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High SWR readings

Dan84

New Member
Nov 9, 2023
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Hello, names Dan. Having an issue with high SWR readings (9.00 +) and wanted to reach out for some guidance. From what I have read online it looks like a ground issue is the typically cause. I have a Uniden Bearcat 980ssb installed in a 2015 F150. The antenna is a 62” stainless steel whip mounted using a workman stud to a spring and Wilson 305-600 gum drop. I started with a ground wire to the frame and have ended with a 4gauge wire running from the battery to the antenna mount with no change in readings. Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks in advance!!IMG_3753.jpegIMG_3754.jpegIMG_3757.jpeg
 

your antenna looks pieced together and homemade. The stud mount has no coil in it so its only for mounting.....The spring only makes the whip a few inches longer. The way you have it you would need a 102" whip to be good in swr on 11 meter. What you need instead of the spring is either a Wilson base coil with 5" shaft (like the T2000) with the 62" whip to work. OR just a K40 base coil. OR a complete antenna all together.

Ground to frame

CB needs a 108" whip and your at 65" with your setup
 
Your antenna is too short, but then again, I intentionally cut my 102 down to something about the same so it wouldn't hit CATV lines in town, but I had to make a matching coil for that to work.

Ground to the nearest metal part of the body with the shortest strap possible. Running a ground to the battery or frame through whatever path is available is too much inductance. Remember, the ground connection is the other half of the antenna, and length matters, so feeding it through obscure areas down to the frame or battery terminal simply means it must go right back up to the body to become a counterpoise signal, so just go directly to the body panel/truck box.

If you have an antenna analyzer and could measure the feed point impedance, a coil could easily be designed to tune up that shorter whip. For a simple coil in series to be effective, as mentioned above, the whip should first be cut so the impedance at the feedpoint is on the constant conductance circle going to the center of the smith chart, but if the whip was cut too short for that, a grounded coil with a tapping point would be needed (series and shunt inductance).

A series coil alone has the potential to make the match better, even if the whip were not cut to the proper constant conductance circle. So there is no harm in trying random series coils to see what happens if you do not have an analyzer. If you happen to have a decent nanoVNA, all trial and error could be eliminated.
 
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Thanks for the information. I will work on getting a coil installed and remove the unnecessary parts. Greatly appreciate yalls input
 
Thanks for the information. I will work on getting a coil installed and remove the unnecessary parts. Greatly appreciate yalls input
After you get your coil and whip-length where you need it, you might think about replacing the Wilson gumdrop with something of better quality/conductivity. Had a couple of those cause issues. Plenty of better mounts out there.

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I've used the Wilson gum drop several years with a Wilson Silver Load 5ft and had no issues, other than the white has faded, bad choice of color.
I had some cheaper made gumdrops fail on me however.
I guess application is key as well, and there are a lot of options depending on where you mount.
 
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