help im stuck

[cheddar323]

ok i have a cobra 29 ltd classic 100 watt amp and a 4 foot firestick 2 with 12 ft rg8u coax mounted to the top of my topper. Antenna is completely above the topper. With a copper ground wire running from the mount to my chassis to make sure i have a good ground. Swr's all read under 1.5 (1-20-40) Radio is plugged into my 12v outlet the amp is hardwired to the battery.All connections have been soldered for good connection so theres the setup. Here's the problem i cant transmit nor recieve more that 3-5 miles ive exausted every thing i could think of any help would be great
oh and the radio has been peaked and tuned with a 2 watt dead key swinging to 20 watts

[Slim Pickins]

That 4' Firestick is seriously going to limit your TX/RX no matter how much power you put into it. Try a 9' whip just to see the difference.

73,Slim

[cheddar323]

any other advice on a new antenna 9 ft just isn't practical for my application

[sonoma]

if skip is running in your area like it is here. 5 miles to another radio is not bad. I am getting a 7 to 9 signal all day long with my setup. can only talk a few miles due to all the noise right now.

[CowboyCody]

Remember that your radio conversation will only be as good as the set up you are talking to. Also having your radio plugged into the power point can be noisy. If you have 4 "S" units of noise, you won't hear too far. Personally using just a 3' Francis roof mounted and a barefoot SSB radio I was able to talk 20 miles to a good base set up, your 4' should work better than that. I don't think it should be that huge of a hinderance. Some more info on the situation may be helpful.

[cheddar323]

what other info would you like to know

[MDYoungblood]

Hello chedder323,
Welcome to the forum. The SWR is good and it sounds like the antenna is positioned well so I am guessing on that any given day that is what your range is going to be. Like said earlier it is a two way street, the receiving radio has to be as good as your setup. Location has a lot to do with it too. You didn't say the make of the 100w amp but pushing 20w swing maybe a tad too much.

3's

Greg

[CowboyCody]

what other info would you like to know

What is the other radio set up you are talking to? What is the terrain like where you live? Time of day? Has it been in a metro area?

[cheddar323]

the other setup im testing this with is the exact same setup as we bought our stuff together. heres the amp RM-Italy-KL-203P we live in louisville ky but we drive delivery trucks all over the state same distance any where we go i just thought with the power that im putting out i should be able to go alot farther

[Sporty Mike]

5 miles in ANY given direction, mobile to mobile is pretty good in my book with that antenna.
I'm assuming ya'll are trying this during the day and if Kentucky conditions are anything like here in Alabama it's NOISY! That is going to effect your ears big-time. If you can get a radio check from a base ask his distance, try and use him as a reference, you should get much better range mobile to base.

Have fun!
Mike

Sent from Sporty Mike's phone.

[CowboyCody]

I agree with mike