C B Radio Help

[gbsb]

I know hardly any body uses a cb any more but I put one in for a trip with several other rigs that are traveling together and we can all chat back and forth. I bought a new radio and antenna mounted it in my truck put the antenna on the mirror and drove over to the interstate to see how it would do. Nothing a little static but do not hear any one talking. I have a truck camper so the antenna is not above the camper but I should hear a trucker say something. Does the radio frame have to be grounded, does the antenna need to have a ground? They are both mounted to plastic. I thought the antenna grounded threw the coax and the radio grounded threw the power wire. I have not had a CB since the late 70s so do not have a clue anymore, can some one help. Thanks George

[gbsb]

I was close to the Interstate today and heard some one talking so I guess my radio is working. Like some one else said nobody uses them much any more. Thanks for all the input.

[MarkTwain]

CB--
I use channel 17 and 19.

1. "breaker, breaker on 17 or 19"--- this is asking permission to talk on the channel, so you don't step on some one else talking.

2. If I am heading south bound, I will ask the north bound truckers "what did you leave behind you"
3. If I am north bound , " " " " " ask south bound truckers the same question.
4. I always ask or report the exit marker number of event that is going on i.e. wreck, blocked land or location of "Bear".

[gbsb]

I changed antenna yesterday and put a magnetic mount on the hood of the truck. No change, The swr was about the same with either antenna. On channel one the swr is very low on channel 40 it is high, channel 19 it 3.1 or so. drove down interstate 30 about 100 miles east of Dallas and never heard a word out of radio. I am calling the MFG tomorrow and talk to tech service. I have a 40 channel Cobra that does the same thing but it is old and I just figured it was bad. The weather channel on it worked well but cb was quite. That is the reason I bought the new one. The needle goes way over when I key the mike, like it is sending a signal. Thanks again for all the input

[garry1p]

SWR is the "standing wave ratio" you might want to look it up in Google.

Your CB is limited to 5 watts output power A high SWR could reflected as high as 4 Watts of that output power "back into" the CB so a poorly tuned antenna may very well damage your output transistor. So until you figure out the problem limit you transmit time to a few seconds at a time.

A high SWR while not good on the receiver side will only lead to somewhat poorer reception and not damage the CB.

To tune the antenna for best performance you change the physical length of the antenna on most automobile CB antennas there is a set screw near the base that lets you move the antenna up or down by a half inch or more. They are usually very close where they should be the SWR meter lets you fine tune the antenna.

Read the manual some units tell you how you can adjust for best performance using the signal meter on the unit.

I agree with others sounds as if the problem is in the coax line or a bad CB.

SWR tuning instructions

[carl2591]

when i was an OTR ('81) trucker the CB was our cell phone. I remember talking to guys/gals for hours while the mile melted by especially late at night when you are tired but need to keep going.

Yes there was some foul language at time but for the most part the convo was traffic, 4 wheelers, and truck stops with the best apple pie, The flying J out side Atalanta on I-85 🙂 or where the best showers are etc.

Now a days you have to pry info out of them.. On a trip to Florida in March 2016 I did hear guy heading north on I-95 shout out "hey south bound not sure why the hell the traffice is stopping, din't see a wreck." and that was about it.

When on caravan with the Airstream club its required to have a CB in truck to communicate within the caravan to make sure everyone is safe especially in the remote areas where cell service is limited or not at all.

I will keep my CB in my truck and on during travels trying to keep up with traffice and other thing going on down the road.

[Fulltimers]

I can drive hundreds of miles all day long without hearing a word on my CB.

[wa8yxm]

You said the antenna is a 3' Stick.. I 've seen several antennas like that. SOME OF THEM need a ground plane, others are NGP (No ground plane required)

The Firestick comes in both types.> Make sure it's a NGP for best results on that vehicle. Mine is mounted on fiberglass and is NGP.

[gbsb]

The only reason I am putting a cb is we are caravanning to Mexico and every one is required o have a cb for communication with each other. Thanks for all the answers I am going to check the swr now and then run a tempary ground to antenna to see if it helps. The mirror is plastic so no ground there, Seems most of tis truck is plastic

[wa8yxm]

Does the radio frame have to be grounded? Well, no, but it won't hurt
Does the antenna? Depends.. Some antennas yes, they do need a ground, Some no

Even among Truckers CB is not as popular as it once was.. I'm 3 miles from a truck stop and interstate and am often surprised when the CB talks to me.

It is possible you have a problem.. How to figure out if you do (NOTE SOME Danger here)

If your Radio has a SWR meter function select FORWARD. then transmit, adjust the knob so you see a FULL SCALE reading, do this quickly

Now switch to REVERSE and transmit again note the meter reading and get back to me... Any reading over 2:1 indicates an issue, though the radio should work up to 3:1.

True story:
Motorola shop ordered a box of jumper cables,,, Pre-made at the Motorola factory.. EVERY cable, both ends, the connectors were shorted. EVERY ONE.

I had the same problem with my Towed car.. the umbilical one end was shorted.

[RoyB]

I suspect you have an open in your RG COAX somewhere... CB radio should receive off of any antenna wire you can stick in it...

Try any wire for a test... If you got an old yank of RG cable with the RG connector for your CB - screw that into your CB and then just strip back the other end four or five feet with just the inner conductor showing. Throw this out your vent window... This will almost be as good as your high dollar antenna will work on receive... Try this for a test... This will tell you your CB radio is receiving OK... Once you know the CB is receiving OK then you can start looking into the antenna you just installed. Something wrong with that...

I have a CB under my truck seat on CH19 with the squelch turned up all the way. I use this just to monitor the truckers in my near vicinity for road traffic info... I can't remember the last time I transmitted on it... Since being involved with RVs since 2009 I have never heard another RV CB conversation... We use cell phones mostly and also have a couple of FRS radios to use around the camp site...

The CB truckers are still just as nasty speaking as they were 20 years ago... It still is the best way to learn about what is happening close to your location however on the big roads... Most Truckers are outdoor type folks and I occasionally hear a comment between two truckers saying "did you see that off-road POPUP. We could do some great deer hunting in that"...

Roy Ken

ADDED NOTE : I see you listed using a CB ANTENNA rated for a 1000WATT rating. This of course is an illegal use for the 27Mhz band CB radio's. It is also a heavy duty construction of the CB Antenna which may give you more things to break down on you. Something inside this antenna may have been burned out for instance from running high power...

Your listed CB radio will only produce around 3-4 WATTS RF Output at the base of the CB antenna.

Roy Ken

[Chuck_thehammer]

the mirror is the poorest location.. but sometimes there is little other choice.

Run a heavy gauge wire to the base of antenna and to a body fender/frame.. NOT THE DOOR...

radio frame/case does NOT need a ground. just the black wire.

also antenna or radio could be defective... should hear something/someone.

[wnjj]

Find someone else with a CB to test it out. Most of the time there just isn't anyone talking,

[MarkTwain]

gbsb wrote:
I know hardly any body uses a cb any more but I put one in for a trip with several other rigs that are traveling together and we can all chat back and forth. I bought a new radio and antenna mounted it in my truck put the antenna on the mirror and drove over to the interstate to see how it would do. Nothing a little static but do not hear any one talking. I have a truck camper so the antenna is not above the camper but I should hear a trucker say something. Does the radio frame have to be grounded, does the antenna need to have a ground? They are both mounted to plastic. I thought the antenna grounded threw the coax and the radio grounded threw the power wire. I have not had a CB since the late 70s so do not have a clue anymore, can some one help. Thanks George

Truckers generally only use Channel 17 and 19.

[wcjeep]

ScottG wrote:
The ant needs to be grounded, preferably to a large metal area. It should work if mounted to a metallic, tubular mirror bracket. For transmitting it's important to tune the ant but it should receive ok as-is.
I would double check that the base of the ant is connected to the vehicles body/ground. Any chance your mirror bracket is rubber mounted and isolated electrically?

It sounds like your antenna is isolated from the vehicle. Find someone with an swr meter.