CB Guru's HELP!!

UpsideUp

UpsideUp

Member
I have Cobra 19 LX that is mounted above my rear view, with 18' coax running passenger side roll bar, out the tail gate, to a Orfab tire carrier. This connects to a 4' firestik ll, with a ground wire bellow the carrier and the K4 stud. It is run to the tailgate and connects to on of the former tire carrier bolts.
This set up worked great with for a year or 2 with good SWR readings right out the box as seen on the LX swr meter.
Then over time I started to get intermittent "antenna warning" light coming on. It might work great for day on of a trip and then warning the next. I would shut it off for fear of damage during those times. Now it is all the time with SWR'S through the roof!
I decided to tackle the project with lots a research. Thought it was a pinch in the coax at the windshield so i bought a 90 degree connection- no help
I changed the ground wire with bigger gage, better connectors, and ground all paint of tire carrier and tail gate- no help
Bought a multimeter and tested the coax, deemed fishing so bought new bigger better coax- no help
Found a ding in the Firestik where there was just the littlest bit of wire showing, so bought a new antenna!!- no help!!!
Bought an SWR meter and tried that-NO HELP!!
I HAVE A REFURBISHED COBRA 19LX AND CONNECTED THAT, STILL ANTENNA WARNING!!!!!

I would love to hear advice on what the hell is going on. The only change I have made to the area is a rack on top, but since the problem was before that I figure that isn't it.
Ad a note my SWR'S are between 2-3 and I'm out of room for adjustment it seems. Maybe I'm doing something wrong. Seemed pretty easy initially and then it all went down hill to being unusable.
HELP!!!!
 
10frank9

10frank9

Web Wheeler
UpsideUp said:
I have Cobra 19 LX that is mounted above my rear view, with 18' coax running passenger side roll bar, out the tail gate, to a Orfab tire carrier. This connects to a 4' firestik ll, with a ground wire bellow the carrier and the K4 stud. It is run to the tailgate and connects to on of the former tire carrier bolts.
This set up worked great with for a year or 2 with good SWR readings right out the box as seen on the LX swr meter.
Then over time I started to get intermittent "antenna warning" light coming on. It might work great for day on of a trip and then warning the next. I would shut it off for fear of damage during those times. Now it is all the time with SWR'S through the roof!
I decided to tackle the project with lots a research. Thought it was a pinch in the coax at the windshield so i bought a 90 degree connection- no help
I changed the ground wire with bigger gage, better connectors, and ground all paint of tire carrier and tail gate- no help
Bought a multimeter and tested the coax, deemed fishing so bought new bigger better coax- no help
Found a ding in the Firestik where there was just the littlest bit of wire showing, so bought a new antenna!!- no help!!!
Bought an SWR meter and tried that-NO HELP!!
I HAVE A REFURBISHED COBRA 19LX AND CONNECTED THAT, STILL ANTENNA WARNING!!!!!

I would love to hear advice on what the hell is going on. The only change I have made to the area is a rack on top, but since the problem was before that I figure that isn't it.
Ad a note my SWR'S are between 2-3 and I'm out of room for adjustment it seems. Maybe I'm doing something wrong. Seemed pretty easy initially and then it all went down hill to being unusable.
HELP!!!!
Click to expand...


Bad ground.

Too much coiled up coax cable.

Inadequate connection on your coax cables.

Rule those out first.
 
Eezybreezy08

Eezybreezy08

New member
I am having the same problem with my cobra 29 lx. It happened to me when I changed hinges for my tire carrier. So I am assuming that it might possible be a bad ground. I understand your pain, cause it's frustrating as shit
 
jeeeep

jeeeep

Hooked
as 10frank9 mentioned, check all those out 1st.

if the loss happened over time, I'm guessing you may have rust/corrosion built up or loose ground connectors. do a continuity test from ground to ground in sections - i.e. remove the ground from the carrier and then put your tester from the ground wire to the connection point, from connection point to tub, tub to a known good ground wire. I used my rear washer ground in the connector plug to test continuity from the tail gate ground.
 
UpsideUp

UpsideUp

Member
Thank you guys. I'm hoping to spend time on it today and see if I can figure it out. Is it possible the radio's ground could be bad? I'm just trying to rule things out. I will go crazy with my meter to figure out all wire connections, grounds, etc and hope to find the problem. I hope to report back with good news.
 
UpsideUp

UpsideUp

Member
Eezybreezy08 said:
I am having the same problem with my cobra 29 lx. It happened to me when I changed hinges for my tire carrier. So I am assuming that it might possible be a bad ground. I understand your pain, cause it's frustrating as shit
Click to expand...

It's so lame. I would say my grounds are better than when I first installed it. New ground, polished connections, paint and powder coat removal, and complete replacement of everything from radio back. EXCEPT the mounting stud...but there isn't really anything to fail in that, but I guess I will check that too?
 
UpsideUp

UpsideUp

Member
Alright y'All. Just an update and question. After reading and watching videos I checked my set up yesterday. Most videos said to check the continuity between the "antenna mount" in my case the tire carrier, and a "good ground, like the ground post of your battery" in my case where the grounding wire meets my tailgate. When I touched the red lead to the carrier (free of paint and bare metal) and the black lead to the connector between the bolt and tailgate (free of pain and is bare metal) the needle on my tester spikes to the right towards the 0 ohms. Doesn't that mean it's properly grounded?
 
UpsideUp

UpsideUp

Member
Another update guys. I figured I would post my findings in case anybody has had the same issue as I did and this might help and save the frustration that I went through.
After reading and searching and watching, I found my answer at the Firestik website. They have a wealth of knowledge in their library that is pretty easy to understand and if you go through it all I think you are a pretty knowledgeable beginner.
As all said here, check your ground. As I found out using a continuity meter only tells you that..if you have continuity. This is great for seeing if you get current flow but it does little to tell you about the quality of your ground. Sure it shows you that it's got continutiy to your ground, but if your ground is insufficient for the cb to work properly, antenna warning!

So after many different attempts and trying many different things I went to my local hardware store, purchased 3 feet of 6awg heavy weight copper stranded wire, a couple of 1/4" x 20 nut, bolt, washers, locking washers combos, and some 6 awg ring terminals for attaching.
I then polished off all paint or powder coat anywhere there was going to be metal on metal or inside the antenna mount hole. My antenna mount comes off the tire carrier if you were reading along earlier. So I drilled a 1/4" hole between the rack frame, and the antenna hole thus being able to use hardware above and form a connection. 20160427_144646.jpg
I then ran the wire as close to the tailgate, along the rack, as close as I could get it, and secured it with zipties.
Not the most visually appealing but at this point in my frustration I didn't care. Maybe change it later if I can. 20160427_144657.jpg
Then I followed the wire to the undercarriage and drilled a similar hole after polishing off the pain close to the bumper mount and attached with a self tapping 1/4" x 20 metal screw/washer. 20160427_144714.jpg

That was all there was to it. No more antenna warning, incredibly low SWR right out the gate but still needs adjusting, and per the Dude at the hardware store, I could be struck by lightning and wouldn't notice with that large of a ground wire. Whatever works I guess.
Hope someone can use this info and let me know if I can help troubleshoot your issue.
 
Eezybreezy08

Eezybreezy08

New member
Glad you got it figured out. Sorry I never got back with you with the pictures, but it seems like you got it figured out. Just like yours, mine was all ground problem. Thanks for the info about reading up on the firestick website.
 
UpsideUp

UpsideUp

Member
H8Roads. Yeah...I did. But that was after the elbow. I was hoping taking the bend out of it it would get better but of course it didn't work. So I just kept replacing the cheapest parts first as process of elimination. Good news is its all new but the radio...so there's that. LoL
 
D

dmdaniels1

Guest
UpsideUp said:
I have Cobra 19 LX that is mounted above my rear view, with 18' coax running passenger side roll bar, out the tail gate, to a Orfab tire carrier. This connects to a 4' firestik ll, with a ground wire bellow the carrier and the K4 stud. It is run to the tailgate and connects to on of the former tire carrier bolts.
This set up worked great with for a year or 2 with good SWR readings right out the box as seen on the LX swr meter.
Then over time I started to get intermittent "antenna warning" light coming on. It might work great for day on of a trip and then warning the next. I would shut it off for fear of damage during those times. Now it is all the time with SWR'S through the roof!
I decided to tackle the project with lots a research. Thought it was a pinch in the coax at the windshield so i bought a 90 degree connection- no help
I changed the ground wire with bigger gage, better connectors, and ground all paint of tire carrier and tail gate- no help
Bought a multimeter and tested the coax, deemed fishing so bought new bigger better coax- no help
Found a ding in the Firestik where there was just the littlest bit of wire showing, so bought a new antenna!!- no help!!!
Bought an SWR meter and tried that-NO HELP!!
I HAVE A REFURBISHED COBRA 19LX AND CONNECTED THAT, STILL ANTENNA WARNING!!!!!

I would love to hear advice on what the hell is going on. The only change I have made to the area is a rack on top, but since the problem was before that I figure that isn't it.
Ad a note my SWR'S are between 2-3 and I'm out of room for adjustment it seems. Maybe I'm doing something wrong. Seemed pretty easy initially and then it all went down hill to being unusable.
HELP!!!!
Click to expand...


Trying to set up my CB now, what mount did you use to put it above the rear view mirror?? trying to see what best works
 
WikedLizard

WikedLizard

Member
UpsideUp said:
Another update guys. I figured I would post my findings in case anybody has had the same issue as I did and this might help and save the frustration that I went through.
After reading and searching and watching, I found my answer at the Firestik website. They have a wealth of knowledge in their library that is pretty easy to understand and if you go through it all I think you are a pretty knowledgeable beginner.
As all said here, check your ground. As I found out using a continuity meter only tells you that..if you have continuity. This is great for seeing if you get current flow but it does little to tell you about the quality of your ground. Sure it shows you that it's got continutiy to your ground, but if your ground is insufficient for the cb to work properly, antenna warning!

So after many different attempts and trying many different things I went to my local hardware store, purchased 3 feet of 6awg heavy weight copper stranded wire, a couple of 1/4" x 20 nut, bolt, washers, locking washers combos, and some 6 awg ring terminals for attaching.
I then polished off all paint or powder coat anywhere there was going to be metal on metal or inside the antenna mount hole. My antenna mount comes off the tire carrier if you were reading along earlier. So I drilled a 1/4" hole between the rack frame, and the antenna hole thus being able to use hardware above and form a connection. View attachment 200843
I then ran the wire as close to the tailgate, along the rack, as close as I could get it, and secured it with zipties.
Not the most visually appealing but at this point in my frustration I didn't care. Maybe change it later if I can. View attachment 200844
Then I followed the wire to the undercarriage and drilled a similar hole after polishing off the pain close to the bumper mount and attached with a self tapping 1/4" x 20 metal screw/washer. View attachment 200847

That was all there was to it. No more antenna warning, incredibly low SWR right out the gate but still needs adjusting, and per the Dude at the hardware store, I could be struck by lightning and wouldn't notice with that large of a ground wire. Whatever works I guess.
Hope someone can use this info and let me know if I can help troubleshoot your issue.
Click to expand...

Having the same issue. High SWR and antenna warning with my newly installed 29LX. Ran a dedicated ground from the mount to a screw inside the body and still the same issue. Guess I will try to relocate the ground to the frame and see if that helps.
 
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