I've been having trouble with my CB reaching out, I checked the SWR and it's trough the roof bad.
I checked by changing antennas, changed the coax, checked all conections, tried different microphones etc.
I checked the ground points, even added an extra ground to the tourpack just to make sure.
I can not get the SWR to come down.

Is there an adjustment that can be made on the radio externally or internally?
Any ideas?

99 Ultra Classic with stock HD radio and hogtune (should not matter) speakers .

 

swr adjustments are made by the length ofn the antenna. try a cb shop to get diff. antennas. you did use a swr meter to check the swr correct? check on ch 1 then ch 40 then ch 20. swr should be 1.5 to 1 or less

 

SWR is a characteristic of the antenna. There is no adjustment on the radio. Are you using a non ground plane antenna? Motorcycles have insufficent ground plane to get an acceptable SWR using a ground plane antenna. If you are using the original antenna, it should the non ground plane variety. Some people have had success by running a length of wire grounded to the antenna base from the rear of the bike to the front of the bike under the tour pak, set, tank etc. This mimics a ground radial. If you search antenna theory on the web, you can go crazy reading all of the theories and applications.

 

Have to ask 'cause it is often the obvious stuff that is overlooked, but are you using the SWR meter at the radio, inside the fairing? I'm no expert by any means, but when I had my CB antenna tuned at a CB shop, I pulled the outer fairing and one side of the meter was connected directly to the CB antenna input on the radio, and the other side of the meter was connected to the CB coax cable. It was tested and tuned as described above: channels 1 and 40, and then 20.

 

Thank you all for the suggestions.

Yes my SWR meter is good, I have several, they are all reading the same.
I know how to adjust antennas, as I said above just to eliminate error I changed the anttena several times with different ones that I've used on this bike over the years just to be sure.

I also changed coax a couple of times including shielded cable and went direct again just to be sure.

I use to be somewhat of an expert at this years (decades) ago when I was into Ham radio which is why I asked if there are any adjustments at the radio itself as I don't see any. We also have several experts here or use to so I thought I would throw it out.

I do however like the idea of grounding from the antenna to the radio under the fairing :-) I may give that a shot. But, as also suggested I will probably go hunt a pro repair shop around the truck stops. The thing is...without a manual or schematic there is probably not a whole lot they can do other than also checking/adjusting SWR.

 

Just a thought since you're in Arizona. J&M makes a 12" pretuned CB antenna that should be direct replacement for the stock one. If all the coax is sound (and it should be exactly 9' in length by the way) and well grounded, the only solution lies in the antenna as others have said. J&M is in Tucson. I'm sure they'd be happy to help you.

Don't expect to get much over two mile range. But, if you want to go to a 48" top loaded fiberglass whip, you can do better. See picture.

 

Thanks goodbirds,

Actually all my stuff is J&M...the 12" that they sell is suppose to already be tuned specific for the bike. I've never had desireable SWR even with J&M's product but it use to be much lower, now all of the sudden it's out of wack in the danger to the radio range. What alerted me was my friends telling they cant hear me more than a couple blocks away when I use to have the the strongest singnal in my group. Now they are complaining they can't understand me practially right next to them.

I don't know about the lenth of the coax, I know it needs to be exactly 9', it's the stock cable that's on the bike. It is a 99 model so as mentioned above I ran other cable to eliminate error, even some shielded product, but I did not measure it as I don't have the tools to change the ends anymore. I did all that with the rail mount antenna as there is nothing you can do with the stock tourpack as it has specific fittings you can't buy anywhere. I'm not getting low SWR with either system (Stock Harley w/tourpack or rail mount).

I've also tried a 4' tuneable whip that does not require a ground plane.
I'll buy a shielded 9' piece I saw at Fry's Electronics and try that.
I might have to make a trip to Tucson and see John in person at J&M :-).

Any other suggestions?

 

SOunds like the Finals in the radio are going out. Ask around the truckstops who is the best radio shop in the area.The truck drivers know who they want to work on their radio when they want to reach out an touch someone.

 

Kind of what I'm thinking and afraid of, only because on that year the radio, cb, etc is an all in one unit. I doubt the average CB shop will have a manual for it. Let alone a way to power it so that they can bench it.