Groud through antenna?

Discussion in 'CB Radio Forum' started by B5love08, Nov 20, 2019.

  1. B5love08

    B5love08 Light Load Member

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    I just installed a cb in my oshkosh for winter and I'm running into odd situation. So I have antenna mount on mirror with firestick antenna. I disconnected the ground wire from ground and radio still had power I disconnected coax from back of radio and ur turned off what in gods name is going on? Please help
     
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  3. Night Stalker10

    Night Stalker10 Road Train Member

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    It’s called DC grounding. Basically the antenna is grounded through your mirror mount of your truck frame. The ground runs through the braided side of the coax to your radio, so when you unhook your coax there’s no ground to operate the radio. So the radio shuts off, unless you hook the ground wire back up to the negative side of your battery for the radio to work.
     
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  4. B5love08

    B5love08 Light Load Member

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    Is this normal? Iv never ran into something like this. So should I run the positive and negative to battery still? Do I need the negative wire at all? I also get alot of interference I'm confused about the whole kit in caboodle is blowing my mind
     
  5. Night Stalker10

    Night Stalker10 Road Train Member

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    Yes run the negative ground wire from the radio to the frame of your vehicle, or better yet, if you run your power and negative directly to the battery, that can help eliminate the electrical noise to a degree. If you run your power and negative wires to the battery, it is best to put a fuse in the power wire close to the positive post of the battery. (The fuse size depends on what type of radio you are using. If it’s a four watt CB radio, then use a 3 to 5 amp fuse). That way if anything shorted under the dash, your power wire should blow the fuse and not create a fire.

    As far as electrical noise that is coming in through your antenna, that is something you just have to live with. A lot of these new LED lights, signs, and stop lights, create a lot of noise as you drive through town.
     
    Last edited: Nov 20, 2019
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  6. craig_sez

    craig_sez Road Train Member

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    Run pwr to battery and and gnd near the ant but on trk metal..Try to keep it short if possible..No need to go all the way down to frame..
    No clue what kinda machine an oshkosh is but i wouldnt think a radio can still be running w/o a gnd wire attached...Electricial gnd and rf gnd are different....
    Guess i need to do more study if its true that your radio can gnd through ant which doesnt sound right to me..
     
  7. Night Stalker10

    Night Stalker10 Road Train Member

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  8. craig_sez

    craig_sez Road Train Member

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    Tks night stalker..Wasnt really interested in what it was but tks bub..
     
  9. Ridgeline

    Ridgeline Road Train Member

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    I'm wondering what radio do you have op, and how old is the coax?
     
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