I'm hoping someone who is knowledgeable in radios can help me figure this out. Its driving me nuts. I bought a new Uniden Bearcat 980 cb. New front fender/hood mount, new antenna spring, ran a ground wire from mount to fender bolt. I bought a new coax cable. All connections are tight. I was getting an RF out fail on the radio diagnostics but everything else pass. Took all the antenna stuff off and redid it nice and tight. Now I'm getting voltage pass, RF out pass, antenna fail. My antenna is old. Could that be it? My SWR is obviously off the charts high. Coax to spring, through the mount then antenna to spring. I also put ferrite cores on the pos and neg wires going into the cb and connected power directly to the battery.

 

You have an open, or real high resistance somewhere. Do you have an ohm meter?

 

Yeah I have one. I'm gonna try a new antenna first and see if that's the problem. This one is pretty old and has taken a mot of trail hits.

 

Let us know how that works!

 

So I added plastic spacers on the top and bottom of the mount. I am now receiving signal and antenna diagnostic is a pass. Bad news is my swr is 3. Hopefully the new antenna helps bring it down once it arrives. Now I know for future reference, need those plastic spacers.

 

Trouble shooting anything sucks - especially radio comms ....

I always find using old or used gear usually makes matters worse - particularly when dealing with CB or HAM radios.

If you find no joy with your new antenna - contact Mike at Burnaby Communications. He's in the process of moving to a new location at the moment - but he answers his emails during the move. Mike will be able to figure it out for ya ...

Send me a PM if you need any other contact info for him.

Neville

 

I *THINK* you only want the plastic spacer on the top. Or was it the bottom... ??? It’s been too long since I’ve messed with CB antennas. One side definitely needs to be isolated from the mount and the other side absolutely has to touch it for proper reception. i just wish I could remember which side is which.

 

Hmmm, ok thanks. I'll have to try both and see if its any better.

 

This is the best photo I have showing those plastic insulators / spacers on the CB Antenna mount ....

It is a two part affair - a plastic nut top and bottom, with a sleeve on one of the nuts so that the mounting bolt of the antenna does not touch the mounting bracket.

Neville

 

Just installed a brand new 5 foot firestick. Now everything is perfect. My SWR is 1!! Everything is crystal clear and I even added a PA speaker under the hood. Super happy... finally!

Now to deal with the other problem... when the engine is running, my handheld VHF/UHF is getting so much interference that I can barely understand incoming transmissions. As soon as the engine is shut off, crystal clear. From my understanding, this is a headache to fix.

Anyway, thanks to everyone for their help. Much appreciated.