At my wit's end

**AgentJeffy** · 06-05-2019, 09:12 PM

Please. Anyone I don't know what else to do anymore.

I have a Cobra 29 LTD Classic, 18' Firering coax, a 4' Firefly. The Firefly is mounted on the roof of my SUV with the tuning screw removed and the mount attached to my roof racks horizontal bar and is grounded by a wire to the body of the truck. But I can NOT for the life of me get my SWR below 3 on 1 and 40.

Channel 40 is higher than 1 but not by much at all, they're pretty much even. If I put the tuning screw in at all the SWR goes up on both channels. Is it that the antenna is too long because it's on my roof? Or too short? Should I get a regular Firestik? I just replaced the coax and the mount because I assumed it was the problem but it obviously wasn't. I

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**mjd420nova** · 06-05-2019, 11:06 PM

If it was me, I'd go with a top loaded firestick, get as much of the radiating element as far above the base. A double check of the coax and its connections, no crimps, solder the connector and the ground lugs. Besure to clean any paint or rust of the ground connection surface.

**AgentJeffy** · 06-05-2019, 11:46 PM

Originally Posted by mjd420nova

If it was me, I'd go with a top loaded firestick, get as much of the radiating element as far above the base. A double check of the coax and its connections, no crimps, solder the connector and the ground lugs. Besure to clean any paint or rust of the ground connection surface.

Thanks for the reply.

So something like a KW series?

The coax is good, I'm sure of it. Soldered the connector end of the coax on the Firering cable today. I can go back with a wire wheel and revisit the grounding location. I think it's good but doesn't hurt at all to check it again.

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**AgentJeffy** · 06-06-2019, 11:38 AM

Would it even be worth me trying to trim off some of the tip of this tunable antenna? Or does that not work with these models?

Saw a YouTube video of someone doing that and they swore it fixed up their SWR. Didn't think you could trim these tips though...

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**JesseJamesDallas** · 06-06-2019, 04:49 PM

You might want to give up on the idea of mounting the antenna to the luggage rack...Those things are not grounded, and running a wire may-not be enough to get a decent ground... tried doing that on my old Suburban once, and never could get a decent ground...Best-bet would be either a magnet mounted antenna, or drill a hole and do a permanent mount.

**AgentJeffy** · 06-06-2019, 05:06 PM

Originally Posted by JesseJamesDallas

You might want to give up on the idea of mounting the antenna to the luggage rack...Those things are not grounded, and running a wire may-not be enough to get a decent ground... tried doing that on my old Suburban once, and never could get a decent ground...Best-bet would be either a magnet mounted antenna, or drill a hole and do a permanent mount.

Ugh, I was hoping that wouldn't really be the case... Everyone swears that the roof it the best place to mount the antenna bar none. I figured running a beefy 10GA wire for the ground would have been enough but maybe it's too long of a run or something?

I was really hoping to be able to get away with it up as high as possible to clear trees as best as I could. Short of changing the antenna to a top load (like a KW series) I've pretty much exhausted all my other options at this point.

**JesseJamesDallas** · 06-06-2019, 09:07 PM

Originally Posted by AgentJeffy

Ugh, I was hoping that wouldn't really be the case... Everyone swears that the roof it the best place to mount the antenna bar none. I figured running a beefy 10GA wire for the ground would have been enough but maybe it's too long of a run or something?

I was really hoping to be able to get away with it up as high as possible to clear trees as best as I could. Short of changing the antenna to a top load (like a KW series) I've pretty much exhausted all my other options at this point.

roof "IS" the best place for the antenna....just not on the luggage racks!

**AgentJeffy** · 06-06-2019, 09:39 PM

Any suggestions you got for me to maybe salvage the spot? Can you really clip the end of the tunable tip antennas without ruining it?

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**JesseJamesDallas** · 06-07-2019, 04:47 AM

Like I said earlier, either use a magnet mount, or drill a hole and install a permanent hockey-puck or ball mount...As for tuning the antenna, you can clip the wire off on those fiberglass type antennas, BUT BEFORE YOU DO THAT>>>Get the antenna mount problem fixed first, or you will just end up ruining a good antenna.