My Cobra CB Radio has a lot of static in it...?

Question

I got a Cobra 19 Ultra III from wal mart and got a 48" fiberglass antenna from radioshack. It sounds alright if you're just sitting there with the truck off, but when you cut it on it's hard to hear much. It's got kind of a whine to it. I've tried changing the ground wire on it, and the power wire and neither one helps. Anyone got any ideas?

Answer 1

get a SWR Meter  u will be able to tune in better that way

Answer 2

you need to check to see if you have radio suppression spark plug wires and radio shack used to have a ignition noise suppression kit for cheap, you can also get a power line noise filter from radio shack that goes on the hot wire to the cobra radio....try em' all, they'll work...sometimes you need all of them.

Answer 3

Well, the first question would be how is it wired?  I usually recommend a direct wire to the battery as it usually provides the best power source.  A whine could be caused by many things, one of them being a poor ground as you attempted to fix.  Another could be a dying alternator.  Check the voltage being put out by your alternator to eliminate that possibility.  Along those lines, it could be a loose belt causing your alternator to put out insufficient power too.  If those don't find anything, you might have to resort to the filtering as others suggested.  I would definitely check these 2 options out first, though.