skel130

Yes. That's my recommendation. I believe your issues are very likely due to the eye terminals.

^^ X2

:doh: Alas, so right you are Oyaji. Apparently I don't remember half of what I though I did. Haha. This is what college has done to me. I can't remember things that matter.

"Billionaire"? Dayum - you'd be like the man who invented everything ever invented, from the taming of fire and the wheel to everything else ever conceived... combined! :D Such a thing would change everything we thought we knew about the universe. You'd have all the monies. But I agree with the spring statement earlier. Take that out! Could actually be the root of the problem, especially if you're getting output only on high channels. Longer whip = higher frequency, meaning the antenna would be too long for the low end channels. And thank for the info on the transmit circuits, just a bit more I can file in my brain under "I doubt I'll ever actually need to know this" aka, 90% of my brain.

Actually.......I'm thinking wrong. SWR under 1:1 is impossible, As 1:1 would be 100% output, zero loss. So if you were to have 0.9:1 as a theoretical SWR reading, you'd be getting more output than the radio generates. So under 1:1 shows there is an issue with the meter or output.

You misunderstood me, I do understand lowest SWR is best, but in CB radios, getting your SWR under 1.0 on a CB radio is basically impossible on a good day. When I said a 0 reading would mean 100% is being reflected away, I meant 'sent out' from the antenna. Looking back, I can see how that might read wrong though. Same page :thumbsup: I'm curious as to if it is posible to burn parts of the transmit circuit out, so you were getting no out put on low channels, but capable of it on high end channels? Not sure on that. I know more about radio theory than radio circuitry. Now I hadn't thought about the antenna being SO far out of tune as to be out of range for the SWR. Such as rather than being in tune for CB bandwidths (26.9-27.4) that the low end of the antenna was at something around 27.4, and the top end was 28 something. Though, that seems unlikely as that would be something like a 2 inch shift in antenna length... And should still show up on the SWR meter, even if only briefly. But I think the best option is going to be the external SWR meter/dummy load.

Cobra has all the manuals online :) but could be 1 of 2 things. Either your internal SWR meter is junked, and you should get an external SWR meter to check (google is your friend), OR your radio's transmitting circuits are fried from either age or out of spec SWR (and didn't notice) and you've junked the radio. Those are the 2 causes I can think of for not being able to calibrate the SWR meter. Besides that, just check all connection in the antenna setup, especially the bracket. Take apart the stud that attaches between the bracket and the antenna/coax cable. Maybe if the plastic grommets were out of place or rust was present inside there? That's just an off chance, but free to check :)

Actually, according to the manual (I double checked my initial assumptions), if the switch is in S/RF mode, it shows the broadcast power. This is different than the SWR, so while the low reading still shows we have an issue, you still need to flip over to cal, deadkey the radio, turn the knob until the needle is on the calibrate mark, and then go to the SWR setting and take a reading. A SWR reading of 0 means that no signal is generated. A 0 reading is basically impossible, as this would mean that 100% of your radio signal is being reflected away, which just doesnt happen.

Ok.....So don't shoot me for asking the silly question.... But it doesn't look like you actually checked the SWR..... I say that because I have the same EXACT radio, and the left switch is set to transmit vs. SWR mode. You need to actually go to cal, calibrate the SWR, then get a reading. That should make it VERY apparent if you have an SWR issue, or a transmitter issue (inside radio).

That is very likely the issue. See if you can get a better ground. And what Oyaji means is that if you don't get your SWR down, it will burn out your radio. SWR= Standing Wave RATIO. It's a ratio of how much of the power is sent out from the antenna, and how much 'reflects' back into the radio. And yes, still an issue. :)

Well you had talked about trying to use the cable ordered by putting a ring terminal on the end. If you didn't get it perfect, then high SWR would be the result.

I'm suspect if you clipped the end of the cable and put a ring on it.

This is a super duper off chance, but one of my doors has a slightly 'sticky' lock mechanism. What I mean by this is when I go to unlock it, sometimes the toggle on the lock doesn't settle all the way, and I have to lock/unlock it several times before the lock switch will actually push in a little more on the unlock side of things. The lock will appear to be unlocked, and you can pull both handles, and it just seems like the door is stuck. Might be worth a shot. It's like the difference of a small fraction of an inch (maybe like 1/16th or 1/32nd) but you can feel the difference in relation to the door panel, and wether the button is flush.

Yes. The link I posted is a replacement stud that will allow you to use the same coax. Technically if you strip the coax and attach the center stud to the ring, it should work, but it's hard to do, and you'll probably create a couple issues.

http://www.amazon.com/FireStik-K-4A-STUD-SO-239-CONN/dp/B0002HRBSU/ref=pd_cp_e_3 Didn't notice you got the ring terminal version