Cannot get my cb radio tuned

[kolelt]

You're right, I just checked and it seems it doesn't come with that mode from factory. When the shop checks your SWR with the antenna analyzer and antenna cap on, have them set the length of antenna to show lowest SWR mid band if possible so that you get acceptable SWR across the entire band. With a 3-foot antenna, you should be able to achieve at least a 1.5:1 midband and 2.5:1 at the edges. Anything over 3:1 would be inadvisable as at that point you're losing 25% of your 4 Watts and only transmitting 3 Watts, reflecting the rest back into the radio.

So went back today. Asked him to throw his tester. Which test the antenna and tunes it. It was all over the place. We tested it with new wire. It was good. So i ditched the fire ring. And got a regular coax wire. Going back tomorrow to get it re tuned. Such a headache. Also I have a 4 or 5 foot.

Thank you so much for your help and knowledge

 

[DK327]

You're making some good progress! I think coax is the way to go, the wire and how it connects to the bottom of Firestik antenna leaves some room for error which coax eliminates.

Also it's good to know you have the longer antenna. These will have wider bandwidth and you'll get great SWR across the entire band. I have both 4 and 5-foot versions and use the 4-foot one during long distance travel because the 5-foot just sways too much.

A couple of months ago I had the 4-foot FirestikII connected to my Drifter mount using a Firestik SS-3H "heavy duty" spring and I had to pull over/slow down multiple times because while driving @ ~70mph, if a gust of wind hit the antenna just right, it would start doing the death spiral behind the vehicle which could have been dangerous if another vehicle was tailgating me or was on the left lane.

When I reached my destination I immediately took off the spring and placed an order for the Hustler SS-M3 spring. It arrived in 3 days (prime shipping to the boondocks) and what a difference! On the way back home the antenna never bent more than 5 degrees the whole way back, even with heavy wind gusts at times! Just something else to consider if you'll add a spring later on which allows the fiberglass antenna to bend and not break if it comes contact with branches or if you're pulling into your garage.

 

[kolelt]

Going back to the CB store tomorrow so the guy could tune the antenna and hopefully it won't give us any issue. Really nice to have this store 5 mins from me lol.

The fire ring has been a pain in the ass since the day I got it. Should of known. I was at this one persons house who is a geek about radios. And has everything at his house. He was the one who originally narrowed my problem with the antenna not being able to tune. The fire ring is basically a shit wire. And EVERYTHING HAS TO BE PERFECT. One side is ground one side is something else. So on and so on. So I think the wire is the issue. Because when we switched wires at the cb store. Immediately his reader was able to tune the antenna. But I had to drive home and remove the old wire. And install a new one. I'll snap photos tomorrow once I get it fixed.

I really hope everything goes good tomorrow and I have a functioning CB radio.

I have the heavy duty spring for my antenna. And I haven't had any issues on highways or in the woods. It actually holds up really really good. On highways going 65+ it doesn't move around that much. On trails it flexes plenty but not to the point where it shoots back like a bullet.

Again, appreciate your time and knowledge. Thanks

 

[kolelt]

So just got back from the shop. He hooked up his meter. Tuned the antenna. Came home, reinstalled the front console. Go to test my CB radio. The horn does not go off. Which is good. However, my blinker indicators flash with the tone of my voice when speaking into the microphone. So I honestly give up at this point. If the antenna is tuned then I think everything is good. And the way his tuner tunes the antenna is by disconnecting the antenna wire form the CB radio, and plugging it into his meter directly.Only the antenna coax wire. It's a expensive tester so I trust it.

Just need to find someone to talk to and test it out.

 

[kolelt]

Went back to the store again for another tune/test just make sure the antenna is good. He said its PERFECT. snapped a photo of the meter he uses and the readings

 

[zig553]

So just got back from the shop. He hooked up his meter. Tuned the antenna. Came home, reinstalled the front console. Go to test my CB radio. The horn does not go off. Which is good. However, my blinker indicators flash with the tone of my voice when speaking into the microphone. So I honestly give up at this point. If the antenna is tuned then I think everything is good. And the way his tuner tunes the antenna is by disconnecting the antenna wire form the CB radio, and plugging it into his meter directly.Only the antenna coax wire. It's a expensive tester so I trust it.

Just need to find someone to talk to and test it out.

This is just so weird. Not sure if this has been asked yet but, where is the Ground for the CB Radio going? Have you tried grounding it somewhere else?

 

[DK327]

As for the blinkers activating, why don't you try a different microphone and see if this makes any difference. In my experience, if there is a short on the mic wire or the circuitry inside, this can cause some feedback and other issues. Just to rule it out. Also, I insist that you try to hook the radio directly to the battery instead of the fuse box and test it again.

As for the picture with the antenna tester, the ohms are right on the dot (50) and SWR is 1.1:1 which is excellent, BUT look at the frequency, it's reading 26.7x2. That's well below the CB band which is 26.965 - 27.405. IMO the antenna is tuned wrong.

You've mentioned the antenna tuning element is all the way down, as short as it can go. Well, if the antenna tuner reading is correct, it needs to get even shorter because it needs to resonate at a higher frequency to match the CB Band. This is unusual because Firestik antennas come factory tuned to operate on 11-meter band on the dot (CB band) so you shouldn't need to cut the element, but it's not unheard of.

All this is just my opinion of course, I would get a second (or third) opinion before you go slicing and dicing the antenna.

 

[kolelt]

So the CB negative wire is grounded on the metal behind the center console. I even went and installed a separate ground from the actual CB unit to the car chassis.

Hmm? I would think that the guy knows what he is looking at ?

Before I went back to him the last time. I took my SWR meter that tunes the antenna. ( which I was told was defective but figured I'd try it out again) My unit hooks up to the CB and then to the antenna. I followed a video on YouTube. https://youtu.be/YwFPKIjweP8 , so it's the same u it just different brand "astatic". When I did exactly what he did in the video. On channel 40 I was reading roughly 1.9 REF. When going to channel 1 and setting the SWR-FWD to SET. and flipping it back to REF the needle stayed out at 0/1.

Then I freaked out went back to him and he hooked it up and said it's good. And that's the pic you see above.

 

[DK327]

Ok so do it this way, go to channel 20 and flip the SWR meter switch to FWD. Key up the mic and with knob, have the needle move all the way to the right to SET. Then flip the switch from FWD to REF. What's the reading? Go to Ch1 and just key up the mic, what's the reading? Go to Ch40 and key up the mic, what's the reading? Report back.

 

[kolelt]

Ok so do it this way, go to channel 20 and flip the SWR meter switch to FWD. Key up the mic and with knob, have the needle move all the way to the right to SET. Then flip the switch from FWD to REF. What's the reading? Go to Ch1 and just key up the mic, what's the reading? Go to Ch40 and key up the mic, what's the reading? Report back.

I'm going to order a new tuner. Then I'll try what you mentioned and get back to you. Thanks mate

 

[kolelt]

Ok so do it this way, go to channel 20 and flip the SWR meter switch to FWD. Key up the mic and with knob, have the needle move all the way to the right to SET. Then flip the switch from FWD to REF. What's the reading? Go to Ch1 and just key up the mic, what's the reading? Go to Ch40 and key up the mic, what's the reading? Report back.

Any recommendations for a good tuner ? Not expensive though lol

 

[DK327]

Any recommendations for a good tuner ? Not expensive though lol

Are you asking about an SWR/power meter or an antenna tuner? I have used Astatic SWR/power meter in the past with good/accurate results so you don't need something expensive. I've since "upgraded" to MFJ brand SWR/power meter as well as an antenna tuner. Below is my current setup that shows me everything I need to know:

I have the coax from back of radio attached to the SWR/power meter then another coax from that to the antenna tuner and finally the antenna is attached to the tuner. The knobs on the antenna tuner is what you use to tune your signal for lowest SWR possible.