Volvo Antenna

Since you used the word experts, I've debated with myself for about the last six hours if I should even reply... Ha. Looks like I may not be alone.
It's interesting that the numbers on both antennas are about the same. The reactance and RL numbers aren't good. I think after you do some bonding, they should improve. Hopefully you can post back after the bonding is done, with the new results.
Was the RG 213 already installed in the truck when you bought it? I guess the reason I'm asking, is if it were me (and I wanted the best antenna system I could get), I would just run LMR-240 coax from antenna to amp, and amp to radio. I think you would have better results rather than mixing coaxes. Of course some may argue that it doesn't matter, and they could be right.

 

I don’t get why is anyone using 213 at all, most of the installs with amps are well under 1kw that rg8x is rated for or using lmr 240 if you are nervous. I’ve run 1kw/2kw peak with rg8x for a while at the old shack and never had issues.

get rid of the barrel connector, run a single piece of coax, bond the panel that the antenna is mounted to and see what the numbers are.

 

That's okay I'm basically the same as you. I started out with CB radio in the 70's eventually got into ham radio. I've learned a lot over the years, and I have a lot more to learn.
The antenna analyzer is a great tool to own. If you notice the impedance and resistance of the antenna is around 33 ohms. This is really a normal reading for a mobile antenna. According to the REAL experts, the impedance of a mobile antenna is around 25 to 36 ohms. Since your radio and coax are 50 ohms, the SWR should be around 1.5, which the meter shows. Quick math ... 50 divided by 33 = 1.52, as you can see your antenna system is fine. By that I mean your radio will be happy, but the efficiency of the antennas performance could be better. That's where the Reactance and Return Loss (RL) come into play, which should be improved with the bonding. In a perfect world, you want zero reactance and RL close to 30 on your analyzer. Of course these numbers are for a single frequency. They will naturally get worse as you get away from the resonant frequency.
So basically using RG213 coax in a mobile install won't gain you much in performance, over using RG 8x. Since we're talking 20 feet of coax or less, RG 8x is just fine for the CB band. I hope this makes sense.

 

Nope. until you get the amp in place, everything isn't valid. Sorry start with bonding and check with the amp in place.

 

It's okay if the RG8x is over 20 feet. If you look at the coax charts, the db loss in coax is based on 100 feet. So it really shouldn't be a problem.