lungbutter

Just finished the installation of a Uniden PRO510XL cb radio. I tuned the SWR of the antenna and am pretty happy with the installation. I'm at 1.3 on 1, 1.2 on 19, and 1.3 on 40.

I followed WOL's installation write-up to take the power from the battery through the foam-fulled hole in the firewall near the passenger front door. Now I notice that with squelch down a bit, I hear a light "pulsing" sound about every second. I took my ground from a bolt by the driver's left foot on the outside wall that appeared to be a ground point. The antenna is the stainless-steel job from Chadd's Ford Electronics sold through Quadratec and is grounded through the two new replacement bolts.



Any ideas what I'm hearing? Possibly electrical interference from the engine bay, from running the power along the right side of the engine bay then to the positive terminal? Normal background artifacts?

Thanks

whiskeytango

I was going to say grounding issue. double check it.

lungbutter

That's what I'm suspecting. The point I chose appeared to have a couple of ground straps from under the dash attached to it. I'll look for a better point in the morning.

How would I check my selected point with a multimeter? Any idea?

Thanks

dburgette

I know you said you turned the squelch down, but maybe you need it turned down even more. Does this happen traveling to different spots throughout town or does it go away if you drive the Jeep away from a specific area?

mdantonio

Hi! Try getting some ferrite beads from an electronics store and putting them around each individual power wire (black and red). This is often used in Ham Radio to minimize external "noise problems". May or may not work but very cheap and easy to try. 73 Mike

lungbutter

It doesn't seem to be location-specific meaning no matter where the vehicle is, I still hear it. I can squelch it so it doesn't make me crazy, but was wondering if this is unique to my rig or a normal thing you guys hear also.

lungbutter

Thanks for the idea! Sounds like a possible cheap solution. I like those! I was thinking of maybe wrapping some metallic reflective tape around the power lead in the engine bay to provide some shielding but that would be more of a hassle than ferrite beads.

lungbutter

BTT

Can anyone help with how to test my ground with a multimeter?

Thanks

SiliconTi

I have found that the JK creates a lot of RFI and my CB picks it up. I just turn the squelch to get rid of it and all is well (except shifting into 4-Lo - makes a racket for a second). Radio works well and SWR reads 1.2.

BlackNorthernJK

my guess, this is the problem. I think I know the ground your talking about, does it have another wire grounded there? That could be the problem right there, if your not opposed to popping your lower drivers side panel just above the pedals you will find a nice little cross member that you can drill into and put another ground all by it's lonesome, that may clear up the problem, thats I just grounded my cb the other day and I'm clear as a bell...try isolating the ground to it's own source