CB Radio Problem

Hello Ladyzone folk,

I joined this forum a while ago and got some really helpful advice. Myself and a friend are taking part in a rally called the mongol rally where we are trying to drive a Suzuki Swift 2WD 993cc to Mongolia. We are trying to fit a CB and failing at the moment. I was hoping there were some resident CB experts among you all. I will run you through what we have and our problems.

We have:

Midland 40-Channel Mobile CB Transceiver - Model Number 77-104
Springer CB radio Antenna Aerial
SWR
DV (DV27) BASE & LEAD FOR 3/8 THREAD CB
Patch Lead

We secured the antenna to the roof using the mount, making sure we made a good ground by getting the pain off the inside of the roof under the mount. We trailed the lead from the back of the car under the carpet the SWR and then from the SWR to the CB. All these connectioned look good, and are going into the right part of the SWR.

We followed instructions which we found on a site on how to tune the antenna using the SWR. However when we have it on channel 20 and hold down the transmit on the mic, the SWR does not move at all.(?)

We have run through every possibility. We think the set up is half right as we were able to hear a conversation over the CB on channel 19, but no movement from the SWR throughout. We aren't sure if its a faulty SWR of whether we have done something wrong.

Any help would be great as im completely new to the world of CB radio!

Thanks,

Tom

www.team-swifty.com

Could be the SWR meter (there's actually no point in keeping it wired in once you've checked your SWR reading, it's just more connections to go bad), could be your mic.

When you key your mic does it silence the sound from the speaker?

When you first key the mic the SWR should be set to FWD (or sometimes DIR or CAL). The needle should move. With the mic still keyed you turn the knob to line the needle up with the 'set' mark.

Then switch to REV or REF & key the mic again and that your SWR for that channel.

Meter's are only about a fiver or so & I'd guess it's either that or your mic..............unless the sets knackered! Did you buy it new?

Grippa said:

Could be the SWR meter (there's actually no point in keeping it wired in once you've checked your SWR reading, it's just more connections to go bad), could be your mic.

When you key your mic does it silence the sound from the speaker?

When you first key the mic the SWR should be set to FWD (or sometimes DIR or CAL). The needle should move. With the mic still keyed you turn the knob to line the needle up with the 'set' mark.

Then switch to REV or REF & key the mic again and that your SWR for that channel.

Meter's are only about a fiver or so & I'd guess it's either that or your mic..............unless the sets knackered! Did you buy it new?

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I dont think the set is knackered, seems alrite and the bloke I bought it from seemed nice also, confirming it was okay. The speaker does go silent when I key the mike, but there is no movement from the SWR metre. We are getting a new one sorted and hoping that sorts the problems, but having very little idea about CB radios am searching for other possibilities!

This is a pretty good step by step guide. Installing CB Into 4x4's

When you can hear people on CH19 have you tried speaking back to them?

t_chet2001 said:

I dont think the set is knackered, seems alrite and the bloke I bought it from seemed nice also, confirming it was okay. The speaker does go silent when I key the mike, but there is no movement from the SWR metre. We are getting a new one sorted and hoping that sorts the problems, but having very little idea about CB radios am searching for other possibilities!

Click to expand...

It does sound like an swr fault but..........You don't have a p.a. switch on your cb do you? It may be you have it turned on.

That is the guide which we have been following when setting up our CB radio. We did not want to speak back to the people on channel 19 as we were told it may damage our CB if the antenna was not tuned properly? Is this correct?

New SWR should be with me tomorrow, so we shall see!

It could damage it if your SWR is a million miles out, but this is fairly unlikely, spesh' if you've followed the fitting guide.

You could just quickly ask for a 'radio check' & anyone listening will tell you they can hear you & may give their location & how strong your signal's hitting them as an indication of how well your set is transmitting.

What is your location?

Grippa said:

It could damage it if your SWR is a million miles out, but this is fairly unlikely, spesh' if you've followed the fitting guide.

You could just quickly ask for a 'radio check' & anyone listening will tell you they can hear you & may give their location & how strong your signal's hitting them as an indication of how well your set is transmitting.

What is your location?

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Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire atm, as the car is moving around alot

dont think yu will be able to pick him up in Bstoke, Grippa.

Hello,

Just thought I would update. We now definitly know that we can transmit, we made contact with a trucker approx 15 miles away. However we still cannot get the SWR metre to work. The guy said that he was unable to hear us very well but we could hear him clear as a whistle. Just wondered if anyone had any ideas on how to get the SWR metre to work? We have bought a bran new one, but still no love.

Thanks,

Tom

t_chet2001 said:

Hello,

. Just wondered if anyone had any ideas on how to get the SWR metre to work? We have bought a bran new one, but still no love.

Thanks,

Tom

Click to expand...

Make sure the wire from the antenna is in the socket marked "ANT"
push the switch to "FWD" and press and holld the button on the mic, then turn the dial until the needle is just hovering on the right hand side of the dial. There should be an inifinity symbol a figure 8 on it's side. That where the needle should be. Then release mic button and move switch to the "REF" position. and press the button again. This will tell you what your SWR is. Lower the better but needs to be less than 2.

at 15 miles i would say there is not a lot wrong with it try holding mike a lot closer to your mouth and speak louder

Firstly I went to Wales recently and whilst driving along the A55 near queensferry I was listienng to a chap in Wolverhampton. But there was no way I would have been able to reply to him and I had 25watts. receiving doesn't mean it's set up right.

Secondly putting your mouth closer to the mic just increases the audio distortion and reduces the transmitting range. the mic should be about 3" away from your mouth with as little background noise as possible (not easy in a landrover.)

hey guys, i read about your story in the bicester advertiser. im based in bicester, oxfordshire so if your about this way, i could come out and help you test you can communicate with it. i.e ill see if im picking you up etc.

james

And I'll follow yer in the slitty and hold me mic on whilst yer tryin ter talk

GamekeeperJames said:

hey guys, i read about your story in the bicester advertiser. im based in bicester, oxfordshire so if your about this way, i could come out and help you test you can communicate with it. i.e ill see if im picking you up etc.

james

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Hello James,

Its good to see someone else from Bicester! It may be good if we can get your CB expertese. The car is currently over in Tring near Aylesbury but will prob be over here towards the end of the week.

The SWR metre wont work, so we think something must be wrong with out setup but we arent sure what. We are going to try and use a multi metre tomorrow to see if its our grounding or a bad wire.

Do you know much about CB set up???

Cheers

If you still can't sort it, I can ask me old man to pop down from banbury if you like, he works with radios etc.
Are you based in bicester then?

TheVengefulElephant said:

If you still can't sort it, I can ask me old man to pop down from banbury if you like, he works with radios etc.
Are you based in bicester then?

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That would be good, I will PM you if we fail, I dont even mind going up to Banbury, just need it sorted by the 18th July!

t_chet2001 said:

The SWR metre wont work, so we think something must be wrong with out setup but we arent sure what. We are going to try and use a multi metre tomorrow to see if its our grounding or a bad wire.

Do you know much about CB set up???

Cheers

Click to expand...

I know a fair bit.

so a few questions that should be helpful in finding the fault.

When you say the swr meter doesn't work. What exactly do you mean? and have you got the antenna coax in the ANT socket and the rig in the other socket?

Does the needle move when you key the mic?

If the answer to Q2 is yes when does it move and where does it move too?

redhand said:

I know a fair bit.

so a few questions that should be helpful in finding the fault.

When you say the swr meter doesn't work. What exactly do you mean? and have you got the antenna coax in the ANT socket and the rig in the other socket?

Does the needle move when you key the mic?

If the answer to Q2 is yes when does it move and where does it move too?

Click to expand...

We followed the instructions to the dot and when we key the mike the SWR metre needle does not move at all. There is a coax wire from the antenna mount, to the SWR "ANT" and then to from the SWR to the CB radio. (if that makes sense)