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cb radio help

1K views 3 replies 2 participants last post by  Jerry Bransford 
#1 ·
I have a cobra with a k40 antenna and the radio comes on but on very low static.

I hooked up my radio to a buddies cord and antenna and it worked as it should. That tells me its the cord or antenna or ground somewhere.

So I unplugged the coax from the antenna and it worked with me as the ground. But as soon as I hook up the cable to the bottom of the antenna, it cuts out. All the radio, cable, and the antenna ohmed out fine, err resistance check. So is it the antenna or ground on antenna? Need some more input please, thanks!
 
#2 ·
Static can be from a lot of sources including, commonly, the ignition system if the factory ignition wires or spark plugs are replaced with low or no-resistance models. So-called "performance" or "low resistance" ignition wiring will invariably cause static in AM and CB radios.

Do you have any of that in your YJ?

If you mean the static noise heard on the radio gets quieter when you plug the antenna into the CB, that usually means the antenna itself is shorted to ground.

Is your antenna mount assembled EXACTLY (!) as shown below? Especially take a look at the position of the required nylon insulated shoulder washer as shown below. If that nylon shoulder washer is missing, broken, or in the wrong position, the antenna will be shorted to ground which would cause the CB static noise to dramatically decrease when the antenna is plugged in.
 

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#3 ·
Thank you. I'm going to go out today and look things over and double check the antenna base assembly

I did remember though that I can plug the coax into the base of the antenna, but as soon as I start to screw the coax housing onto the base, it grounds out. Just some more info I remember
 
#4 ·
That sounds like two separate issues... that the antenna bracket isn't grounded to the Jeep and that the antenna is shorted to the antenna bracket, very likey caused by the nylon insulated shoulder washer not being properly installed.

The antenna bracket is apparently not grounded because when you screw the coax onto the antenna mount, that is then providing the ground that should be provided by the bracket being properly grounded to the Jeep. Just touching the pin of the connector to the antenna mount lets it receive until screwing the barrel on grounds the entire assembly from its ground connection coming from the radio.

So 1) See if that nylon insulating shoulder washer is installed properly so it can isolate the antenna mount from the bracket which is supposed to be grounded. 2) Ground the mounting bracket to the Jeep.

Click on this to make it bigger...
 

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