Ok decided to reconnect my dx979 in the mobile.This time i mounted the radio under the dash withthe mounting bracket.Before i had it on the dash.I ran the wilson wire under the carpet behind the gas and brake pedal and when driving around sometimes my recieve is fine then it starts acting funky and garbles up.Most of the time my transmission is fine but at one poin the local i talked to said it sounded like i was on another frequency.I tested the radio in the base for a hour with no problems so it isnt the radio.The wire on the back of the magmount seems to slide in and out a little so im wondering if someone pulled at it "my neighbor when i was away"....The needle drops signals becomes distorted its strange and the guy i talked to never heard anything like it happening before and hes been a ham for years.So the radio has been equaled out its obviously the antenna but what could cause that?
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Wilson 1000 recieve garbled signal drops
- Thread starter 123kid
- Start date
also i tested the swr on the radio it was fine but the garbled issue would come and go so i dont know if i was testing the swr in that situation.I pulled into a mcdonalds tested it it was 1.4 on 1 and 1.2 on 40....Now i know the rtadios swr is never accurate but it wasnt spiking.Again the radio works 100% in the house.The only time they had trouble hearing me was once bt other times while they were garbled they could hear me loud and clear.
It is normal for the coax to move in and out a little on the Wilson antenna. They put a zip tie on the coax cable, inside the base to keep it from being pulled out. I actually expected better from a "quality antenna". You can take apart the base to double check. If it is a mag mount, unscrew the coil from the base. Take the retaining nut off the antenna connector (which is just a vertical PL239 the coil screws on to) and remove the plastic cover. You should see where the coax is connected to the PL239. There is only a piece of paper tape stuck between the connection point for the center filament of the coax and the bolt that secures the magnet to the shielding/antenna connector. It would be a good opportunity to disassemble further to clean all your connection points. The Wilson's don't have very good sealing ability and weather penetrates and corrodsion builds up. I'd take the mast off the loading coil as well and clean up the connection there too with a (rifle) bore brush. Mark the stinger, remove and clean there as well and reinstall. That should all be done as periodic maintainance anyway, as I found out with mine. I was reading a thread from Bandit35 about taking his Wilson 5K apart. He was able to get the cover off the loading coil and you should have seen the inside of it. I tried to get the cover off mine, but I was unable for fear of breaking it.
If everything checks out, then you can start looking at your coax and connections. I am not as knowledgable as many on here, but that is where I'd start.
If everything checks out, then you can start looking at your coax and connections. I am not as knowledgable as many on here, but that is where I'd start.
This is absolutely correct. The antenna simply transmits and receives, it doesn't change or modify your signal in any way. It doesn't have the ability to garble your transmit or receive. Even a short or open circuit would simply give you a very high SWR rating, but it would not change the signal you are sending or receiving. It is a passive device, and and does not have that capability.
Being an intermittent problem it is possible it just didn't happen when you had it hooked up to the base.
I'm curious, do you have anything hooked up between the radio and antenna?
The DB
Fixed it i believe i did.The negative to the battery was frayed and a few pieces werent making the contact.That explains while it was happening on and off while i was driving.Seems to be working now drove around on 19 no garble and when it was on in the house it was on for a long time i was talking with someone for around a hour but in the truck it was like every 10 minutes.I noticed when i would touch the radio it would clear up.So i figured lack of ground.
i agree, i think the problem is with the radio. but a close inspection of the antenna wouldn't hurt.
From the sound of what you have described, it is very possible that the radio was "trying" to use the coax shield looking for a better ground if it was not getting a good ground from it`s mounting location on the dash and was still having a problem because it is a Mag mount.
I would guess that if it had been hard mounted with good metal to metal contact it would not have done that.
Weird things can happen with bad grounds/intermittent connections and a little RF thrown into the mix.
73
Jeff
