Need Help Cobra 19 ultra 2

[Camaro69car]

First off, I got this CB for Free, and had to get an antenna (paid $20) and have only had it on my SUV for a week now. the antenna is a 4 ft, with 17 ft of cord, magnetic mount.

CB is a Cobra 19 Ultra 2 (not 3)

For some reason, I can only get like 1-2 bars of reception at most. most of the time its dead. I tried moving the antenna away from my radio antenna, but it's still on my roof.

What are some things I can do to fix this, or do I need to buy a better antenna?

[fire65]

Welcome to the forum. Have you ever heard of SWR? It relates to the CB and antenna. AS I always say, do some reading and research in the CB part. THEN if you have questions ask them.

[Camaro69car]

I honestly tried, it gave me a giant headache, and I had to pretend I knew what I was reading. However, I'm about to give it another go.

[Camaro69car]

So I need to get an SWR box, and make sure it stays below 2 all the way thru the channels?

I'm probably just going to get a better antenna next payday.

[Camaro69car]

Do antenna brands really matter that much?

[Ham man]

SWR does not affect reception.
Reasons why you can't hear anything on your new ( Free ) CB radio.
1. The antenna is not resonant.
If the antenna is not resonant, then it isn't going to receive very well.
CB radio - 27 MHz is almost too long of a wavelength to use with a magnum mount.
To properly transmit anything, you would need a 9' long whip, bonded to the top of the vehicle and all the panels in the vehicle bonded together. Oh and did I mention that the vehicle would need to be Suburban sized - 9' x 9' or 18' x 6'....

Reason number 2 - because the band conditions that day did not support communications on 11 meters..

Reason number 3 - because the front end of the radio is junk, or because the front end of the radio isn't very sensitive.

We can go on and on, but the bottom line is - if you do not know how to install a radio transmitter, it isn't going to work.

The SWR meter is only used to check to see if the antenna is resonant, after you confirm that the coax is multiples of a half wavelength long - so that what is injected at the radio end comes out the antenna end and you get a true SWR reading at the radio end.

Every person that plays radio should have a resonant 50 ohm dummy load and a good SWR meter.
Unfortunately the good SWR meter is probably going to cost you $100.00 - much more then you are willing to spend.

Find a good CB radio shop in your neighborhood, do an internet search if you have to.