Hi, Im new to this forum and Im not too educated about CB radios, I just got this radio used and Id apreciate your opinions and/or comments about it. Great forum, Thanks Lou

Oh boy, thats bad. I hope you did not pay to much for it, it is a piece of junk and I will take it off of your hands so you won't have to suffer with it.
Just ship it to me pre-paid and include a $20.00 bill in the package for my trouble.

I like all of the Galaxy radios and the 99V is a good unit with several good mods available to turn it loose.

If it has not been hacked up on the inside, it will make a good radio for you.

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Outlaw 151, North Alabama.

http://s236.photobucket.com/albums/f...RO151%20Shack/

Probably my all time favorite radio. There are a lot of things that be done to make it a screamer.....

I have a 250 watt Boomer amp hooked to it but Im getting high SWRs, Im hoping its the old ant. wire.

first,

make sure you are checking the SWR the proper way.
do a google search for "how to check your SWR" or something like that,
and you should find a few tutorials to make sure you are doing it right.

if you are doing it right, and still having high SWR, then check these things:

amp and radio power and ground need to be run right to the pos and neg terminals of the battery.

antenna needs to be a good one capable of handling the power, and needs to be mounted properly in the right location. (reply and give us all the details about your antenna system. include all the things you dont think you need to)

the 99v needs to have the RF power set to a 2 watt deadkey to work with that amp.
there should be a knob on the front of the radio to set this with.
with the radio's meter set to read the RF output, key the mic, and turn this knob down until the meter shows 2 watts out.

the more details you give us about your installation the more we can help you.
later,
LC

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well yeah, but what's really going on?

Check here for usefull information.

Wilson Antenna Tech support - Index to Technical Support

__________________
Radio. The Original Wireless Communication.

Excellence is Expected.
Perfection will be Tolerated.

We must all Agree to Disagree Agreeably.

Outlaw 151, North Alabama.

http://s236.photobucket.com/albums/f...RO151%20Shack/

I agree with all of that except the part about the negative from the amp going to the battery.

When running amps you want to keep the grounds as short as possible. The longer a ground the more RF interference you are inviting.

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MoJo
www.mojoenterprises.us

If you're not using an external meter and you're relying on the meter in the radio, there are two possibilities:

#1: The meter's wrong. A lot of built-in meters are.

#2: The input circuitry of the amplifier doesn't present a 50-ohm impedance to the radio. This is a defect in the amplifier, not the radio.

That said, are you using an external SWR meter?

If so, is the meter immediately after the radio, or immediately after the amplifier?

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formulamojo,


im not sure i understand your logic with regards to using a short ground lead to the vehicle body rather than running the ground wire right to the battery's negative terminal.

i will lay out how i see it, and you can tell me where i might have misunderstood you or missed something somewhere.

so, you have your negative cable coming out of the back of your amp.
you need to get that cable connected to something that will complete the circuit.
the thing that completes the circuit is the negative terminal of the battery, not the chassis itself.
so, whether you connect a short ground wire to the chassis, or connect a long ground wire directly to the negative terminal of the battery, that negative cable coming out of the amp still has to get back to the negative terminal of the battery somehow.

to me, it seems like a much better idea to use a good, clean, properly gauged, copper wire to make that journey, rather than rely on old steel panels that have been bolted together, painted, sealed against leaks, possibly rusted, and were never designed or intended to be used as an RF ground, to make that same journey.

so why is it better to connect your ground cable to some arbitrary body panel, rather than using copper wire to make the connection to the negative terminal of the battery.
either way, the ground still travels the same distance from the amp to the battery.

please let me know your thoughts on this.

later,
LC

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well yeah, but what's really going on?

LC,

Yes the electrical ground is achieved but makes a longer trip for RF to get to ground.

RF and DC have different characteristics.

The longer ground acts as sort of a second antenna if you will and produces RF interference all over the vehicle.

This interference causes havoc on many things inside of the vehicle, from the Radio, to the windshield wipers, to the ecm, crank and cam shaft positioning sensor etc....

When dealing with RF you want the quickest low resistance path to ground. That is why when fully bonding a vehicle (grounding body to frame, frame to engine, alternator to engine, battery to frame) you use braided strap instead of round wire.

I agree that you should use good quality wire, I prefer 6 gauge or better. Also run the ground for the radio directly to the battery, just not the amp.

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MoJo
www.mojoenterprises.us