know... I haven't been up in the area in a while but the radio was mostly dead up there. Not a whole lot going on.

Are you at least getting static and noise with the squelch off and the RF gain wide open?

Do you know anyone else with a radio that can see if it's receiving and transmitting ok.

Sometimes you'll have better luck getting a radio check if you just say something like, "Good lord, that woman is driving down the road and ain't got a stitch of clothes on!"

Every horndog in a ten mile radius will come back and ask where she's at? Lol.

 

Dont be discouraged; there are lots more listeners than talkers these days, but when the ship hits the sand the airwaves come to life.

Back in the early to mid-70's you couldnt get a word in edgewise

 

Excellent pics by you of your installation! I am only hypothesizing, but will mention some possibilities. If I understand correctly, the Little Wil was previously installed by its previous owner or yourself. IMHO, the bane of most all trunk and magnetic mount antennas is that the RG-58U coaxial cable used in them WILL get pinched when routed through a door or trunk lip. Even if that trunk or door is seldom opened, the pressure on the cable at that point can put it a little out of spec (normally 50-52 ohm). Thankfully, we rarely if ever notice this with regard to performance and transmitted or received signal. If that door or trunk is opened quite a bit, as are mine, you will frequently have wear that can and will damage the outer insulation, the shield, the inner (dielectric) insulation, and perhaps even the center conductor. Such wear can be detrimental to performance of the antenna system at best, and shorts between center snd shield and/or breaks (loss of contact) will pretty much kill your signal and range, incoming and outgoing. If this is going on, your SWR should be jumping noticeably, frequently while you are in motion. Are you noticing fluctuations in your SWR readings while driving?

I have griped for decades that makers of CB magnet and trunk mount antennas should use a trick that some ham mobile mount makers such as Diamond and Comet use, RG-174 or like small diameter cable. This stuff has such a small diameter that it fits through doors and trunk lips without pinching, avoiding a lot of wear. The downside of it is that it is lossy and may not stand up to being pulled as well as RG-58 type cable. If kept in small (6-15 foot) lengths, the loss is not really a problem, even at VHF/UHF frequencies. Sorry for getting off on a tangent, but I would try a new antenna. If you have the inclination and wherewithal to do so, I would look into a hole mount on the roof. If, like me, you lack the confidence and skill to hole mount an antenna, check out a local land-mobile radio shop that installs police and business radios. Just had the one here install with rear fender hole mounts, a CB and 2m/440 ham mobile. I expected to pay around $400 and was surprised that the install was only $150 at this particular shop.

Given a lot of recent chatter that seems legit, that Wilson's quality has gone down in recent years, you may wish to go with an NMO mount and a compatible antenna from Larsen, Browning, or like company making 27 MHz antennas for those mounts.

Of course, this might be completely unrelated to your antenna and might be some internal weirdness in the radio. Your installation looks good to me!

Best of luck in getting the problem identified and fixed!

 

I’m using the Lil’ Wil on my wife’s Cherokee with the Stryker 447HPC2, and am consistently hearing traffic 10-15 miles away if I open up the squelch and turn up the RF gain. SWR is about 1.2:1. I don’t need anything more. To keep peace in the household, I usually engage the ASQ and back off on the gain and still have a good solid 5-6 mile range.

 

I use a 3-foot magnetic too and get good results. I use it on the highways with long stretches of silence between towns. But get near the city or a traffic-blocking problem in between and things heat up pretty fast. I keep it on 19.

 

More radio traffic near NYC.
Radio is dead in south Jersey.