First off, I have a Cobra 75 and 3' Firestik mounted on an Or-Fab tire carrier. It's worked relatively well in regards to transmitting but I've always gotten quit a bit of feedback/static when just leaving it on. A friend told me a ground wire would probably fix this issue so I ran one from the antenna (first on top, then on the bottom) through the tailgate and secured it under the screw for the tie-down hooks next to the storage tub in the back. After all was said and done, I pulled out the swr meter and couldn't get a reading under 10. I decided to pull the ground completely to see if it fixed the problem with no luck. I now have it back to the way I originally had it set up and it's still reading around 10 when it usually read under 2. I'm wondering what the hell I did Any help would be GREATLY appreciated! I've become extremely irritated with all this!

 

My only guess is that its because you mounted it on the tailgate? I have not heard the greatest things about this spot. HOWEVER, I have mine in the same spot and have not tuned it yet. That being said I have gotten some good range here and there but mine is mostly for trail use so I don't need THAT much distance. I am sure someone else here can comment or help out.

Good Luck.

 

Run a ground wire from the hole in the gate to the body in the truck

 

Double check your antenna cable. Make sure there are no visible breaks or abrasions. If you have a multimeter check to see if you have continuity from pin to pin and shield to shield but not pin to shield.

Let us know what you find.

 

It was working fine before on the same mount. Things got messed up after I tried to add the ground

That's exactly how I had the ground wire except it was mounted on the tie-down clips on the tub.

I haven't seen any breaks or anything unusual really...that's why I'm getting so frustrated! I just can't imagine why it wouldn't work at least as well as it did before I tried to add a ground.


Thanks for the help guys...hopefully I can figure this out asap! Keep the suggestions coming!

 

I just wanted to clear up my mounting location. The antenna is actually mounted on the or-fab tire carrier which is mounted from inside the body behind the passenger side rear tailgate. I'm really not sure if the ground is that great on the carrier but if I wanted to actually add a ground would I put it on the carrier or the actual antenna? If I was to mount it to the antenna where exactly should it be mounted? On top or bottom? Should it touch any part of the metal on the actual antenna? I'm really tryin to figure out why my swr is 10+!?!

 

Here's a pic.