Cobra 29 antenna warning please help

[justin30701]

Hello everyone new to the forum and cbs so here it goes I'm running a bone stock cobra 29 lx radio with a cobra hga 1500 antenna I have the radio ran straight to the battery for both the ground and power with a fuse on the power side the antenna is mounted on the center of my roof with the coax running to the inside my truck through the a-pillar into the I can receive Transmissions as well as whether bands but I cannot transmit and all that tells me is CB antenna warning I am lost and I don't know what to do please help

[sonoma]

you need to set the swr on the antenna if you have not done that yet. also make sure you did not crimp the coax where you ran it into the cab. the antenna warning light tells you that the swr is high and you will ruin the radio and it will need repaired if you keep trying to talk on it with high swr. you can still listen on it just do not key it up untill you get the swr below 2 on the meter. the lower the swr the better it will perform.

also post an intro in the new member area.here is the link to the new members area

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[MDYoungblood]

Hello justin30701,
Welcome to the forum. Like sonoma said, adjust the SWR, the meter in the radio is close so you can use it but an external meter or analyzer would be better. I have also heard that problem with the LX model being SWR Warning adjustment is way off, this was with the new model, if it's an old used radio then someone could have adjusted the wrong pot.
As a new member could you post an intro in the "Welcome to the Forum" topic, [Please login or register to view this link] , so others can say "Hi", thanks.

3's

Greg

[772 alberta]

Yup swr, be sure you know how to use a swr meter both on the the radio and in line.
If not sure how go to you tube and look it up. And another thing to keep in mind is keep the doors shut and hood down for true reading. Good luck don't strip the set screw. 73 from north of the 49th

[MDYoungblood]

Also check the coax to see if there are any pinched areas, just looked and saw it was a magnet mount, a lot of times the coax pinches at the door jam.

3's

Greg

[222DBFL]

Yep, sounds as if you may have pinched the coax in the door. You said you ran it down the pillar but where does it enter the cab at. Through the door, a window, or other?? And like said, get an external swr/watt meter and check the swr (VSWR), using an external meter. Don't forget to turn the mic gain all the way down, calibrate the meter, and also make sure you're in a open area as well when performing these tests and that no one is standing outside of the vehicle near it. I am with MD on this one, check the coax for any pinches or cuts through it. Good luck and hope you get it resolved.

[justin30701]

Ok so I updated the antenna system to a duel fire stick 2 3ft antennas 18ft coax cable and its still say cb antenna warning and my swr is lil over .5 on all 3 test channels I'm stumped

[sonoma]

1st thing is the 3 ft antennas make it hard to get the swr down. but is it a .5 or 5 swr. could not make out for sure what it was. if it is down to .5 you may just have a vr that needs to be adjusted inside the radio.

here is a service bulletin on how to adjust the swr light on the 29

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[justin30701]

I have it down to .5 on channels 1 20 and 40 but still get warning I can recive tho just no transmit

[sonoma]

do you have a meter so you can actually check the modulation out on the radio.you must have a dead key since you are able to set the swr. you need to set the light for the swr as the bulletin I posted for you says to do.. also to verify you are saying .5. the needle is basically staying all the way down when you key the radio after calibrating it for the swr check.never heard any one call it a .5.

[MDYoungblood]

Might be worth a trip to a truck stop to have the SWR checked by someone with a meter if you don't have one, before messing with the radio. Even a new antenna system could have problems.

3's

Greg

[justin30701]

I have no clue how to do the tsb knore the knowhow closet radio shop is over an hr from me is there a way to up load pictures I'll show you my set up and the swr readings

-- Tuesday, 10 May 2016, 18:12 PM --

Ok I fell dumb my swr metter was way off I bought a new swr/rf metter my cb says .5 yes .5 but the merger reads 2.5

-- Tuesday, 10 May 2016, 19:19 PM --

Ok so guess it is the radio I pulled my meter off plugged the attena back in to the cb and I get the warning again plug meter in readings didn't change and the warning alarm not there :-/