Radio swap crazy swr readings

[Slimjim85]

Im new to the world of cb. I understand some of how things work but just a little. I drive a freightliner columbia daycab. Mirror mount 4' fiberglass no name antenna. 12' no name coax. Uniden bearcat 880, stoc mic. Im under 1.8 swr 1,20, and 40...however when i install my president richard with stock mic the swr is all over and sometimes showing over 20!!!. I am only using the internal swr meter in both radios.you can fine tune swr on bearcat but not sure you can on president richard..any help would be awesome.

[Slimjim85]

Also, when i do the diagnostic on the uniden, it shows antenna fail. And power on no tx/rx it has an alert icon in the bottom left??

[635 HogPen]

a good starting point would be to make sure there is a GOOD ground to your mirror mount from the chassis, may have to add a extra wire... and that your antenna has the plastic washer in the correct position,

[Alabama Buckeye]

Nearing 30 days since post and I've seen little response to thread.
I'm WAGging it here: Bearcat 880 is a 5W DK CB radio while the President Richard is a 10M 50W PEP radio. It's the wattage I'm addressing. Is your no name 4' antenna on its last legs and poorly matched to the Tricky Dick radio? Any squeal feed back? Internal SWR meters rarely good enough for calibration purposes. The digital SWR meter on the Tricky Dick perhaps was the better measure than the Bearcat all along. You should strive for under 1.5:1.

[Slimjim85]

Thank you for the feed back guys, its just an old beat up antenna with a coax thats been slammed in the door a few thousand times. Im getting into a new truck in a week or so and thats when i will put all new coax, mount, and antenna and try this again. Theres a 8' helacoil on the international ill be driving. Would that be a better fit for the tricky dick?? Or would the brand new francis 4' be the way to go??

[Alabama Buckeye]

Have no clue about what a 8' helacoil is, other than a fix for mucked up threads. And can't speak to Tricky Dick (TD) radio. The simplicity of the control knobs is inviting. President has a good rep. I expect the TD is electronic SWR so its zero set at all times. Key up and your SWR is displayed.

As to Francis 4', well it just doesn't seem to fit with your new rig. I'm not a trucker so I can't address why dual whip antennas is the preference otherthan the challenge of hiding twin coax cables. Or angling forward of antennas to offset 70MPH wind loads. Or the preference to divide radio power output by half that dual antennas offer. Whip not a single top center cab magnetic mount. Break the Dogma barrier, be the first tractor with a Stryker SR-A10.
Or any lesser priced commonly known mag mount antenna.
I suppose you would have to consider low hanging rural town R X R bridges. The SR-A10 is 5.5', atop unknown cab hgt; the radiator could succumb to Peyronie's disease.

[Slimjim85]

I miss spoke I'm referring to AK40 helical type antenna. If that would be better for the td

[Alabama Buckeye]

K40 brand? Then you've got your mag mount antenna? Or K40 Helical Coil for mirror mounting? I see the K40 Helical Coil is tunable by adjusting the final radiator length. Have no clue where the Coil is on this antenna, base or mid-length. Frankly Id choose it over the Franci or Firestik II for sake of wind load. And longevity. I would expect a measure of wind load on the Coil and its stout tube lengths before and after the coil; but, negligible on the whip. Attachment to mirrors tight + quarter turn.

I'd choose a single K40 Helical Coil antenna for that 20,000W capability of this antenna for the full power coming from your radio. Why dual antennas; so the trucker on your left or right (opposite side from antenna) can also enjoy your blathering? Pass him a noteor holler.

[Slimjim85]

Just for the sake of stating what has already been stated lol, a single whip is going to be my best way to go? If that's the case then my job is half done. I have a little will that has seen about 4 months of use atop my pickup truck would this be something that would this be usable

[Alabama Buckeye]

I'm patting you on the back right now. The 3'er Lil Wil might be just the right ticket. Very low wind load and less chance for Peyronie's syndrome affliction. And you'd have a heck of a ground plane. If the smart way doesn't work fall back on dogma.