Ok, I've read through a bunch of cb posts and it says I need a ground strap or wire, like recommended by Redneck jeep. I made an antenna mount out of steel flat bar and ground off the paint of the rear tire carrier. On the SWR meter, I'm reading 2 on channel 1, 1.3 on channel 20, and a 1 on channel 40. I'm running a Firestick II, and a cheap Cobra 19 and an expensive ass coaxial cable. Am I good with this set-up, or should I go ahead and solder a ground. Not sure where to solder it too on my particular mount and or cable. I saw the pic of Rednecks, but my connection is a bit different. My last cb form 20 yrs ago was abit different. It had a meter and a 8ft whip antenna and was mounted to the metal bumper, no ground strap. It does seem like a lot of static and such and when I squelch the static down, I get nothing. I do get talking inbetween the static and got a clear signal from a trucker about a mile away that passed by me today looking for a warehouse. All seems good, but I'd still appreciate some feedback.

 

Does the FirestickII have a tunable tip on the end of it? If so I assume you have tried adjusting the tip and then checking the SWR a few times till you got the best results .. On my Wilson antenna I had to pull the adjustable tip out of the antenna completly to get a 1.2 reading around the band.

 

Yeah, adj tip, pulled it all the way out and was getting way high readings. Put it back in and adjusted it up to what I've got now.

 

If ur SWR reading is that good i'd just talk on it tilll i got tired of it.

 

You don't need to solder a ground to anything. If anything, you need to just put a ground strap from your tailgate to the body. The way your tailgate is mounted it doesn't ground real well, so adding a strap fixes that.

Most people just screw it in under the carpet behind the sub (if you have one) or in that general area, and run it along with your wiring to behind the plastic panel on the tailgate and screw it in there. If you use some sheet metal screws you shouldnt need to sand anything - it'll make good contact. That's what I did and it made a huge difference in my SWRs.

 

Thanks Jackmac, will do. That sounds alot easier.

 

Here's a link to an article on tuning..........might help.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...wr.html?cat=27

 

Man, that's pretty damn good without a dedicated ground. I bet if you ran the ground though, it would be even better. I'd say it's up to you. It'll run like it is from now on just fine.

 

Got a ground strap today, going to add tomorrow and re-tune, thanks again.

 

Jack is right. As long as you're grounded GOOD to the tailgate and then ground the tailgate to the body, that'll be good. I just like doin it the other way I showed outta habit and personal preference I reckon. As long as it's grounded....that's the important thing.