Can't get SWR below 3

Having the same issue on a 760 Volvo, had 4ft fire sticks on OEM mounts tuned to 1.5 no issue. The firesticks are pretty stiff to be up there, so lots of wind noise and slight bending of the mounts. Seen a deal on some Wilson 2000's so straight swapped them across for the fire sticks, using the 10" shafts. Nothing seems to affect the SWR on any channel. No wind noise tho, and they flex nice if you get to close to some trees doing LTL work.

 

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First, stop using the radio. Running with that high a SWR reading can cause damage to your CB radio.
. Your problem is most likely not related to tuning the antenna. It is highly likely that you have an antenna ground problem. Search the Cb forum for "antenna grounding". This has been covered rather extensively.

 

Have you checked your grounds?

1476540202611_zps9kkgfdxe by rabbiporkchop posted Mar 10, 2018 at 5:15 AM

 

A "dirty trick" to work around the high SWR on Cascadia door mount is to tilt the antenna forward a bit. Not a good solution, but it can buy you some time to work on it later.

Probably need to add a longer shaft to get the antenna coil up further away from the metal "windshield post" or whatever it's called.

 

Keep your antenna coax away from your power leads also. That's not the main problem in this case, but it wont hurt

 

Put that Wil 2k up on one of the spot mirror bolts on the passenger door if you must run that antenna.

Otherwise, sell it and get a 7' Firestik, a 102 whip, or this:


That's an Oil Coil with a 44" SS shaft from WalcottCB ($32.95) and a 10" Wilson shaft joined above it for a total of 54" of shaft.

You will get down the road 15 miles easy with a barefoot legal CB with the pictured antenna, so long as it is tuned to actually be resonant on the CB frequencies. Note that you (or the shop you use) MUST use an antenna analyzer, not just an SWR meter, to verify resonance. Another note, if you go with this antenna specifically, you will have to use a stainless steel perch mount. The aluminum Wilson one is too weak to support it and will not cut it. I ran it for about 3 years with the stainless mount without issue.

 

And now you know your options for the beloved Cascadia...... Bottom line, if you don't get the load up above the roof, or lay your antenna about horizontal (not very efficient). You will have the problem you are experiencing. Doesn't hurt to bond at least the door to the body either.

 

Just an update on my Volvo,

So I checked everything front to back, back to front, all is working well, SWR still 3.1 on all channels. A buddy suggested turning the power down on my radio and all of a sudden the SWR dropped to 2.0 on all channels. Turning the radio power right down to the lowest setting, SWR is 1.2 on 1 and 1.0 on 40. So The Antenna's are the proper length (I've got the whips all the way out). So i've got the power dialed in, so the SWR is around 1.5-2.0 in an open area. I figure i've found the limits of the stock coax/mirror mounts. Radio works great tho, esp the receive and AM/FM/SXM with the Wilson 2000's. Transmit is decent, but of course not super long range with the power turned down.

 

How is the rf ground?

1476540202611_zps9kkgfdxe by rabbiporkchop posted Mar 10, 2018 at 5:15 AM