C B Radio Help

Models would be helpful. Typically there would have to be to a ground of some sort.

The Radio is a Uniden PC78LTD, antenna is 3 foot stick with mount and coax 1000 watt. Mounted to the drivers mirror on a F450 Ford.

Go to a local truck stop and sit around for a bit. Actually, now there is very little conversation between truckers on the CB while out on the road. There is a bit more between then at truckstops. Most OTR truckers are on cell phones with wireless headsets.

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?

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.