Reception is very poor. Grounding issues? Please

Make sure the antenna has a good gound at its base and make sure nothing is touching the whip or the coil and make sure the coil is not too close to anything metal.

The rule is the taller the antenna the better the reception and power output. Of course it is not always convenient to mount a 102" whip.

• 4 watts into a 102-inch whip antenna, it is the same output as if you put 11 watts into a 3-foot whip.

• 4 watts into a 102-inch whip antenna,, it is the same as if you put 14 watts into a 28-inch antenna.

• 4 watts into a 102-inch whip antenna, it is the same as if you put 54 watts into a 7.5-inch antenna.

You did not mention the signal on their meter and how close they are. This may be a modulation issue. Wattage increases can go unnoticed volume wise but small modulation increase can make dramatic changes in volume to the receiving radio. Check that your dynamike or mike gain control is turned up clockwies increases it. The radio itself may need the modulation increased internally. If you have a powermike with adjustments on back it may be way to low. Hope this was of some help

hello firstly it would be wise to connect your power lead directly to your battery secondly have you checked the vswr on the antenna make sure it is tuned to your radio i presume you have an swr metre and lastly check all coax connection make sure none are shortening out check pl259 at rear of radio and also check lead goin into antenna you can ajust the antenna by raising or lowering the whip .when you acheive 1.5 or better tighten up it should work ok for then
goodluck

Check your antenna. Make sure it is getting a proper ground. If mag mount; make sure base of antenna and where you put it are both super clean. Check where whip goes into coil or base. Make sure all allen screws are tight and whip is not either all the way down to the base or up to the top. If antenna is mounted; make sure that it has a good ground. You might have to remove some paint around the base to get a good connection. DO NOT TRANSMIT WITH A HIGH SWR. YOU CAN BURN OUT THE EXPENSIVE POWER OUTPUT TRANSISTOR. Hope it helps.

Several things are working against you.
1 Antenna location= Needs to be in CENTER of car or truck, and high. no grounded metal can be next to the element (the hot/positve part of the antenna)

2 the only way to really ground the antenna is by having a flat metal ground plane under the antenna. DC grounding does NOT do this, that is a misunderstanding.

3 make sure you use a tunable antenna. I have found the wilson's to be very easy to tune and performe very well, for a base loaded antenna.

4 in short a wilson or k40 magnet mount placed on the very top of the roof in the center will have a perfect ground plane. Then shorten or lengthen the steel whip to ajust your SWR's. You will get the best results this way. This is the ONLY way to achevie good performace.

5 I will say this the absoulte best antenna is the 102"steel whip, if you got the clearnce and dont mind it hitting tree limbs put it on a big magnet mount with a spring at the base and youll have a perfect antenna. But the wilson is shorter and easier to tune.

Well, the k40 is designed for roof or trunk mount,you would not be getting a good ground,plus you would be getting feed back from cab,no good transmit or receive. Get a good 102" fiberglass or steel whip that's bumper mount,mount it on right rear bumper and you will be good to go.

Check your antenna. Make sure it is getting a proper ground. If mag mount; make sure base of antenna and where you put it are both super clean. Check where whip goes into coil or base. Make sure all allen screws are tight and whip is not either all the way down to the base or up to the top. If antenna is mounted; make sure that it has a good ground. You might have to remove some paint around the base to get a good connection. DO NOT TRANSMIT WITH A HIGH SWR. YOU CAN BURN OUT THE EXPENSIVE POWER OUTPUT TRANSISTOR. Hope it helps.
Tom

Changing the length of the mast more then likely made your antenna to short, and therefore impossible to tune.

Check your antenna. Make sure it is getting a proper ground. Check where whip goes into coil or base. Make sure all allen screws are tight and whip is not either all the way down to the base or up to the top. If antenna is mounted; make sure that it has a good ground. You might have to remove some paint around the base to get a good connection. DO NOT TRANSMIT WITH A HIGH SWR. YOU CAN BURN OUT THE EXPENSIVE POWER OUTPUT TRANSISTOR. Hope it helps.
Tom

OUCH! Cb antennas are cut to a specific frequency. FM antennas are also cut to a specific frequency. If you ground the antenna to a frame, you short out the antenna. BAD THING. If it is a 102" whip, you would have to cut off about 2/3's of the whip to work. If there is a cylinder at the base of the antenna You would only need about 7' of the whip sticking out for it to work right. Inside the cylinder there is a coil that would make up for the missing length of a 102" whip. I would suggest finding an old CB with FM built in like one of the old SEARS CB/FM receivers.
They had the electronics built in to compensate for the varience in the old sets.