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Originally Posted by Russ D
Had it been a grounding problem or an issue with the arial then I'm sure the SWR wouldn't be as low as 2:3.
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If you haven't got a dummy load and he doesnt obviously want to spend money on another aerial, perhaps you could try having a length of coax with PL259 plug on one end and pigtail the other end of the coax and join an 8 foot 6 inch piece of wire to each connection. This will make a half wave dipole and will at least let you know if the CB itself is OK, it is a slight possibility that the output transistor, filter/matching circuit or even changover relay is at fault. I had a look at one CB for a local guy who couldn't get the SWR down and it was because the power supply was faulty and had lots of ripple on the supply.
Also beware of cheap SWR meters, the diodes in all SWR meters can go leaky with age, but it's suprising how many of the cheap ones go faulty and will not even read a good match into a 50 Ohm load.
I would personally knock up a dipole as above, and make it a bit longer and trim each leg until the SWR comes down. If this works OK at least you know the set is OK, and the length of coax and the plug at the CB end are OK as well.
In the days before I could afford a dummy load for my radio gear I used to use a standard 60Watt bulb with a coax soldered diredctly to it, the resistance is around 50 Ohms when cold but quickly alters and causes a bad SWR as it warms up!
