Calling all CB experts! I need CB Help!

[mark_themachinst_guy]

I finally got around to installing a CB this past weekend in my FJ. I didn't cheap out on one either. I got myself a peaked and tuned Cobra 29LX. 18' of quality coax. A 4' Firestik II (tune-able tip) with a spring and quick disconnect, and an AllPro "Bandi" mount for the rear hinge. Installation went rather smoothly. Almost too smoothly...

I was able to run the coax cable under the driver side door panel plate thing, under the dash and right to the CB which I installed right next to my shifter on the drivers side. I wired it up to an "add-a-circuit" to the interior fuse block and grounded it to a chassis bolt under the dash. I believe the radio isn't the problem I'm having.

The antenna mount is securely mounted to the rear hinge, I scraped the paint off both the mount and the area where its mounted on the car for a good ground. However I'm going to try grounding it better with a ground strap to see if it fixes my issues. I have the antenna stud installed correctly with the nylon washer on the topside of the mount. I scraped the paint off the bottom of the mount where the rest of the stud makes contact with the mount. (Its hard to describe this)

Long story short, I'm having problems calibrating the radio. At first, I couldn't get the bars on the "cal" setting to get all the way up the meter. I fumbled with the stud and re-installed everything over again and it seemed to fix the problem. However, it seems to be intermittent at this point. Sometimes the "cal" will be where it needs to be at channels 20, 40 and 1. The next day it'll be off. At this point I'm worried I burnt up my finals by trying to calibrate it and make endless "radio check" calls. The SWR is less than 1 when it's calibrated right.

I definitely know there's a problem somewhere, because no matter what channel I'm on, I can't hear anyone talking. Not even on channel 6, the free-for-all channel. I don't have any local friends with a CB that I can test it out with either, so I'm relying on someone within a few miles to have their CB on and tuned to channel 19.

I'm at wits end with it. I'm going to take some time to mess with it again sometime this week, maybe take the mount off the truck and try scraping more paint off to get a better ground. I'm not sure what else to do. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[grngiant]

Just for giggles try taking the spring and quick disconnect off then check your radio.

Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk

 

[TerryD]

Are you attempting to to do this while you are close to buildings or other obstacles?

I've never had much love for the fiberglass antennas. I've had my best luck running a full 102" whip and spring or 6" stub. They swing around and will leave a nasty welt on any bystanders, but they just work the best.

Don't be concerned with burning up your finals. Since the 70's radios have protective circuits in them that dial back that power to safe levels, regardless of load. You can key it up without an antenna connected and it'll just shut down it's final unless your "peak and tune" eliminated that circuit which means it wasn't much of a P&T.

Use a little copper anti-seize at all your metal-metal connections (excluding where the coax connects) and you may very well have to ground your hatch to the body with a couple straps to improve the issue. Hinges aren't good RF conductors. Give that a try and get back with us.

 

[mark_themachinst_guy]

Are you attempting to to do this while you are close to buildings or other obstacles?

I've never had much love for the fiberglass antennas. I've had my best luck running a full 102" whip and spring or 6" stub. They swing around and will leave a nasty welt on any bystanders, but they just work the best.

Don't be concerned with burning up your finals. Since the 70's radios have protective circuits in them that dial back that power to safe levels, regardless of load. You can key it up without an antenna connected and it'll just shut down it's final unless your "peak and tune" eliminated that circuit which means it wasn't much of a P&T.

Use a little copper anti-seize at all your metal-metal connections (excluding where the coax connects) and you may very well have to ground your hatch to the body with a couple straps to improve the issue. Hinges aren't good RF conductors. Give that a try and get back with us.

Before leaving work, I took the quick disconnect and spring off and screwed the antenna directly to the stud. I then drove to a big empty parking lot, and calibrated without an issue, the SWR was still reading below 1. I was able to hear some people talking on channel 6 for a few seconds but then it faded to static. I drove along a major highway to get home (the expressway, or the LIE if your a long island local) and tried almost every channel, calling out like a madman for a radio check. Nothing but static. When I got home I checked the SWR again and it was up near 3 on all the channels again. It seems as though the radio will stay within calibration for a few minutes then get all messed up. I'll also note I never had to tune the tip of the antenna, it seemed to be okay right out of the box which seems, odd.

I'm going to take the whole setup apart and re-do everything when I have time this weekend. Making sure I have proper grounds on everything and assuring I have continuity where I should. I even made new nylon spacers at work of varying thicknesses and such to see if that helps. The factory one has a .031 shoulder, I made some with a .050 and .100 shoulder to see if that'll help.

I'll keep you updated on my project, thanks for the tips!

 

[Ron W.]

Go to Right Channel Radios. They sell cb's but also have a good online library. If that don't help they do have expert advice. By the way, how long is your coax? You will have better performance with an 18 foot RG-8X cable.

 

[Road]

CB's have decreased in popularity so much among the general public and truckers that I can go hours without hearing much radio traffic, even along an interstate with big trucks, when years ago it would be constant chatter on several channels.

You may very well have things set up right, but just aren't getting much radio traffic.

I'd take it to a good CB shop, usually near big truck stops and sometimes inside at larger truck stops like the big TA centers. They'll be able to hook it up to their gear, tune it just right, and give you great advice on length of cable, how to best route it, antenna, etc.

 

[mark_themachinst_guy]

CB's have decreased in popularity so much among the general public and truckers that I can go hours without hearing much radio traffic, even along an interstate with big trucks, when years ago it would be constant chatter on several channels.

You may very well have things set up right, but just aren't getting much radio traffic.

I'd take it to a good CB shop, usually near big truck stops and sometimes inside at larger truck stops like the big TA centers. They'll be able to hook it up to their gear, tune it just right, and give you great advice on length of cable, how to best route it, antenna, etc.

I took everything apart and scraped more paint off everything, to the point I'm worried about rust now...

It was working well for a few days, but I still couldn't get anyone to respond to my radio checks and still couldn't hear anyone on any channel. I then found out there was a CB shop literally 3 minutes down the road from me.
I stopped there over the weekend, the guy that works there took one look at my setup and told me my coax was bad. He even took the radio out of my rig and bench tested it for me and told me all was good. He sold me a much higher quality cable and sent me on my way. I've yet to get a free moment to install it, but I'm confident it'll fix the issue. Shoutout to LP Electronics in Holtsville NY for hooking me up!

 

[Road]

I took everything apart and scraped more paint off everything, to the point I'm worried about rust now...

It was working well for a few days, but I still couldn't get anyone to respond to my radio checks and still couldn't hear anyone on any channel. I then found out there was a CB shop literally 3 minutes down the road from me.
I stopped there over the weekend, the guy that works there took one look at my setup and told me my coax was bad. He even took the radio out of my rig and bench tested it for me and told me all was good. He sold me a much higher quality cable and sent me on my way. I've yet to get a free moment to install it, but I'm confident it'll fix the issue. Shoutout to LP Electronics in Holtsville NY for hooking me up!

Yeah man, see? Always pays to go to those who mess with it daily, no matter what you're trying to fix or figure out. There's a CB shop in an old caboose just off an exit in Tennessee I always go to, sometimes just to sit and watch all the ol' time characters wandering in and out of the place. Used to be good BBQ in that caboose, then the CB shop, maybe now back t BBQ, who knows.

Glad you got it sorted out, and hope it all works just the way you want, now!

 

[Kevin108]

The Bandi mount on the FJ is a convenient mount, but garbage for grounding. Another company makes a stainless one, but I can't remember what the brand is. What I ended up doing with my Bandi to get a better ground was to drill through the mount and slightly into the hinge, then solder up the hole.