I had to move my cobra 25 from my truck to a loaner. On my truck I had to run a ground wire from the antenna mount, mounted on the powder coated mirror bar to the door. Stopped squeal I had then. Now I had to move it to this other truck and the squeal is back. I tried running ground wire to the ground on the dash. Worked for a couple hours then it came back again. Then I thought maybe the wire is too long for ground. So I shortened it and connected to the door again but it is still there. Radio is receiving just fine.Tried everything I could think of, squeal is there. I put another Antenna on didn't help. I put another guys old coax on and now the squeal is gone but I cant transmit or receive over a couple hundred yards. I put my radio in his truck and it worked like new. Can it just be in the truck? It just doesnt make since that this radio and accessories can change that drasticlly by moving trucks. HELP???
-
You can now help support WorldwideDX when you shop on Amazon at no additional cost to you! Simply follow this Shop on Amazon link first and a portion of any purchase is sent to WorldwideDX to help with site costs.
LOUD Squeal
- Thread starter JDWilbourn
- Start date
I noticed something else too. When I first put it in the truck I had no light on in my meter. Then I hooked up a ground to the antenna mount and the meter light came on. After switching coax the light wont come on. :?: :?: :?:
25 is a good radio , as long as your SWR is fairly decent , even a 2.0 would work OK at worst , ground wire one way or the other is OK as well (for the most part) the meter light is just shorting out (no biggy and can easily be fixed) IM wondering how the radio is tuned ? is the limiter in place as it should be ? What kind of mic are you using on it ? Have you tried other mic's ? I can only go on what your saying here. Tell more.
I have a 25 that really sounds great with a Super Star 452 mic. I bought it new last year to put in my car and it SQUEALED ! It was grounded to the frame so I was not going to go to the trouble of grounding the doors truck lid etc, etc. I installed a Cobra 150 GTL instead. I can put the Cobra 25 in the P.U., house or work shop (that is where it is now) and it works great ? You can be a broadcast engineer and a 4 watt CB can drive you nuts !
JDWilbourn said:
Sounds like there is at the very least an electrical issue, as well as a possible antenna issue. The meter light's being on or off should not be affected by anything to do with the antenna system, other than dimming a bit when transmitting. Check the radio out and make sure the light isn't grounded to the chassis instead of the main board ground for a start.
If you are in the same kind of truck as the last one in which the radio worked, it seems that you should be able to get the same good results by exactly duplicating your installation, down to the last detail.
I think that there is a couple thing going on. I bought a new coax today and was told that I was getting out strong. After about an hour of talking to trucks I passed it got really weak again. This is what it did with the used coaxes. Could I be burning coax up with a stock radio? 
I got my Uniden PC76 that I bought off ebay today and there is no way I'm putting it in this truck. The shop told me that I can get back in my truck tomorrow.
Wil I hurt the radio if I use this new coax to see if I'm having coax problem?
Since the 76 has an SWR meter should I one anyways?
I got my Uniden PC76 that I bought off ebay today and there is no way I'm putting it in this truck. The shop told me that I can get back in my truck tomorrow.
Wil I hurt the radio if I use this new coax to see if I'm having coax problem?
Since the 76 has an SWR meter should I one anyways?
There is practically no possibility that you're burning up coax. If you're getting your other truck back, I'd run with the radio you value least while trying to figure out this truck. As for the SWR meter, it shouldn't hurt to use that radio long enough to run the SWR tests you need.
Sounds like you have grounding problems to begin with. If I'm reading this right, the squeel goes away when you ground the antenna good... if you take the ground off the squeeel comes back...
If this is the case the radio is getting a ground connection through the coax braid/ground. I'm thinking that you may need to ground the chassis of the radio. This is basically what is happening when you ground the antenna.... the radio is getting a chassis ground through the coax at the antenna connection to ground.
Try grounding the chassis of the radio.
The fact that the light on the radio is effected by you grounding the antenna is another sign that the radio is not getting a good connection to ground.
That light should not be affected by grounding the antenna. If there was a poor ground on the neg power wire.... its possible that the radio is getting its ground through the antennas connection to ground. This happens with commercial radios... old GE radios were designed this way.
Use an external swr meter to monitor whats going on with the antenna system. If you have a walkie talkie, remove the antenna and monitor what you sound like on that. Also keep an eye on output power.
I would check the ground wire going into the radio and make sure its good and solid. The I would run a good solid ground to the chassis of the radio.
Then do all the checks above and whats mentioned by others here and see if you can narrow the problem down.
If this is the case the radio is getting a ground connection through the coax braid/ground. I'm thinking that you may need to ground the chassis of the radio. This is basically what is happening when you ground the antenna.... the radio is getting a chassis ground through the coax at the antenna connection to ground.
Try grounding the chassis of the radio.
The fact that the light on the radio is effected by you grounding the antenna is another sign that the radio is not getting a good connection to ground.
That light should not be affected by grounding the antenna. If there was a poor ground on the neg power wire.... its possible that the radio is getting its ground through the antennas connection to ground. This happens with commercial radios... old GE radios were designed this way.
Use an external swr meter to monitor whats going on with the antenna system. If you have a walkie talkie, remove the antenna and monitor what you sound like on that. Also keep an eye on output power.
I would check the ground wire going into the radio and make sure its good and solid. The I would run a good solid ground to the chassis of the radio.
Then do all the checks above and whats mentioned by others here and see if you can narrow the problem down.