CB radio/coaxial cable questions

[Dain Bramage]

so, i got my CB installed sunday, tested it out in at crustys house, and it works, at least in his driveway. tried to tune it and the **** didnt work at all. could not get it out of the red. yesterday i went and got a firestick, and the best i could do was get the needle so it was in the middle of the red.


anyway, i have a 12 foot coax going from my toolbox, i routed it thru the same hole in the bed as my 00 gauge battery cables for my secondary battery, up along the frame, into the engine compartment from the bottom, thu the firewall at the passenger floorboard, to the radio. now i am getting massive interference when the engine is running. my question is, is the interference caused by having the cable in the engine bay, or from having it close to my battery cables? i am inclined to thing its from the engine, maybe if i drilled a hole in the back of the cab and brought the cable in there it would go away.

 

[pokey]

both, never run coax or low voltage wires near a power source (incl. grounds)

 

[heep70]

Like Pokey said and also make sure that the antenna and CB are grounded really good.

 

[Dain Bramage]

i guess its time to try and track down one of my dads hole saws, then.:redneck:

 

[skrause]

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

:flipoff:

Specifically... http://www.firestik.com/Tech_Docs/swr-causes.htm

:fawkdancesmiley:

 

[Dain Bramage]

hmmm....

Testing or tuning with doors, hood or trunk open (altered ground plane)

Ungrounded mount (re: ground plane dependent antenna system only)

Relying on a chassis ground via the radio (must test with coax off of radio)

Antenna mount affixed to an ungrounded in-bed pickup toolbox

:redneck:

 

[skrause]

hmmm....

Testing or tuning with doors, hood or trunk open (altered ground plane)

Ungrounded mount (re: ground plane dependent antenna system only)

Relying on a chassis ground via the radio (must test with coax off of radio)

Antenna mount affixed to an ungrounded in-bed pickup toolbox

:redneck:

BTW, "theory" states 9' or 18' of coax, not 12'. YMMV.

 

[Dain Bramage]

where can i get a cable made?

 

[1 grumpy]

and any access cable need's too be rolled up and tied..

 

[Totalled]

You mean excess cable?

You can get a connector from radio shack and cut your own cable Taylor.

 

[cornfed]

you got the 12' coax and swr's are high go with the 18'. Lengthen coax or antenna to lower swr shorten to raise. Get a mini rg8 coax and coil the excess close to the antenna side and that should improve things.

 

[skrause]

and coil the excess

and any access cable need's too be rolled up and tied..

Don't coil it! Just double it back along some straight section without kinking the cable. Coiling creates a trap and will hurt your output.

 

[pokey]

Don't coil it! Just double it back along some straight section without kinking the cable. Coiling creates a trap and will hurt your output.

x2 as I have been told

 

[Dain Bramage]

thats what i heard too. can i get coax cable radio shack too?

 

[Totalled]

yep.