cb radio antenna warning / fail ...... help

[ansoren]

alright so i got a cobra cb 29-plx got everything set up w antenna and during test and transmit got the antenna warning or antenna fail
any one know how to resolve that issue?
the antenna is mounted directly to the body to the right of the driver taillight on my 2008 jeep wrangler x unlimited with an 18'' cable

[FiEND]

could be you're testing it indoors
could be you didn't isolate the ground when you connected the antenna to the bracket.
could be you simply didn't adjust the swr via the swr/cal dial
could be you haven't yet tuned the antenna to the vehicle

could be that's the best you are gonna get with your antenna / bracket / mount location combination.

I suggest you take it to Dean at Comtek (road king) and have him look it over.  and while you are waiting for him to open, read this.

http://www.firestik.com/Tech_Docs.htm

[ansoren]

thank you i got it from dean  ile go back there tomorrow
just wondering if its a common thing 
thx for the help n link

[ansoren]

ok so any one elce with this problem can fix it by adding another 3'' cable to the 18'' cable for the antenna

[JKJunkie]

I actually just finished the install of one of these on my jeep with a 108" steel wip. I did have to add a mount spring to lower the SWR a smidge but everything is well.

 I did however notice while on the highway that my radio would occasionally Flicker an ANT. Warning on the screen. Turned out that the Coax connection on the back of the radio had lossend off and was no longer making a constant connection.  I would check all connections and make sure that the correct places on your mount are isolated.

Good Luck Its a Great radio when you get it working.

[TL-Iguana]

ok so any one elce with this problem can fix it by adding another 3'' cable to the 18'' cable for the antenna

If they have the exact same setup as you, and have the antenna mounted where you do, and the solar flares are giving off the same relative activity, and have the same radio as you, and are driving your Jeep then perhaps this is the case... Every Jeep will have a different affect on groundplane and Al hit the nail on the head with his suggestions. Not every rig will have the same readings and I think most will agree that you should really check it with a proper SWR meter and not rely on the built in meter on the radio. For the most part with what CBs are used for on the trails here you can get away with a poorly tuned setup. However if you want to get more into HAM and have a CB that functions as best it can, it should be set up right and tuned properly. Not every rig will experience the same problems unfortunately. There are just too many factors.

Good to hear you got yours fixed though

[w squared]

For the most part with what CBs are used for on the trails here you can get away with a poorly tuned setup.

Please don't encourage the man Simon. There are more than enough people that already do that.

One of the results of using craptacular antennas and not bothering to tune them is that your voice becomes almost unintelligible on the CB. If you want people to be able to hear what you're saying, then tuning your antenna properly is a good idea.