I picked up a General Lee from Sparky's CB Shack about a month ago and installed it on my truck. I hooked it up to a 1/4 wave steel whip and it worked great. SWR's checked in around 1.5 or less on all channels. However I decided to switch over to a Wilson fiberglass to see how I liked it. No matter what I tried, I could not get the SWR's below 5:1. I never used or transmitted with the SWR's that high; just keyed up long enough to check the reading when I tried something different in hopes to bring down the SWR's. After screwing with the fiberglass antenna for a few hours I decided to go back to the whip and my SWR's are back in check @ 1.5 or less, but now I can barely hear anyone and I have static when I turn up the RF gain where I did not before. Plus, no matter how low I set the squelch dial I can't hear any real loud scratchy sounds like you should be able to. Does anyone have any idea what could be wrong? I've searched the net for a while and thought every thing over again, but can't figure out what's wrong for the life of me. Is it possible that those high SWR's fried or burnt something out inside the radio? As I said, I only keyed up long enough to get a reading on my SWR meter. It's peaked and tuned; from what Al @ Sparky's said, it should be swingin' around 40+ watts. Not sure if that matters. Thanks for any help........

 

Let me throw something else out there..... I have a feeling I know what's happened and it's not a good thing. My little brother was dying to help me out on the install so I let him. He was turning the cb on/off (when I told him to) while I was trying to tune the antenna. I think he turned the cb on before I even had the antenna connected. Couldn't this have fried the radio? I sure hope not, but I have a gut feeling this is the problem.

 

Yes to your second comment. When I got my modded CB the one thing I was told is that the antennae must be conncected on start-up or poof. That probably is the case.

 

did you put the nylon washer back on antenna mount?

 

That's what I was thinking. I guess it's time to start searching for a new radio now. Kind of sucks because I just got this one installed a month ago. It was an awesome radio too.

Yep I got that put back on. I still had high readings; never figured out why. I put the 'ol 102" stainless steel whip right back on the same mount and stud and the SWR's were fine. The radio just didn't work.

By the way...... how does that Cobra 29 Classic treat you? What kind of range does it have? I'm sure it doesn't have the same range as a peaked and tuned General Lee, but it is more cost friendly and that's what I need now.

 

i've used several 29s in the past 10 years,they are cheap and reliable(they will take beating that a truck ride gives)all of mine are peek and tuned and have echo,they all swing 18-20 watts and dead key 7-8,with a decent antenna and coax they will talk and recieve 10 miles.in 10 years of truckin i've never needed more than that.

 

YOU need to talk to Q-Ball RADIO He's The best you can find him on CBassholes.com

 

How about a Uniden PC78LTW? I like the looks of those, but I've never used a Uniden.

 

is this the case for ALL cb's? i accidently started it up before the antenna was hooked up and caught the mistake 5 seconds later. after I got everything connected I turned it back on and I hear static with the squelch turned down, I can hear people talking every now and then, and the WX reports come in crystal clear, I kinda figured I was ok.

 

If you did not key the mic when the antenna was not connected, then you really could have done no harm. If you did key the mic without the antenna being connected, then you could have blown the final transistors. They are actually a very simple repair but must be done by a tech at a shop. Most of the radios made today are more or les throw aways as it is more expensive to have them repaired than just getting a new one. I certainly would make sure your antenna install is right before getting a new radio, if the antenna is not right you could just blow another radio.

If you are getting a SWR reading with an external SWR meter that suggests your finals are OK, if they were blown you would not have an output to drive the meter. If you are using an internal SWR meter built into the radio you could possibly not be transmitting out the finals. Some of the internal meters are very unreliable because of where they pick up the output off the circuit board.

You might want to have a friend with a CB do an output test with you. Have them get a few/several blocks away and call you, if they can hear you responding, you should be OK. Or, try finding someone that you can hear and 'break' for/with a radio check, if they can hear you and respond then your radio should be working OK.

Make sure you RF/RX gain is set to high if you have that capability, also make sure the NB (noise blanker) is turned off if you have that capability. Years ago I had a friend who was complaining about never hearing anything on his radio, he had the NB on and the RF/RX gain turned down. Can't have ears if you have them turned off or down. Some radios also have a TX gain, make sure if yours does, that you have it turned up as well. Can't talk with it down/off either.

CD

 

Interesting. I am in fact using an external SWR meter and according to the meter, I'm getting an SWR of about 1.25 flat all way acros the board now. I just checked it a few minutes ago one more time. Here is the deal..... our truck driver sat about a 1/4 mile away from me last Friday to test it out. He said that I was LOUD and clear coming across to him. However, I could just barely hear him. I had the ANL turned on, but it always has been. As for the gain, it was all the way up. I can also turn the squelch all the way down and I still get no loud scratchy/static coming from the speaker. If I turn the gain all the way up and the squelch all the way down, I can hear a VERY faint static/hissing noise. If I were to turn on my radio, it would most likely not be noticed. I'm stumped. Good SWR's, good transmission, no recieve, and no squelch.

 

You might want to check your grounding. I have seen good SWR's and in actuality there was a grounding issue, also have seen cold soldered antenna connectors, especially in the tip and had good SWR's but the receive was down.

You also have receive transistors. If someone got real close and was running some power, they could blow your receive capabilities. That is kind of a rare occurrance, but it can happen. Also, try pulling your case and make sure your speaker is OK-not dried out or cracked, and that both wires are making a firm connection.

CD

 

As for the speaker, I would assume it is fine because it is clear what people are saying, just not loud. Plus I hear no static with the squelch all the way down so that indicates something else is wrong. As for the grounding, I have the radio powered and grounded straight to the battery so that should be okay. The antenna is mounted on my bed (or toolbox; it's been varying lately with all these problems ). I have it grounded through my bed when it is on there and when it is mounted on the toolbox I have a HEAVY ground wire run to the side of the bed where the tie-downs are. It's always worked fine before; that's what I don't understand. Bad coax could be a problem, but I don't think so.

Oh and I forgot to mention, I hooked up my little Cobra 75WXST yesterday and all was good. I guess that definately indicates a radio problem. I completely forgot about that.