so im going to have to get a swr meter or on my next off road trip see if someone has one thanks i guys ill just keep the chap antenna on till i can get the meter.

 

I know this is an old thread, but no answer was found lol. I recently bought a Cobra 29 with a Wilson 5'...The first day I had it the SWR seemed fine, it wasn't perfect but it was close, and after that its been above two. It doesn't matter where the antenna is adjusted to, the SWR hasn't even budged. It stays right above two on channel 1 and on 40...I NEED HELP

 

I have this problem with mine, if I leave it on swr setting it works fine but ppl have trouble hearing me unless I hit the gas pedal..... I'm gonna take mine to a local truck stop and have there shop tune it for me, I'm grounded direct to the frame, length of coax is correct, but I get a warning every now and again and sometimes my swr shoots thru the roof, but I can communicate with ppl on the trail.

 

I took it to a local CB shop to see what they thought, the gave me a different coax to see if that changed anything...dropped to almost nothing. I would definitely recommend testing that.

 

This is some popular CB myth. Do not pay someone to "tune" your radio. I have always wondered what they actually do during a radio "tune."

 

If you suspect your coax cable as being an issue, try to direct feed your antenna to check the swr. Also test one change at a time, this may seem like common sense but you would be surprised at how many experienced people trip up on this simple method for testing and how big of a difference it makes in identifying your problems.

I just hooked up my cobra 29 lx this weekend and had to replace my coax, I don't have below 1.5 but I am looking for this to be short range commo.

 

A buddy of mine had his radio" tuned" at a local shop and now for $20 his radio works perfectly.... Whatever they did I want them to our to mine too! Lol

 

So I just installed a Cobra 75WXST. I used the ultramount from cool tech. (The one that connects to the lic plate holder) and I also have a 4' firestick antenna. I have not tuned it yet because I do not have a SWR Meter. I can hear the weather channel perfectly, but I can hear nothing on any of the channels including the emergency channel 9. I live about a mile from a major interstate so it seems like I should be able to pick up some trucker talk or something, but I get nothing but static, or nothing at all if I turn the squelch down enough. The installation was very easy and Im sure I got everything correct. The radio is grounded to the same place that the battery is grounded and the antenna is grounded to the body of the jeep just like the instructions said.

So my question is would it not being tuned yet cause me to not hear anything?

 

Simple answer.... yes. An improperly tuned radio won't pickup transmission properly. You can get an SWR meter for like $15 bucks. It's worth it.
Plus, just because you're near a freeway doesn't mean the truckers are talking (not a lot of people use CB radios these days except truckers and offroaders) and any number of factors could be interfering with the signal. Also, you won't hear anything on channel 9 unless someone is broadcasting an emergency. Good luck. It sounds like you setup everything right, you just need to tune it.

 

I had the same prob as everyone else. Test fail..antenna warning. The prob was the base that the antenna screws in to. The kit came with a few pieces and one plastic washer. Prob was the metal was still touching metal. I bought a plastic washer for the bottom and plastic piece for the screw to go through. It works fine now. Just remember..if any part of the antenna touchs any metal it is contected to gound and wont work right.