bobzinger

A picture is worth a thousand words... sorry to be a pain.

I think I understand what you mean, but I'm a visual learner.

tslewisz

You're not being a pain, but, unfortunately, I can't oblige. The ground wire where it attaches to the stud can't be seen. Here's my mount:


All I did was strip back a couple of inches of insulation, divide the wire strands into two equal bundles and tightly twist them (pliers) around the bottom of the antenna stud, just above the antenna coax connector. Then I ran that wire into the door with the coax. I picked a spot that would be covered by the plastic on the inside of the door, sanded the paint off a spot, drilled a hole, and attached the wire on a ring terminal. Then I covered that all up w/ clear silicone to prevent corrosion.

Prior to doing all that, I checked my antenna stud and it seemed well grounded back to the body, though, so in my case it's just for "a little extra".

After all that, I just found the article that said to do that extra grounding, complete with pictures! Look toward the bottom. Here ya' go, bud:

http://project-jk.com/jeep-jk-write-...nd-model-1001z

bobzinger

Awesome. I didn't notice that write-up before that had the ground-strap write-up in it. Thanks!

bobzinger

I added a ground strap from my swing arm on my carrier where the antenna is mounted to the tub. The SWR is still 2.5 +/-. How can I make this better?

Thanks.

RedDavid

Did you retune after you changed tops? That's where I'd start. Changing tops is a major change and I wouldn't be surprised if it had an impact on SWR. It's the same concept as not tuning inside or right next to building etc.

bobzinger

Yes, that's what started this whole mess. I changed from the hard top to the soft top and the SWR was pretty high. I decided to wait as I would be getting the new bumper installed. So, I've installed the new bumper, installed my parts and I'm finding that the best I can get it is to about 2.5. I installed the ground strap from the swing arm on the carrier to a spot in the tub. I sanded down the connection points to the bare metal. Still shooting about 2.5.

I'll try to grab a couple photos tonight of the setup. Thanks for any help you all might be able to provide.

Coley

Question - have you hauled out a multimeter to test? I just installed my FS last weekend and I was getting consistent 2.5-3 on the scale. I had to sand a bit more powdercoat of my Teraflex mount to get the ground well connected - it had slipped when tightening the main bolt down. Check the ground of the antenna to multiple points. You say that you've grounded the carrier to the tub, but does the fire-ring have a good ground to the carrier?

Check your grounds, check your washer-stack (I'm assuming you're using the fire-ring connector) and check that the mast is a clean circuit to the pin on the plug at the CB end and that it's not grounding out anywhere by accident.

Once my ground was connected right, I hit 1-1.2 easily on the meter (with the hard top)

You'll have to deal with an effect of the soft-top - but it should be minor. Run your tune and adjust the mast minutely.

goldtr8

instead of sanding you might want to consider star washers, this is what i am using for my ham setup.

bobzinger

I'm using the FireStik K-4A Stud assembly, not the fire ring. I haven't tested with a multi-meter yet, but that is next on my list of things to do. I read through some documents on this website. .rightchannelradios.com/pages/installation-and-troubleshooting-resources-pv-c0-92.html

I'm going to play around tonight and I'll be taking your suggestions into consideration while I look around. Thanks very much for a well-informed response and, if you don't mind, please stay tuned as I'll post up again after I've taken a look through everything.

Thanks very much!

Highlander

Hi I will throw this in just because it worked for me, I got a short ground strap from Napa and found a spot under the jeep to run it from the tub to the frame.