Cobra 19dx iv when i key up it swings all the way to a 9 is there any way to set swr,s without a meter

cost of finals plus S&H plus labor. cheaper to buy a new one and have that one for parts. H&Y electronics has them but you have to call them to make sure they do.

You'll need to find another CB radio for someone to check to see if they are receiving your transmission.

its factory set for a reason. being you could be interfearing with someone talking down in the 10 meter band or lower.

did you take the protective plastic off the meter front. could be a number of reasons.

The meter will be more accurate and an external meter will be even better. If they show good disregard the ant light it is adjustable. It may have been set to sensitive from factory. These erroneous SWR reading can be the side effects of a PEAK & TUNE if the coils have been spread but that should also show on meter.
SWR meter calibrations

• Switch (S/RF SWR CAL) to the CAL position.
• Push and hold mic button
• While holding mic button adjust the SWR CAL knob so the meter needle swings to the CAL mark on the meter
• While still holding down the mic button, set the (S/RF SWR CAL) switch to the SWR position, to read the SWR reading. Note: When switched to SWR position the meter needle should ideally be as far to the left as possible. Anything over 3 is not acceptable.

S/RF/SWR/CAL SWITCH. When in the S/RF position, the meter swings
proportionally to the strength of the received signal. When transmitting,
the meter indicates relative RF output power.
When in the "CAL" position, the SWR meter can be calibrated by adjust-
ing the "SWR CAL" control to the "CAL" mark on the meter face.
When in the "SWR" position, the standing wave ratio is measured.

You will want to operate on S/RF position.

check the swr's on the antenna. all shops should do it for free just to check them. WE DO here in texas.. but if antenna isn't install properly then it may be high swr causing short distance.

If you have a cobra 29 then you have a meter. There is no way to Tune an antenna without a meter. You need a device that can read the reflect, or Standing Wave Ratio.That is a standing wave of RF energy that instead of leaving the antenna, is going back down the feed line to the radio and in time hurting the radio.

If you have a cobra 29 LTD, it has a build in SWR meter. It is not as accurate as an in line meter, but it will get it close enough not to hurt the radio. Here is how to do it.

Turn on the radio, with the antenna hooked up. Never key with out an antenna hooked up.

Set the switch all the way to the left(S/RF SWR CAL) to CAL. this stands for calibrate.

You will notice there is a knob right next to the channel selector knob marked SWR CAL as well. Start with the knob turned all the way to the left.

Put the radio on Channel 20. This is just about the middle of the band.

Key the radio and hold it. While holding the key on the mic, turn the SWR CAL knob up until the needle on the meter hits the mark "CAL". there is a triangle, and a gap in the line. The needle needs to be at the point of the triangle in the gap.

NOW, while still holding the mic key, flip the switch from CAL to SWR. You should see the needle immediately swing back. What ever the needle is on at this point is your SWR reading. use the set of numbers on the top of the meter, that's for SWR measurement.

If the needle does not swing back, and is in the rad, the antenna is WAY off. There are some reference points on the scale. The first gap in the line is 1.5 SWR. if the needle is there or less that is fine. then you have 2 and 3. 2 is not so great, but not extremely bad, but you should try to get it lower. 3 is really bad. Anything past 3 is considered infinity, and is really really bad.

If its high, then your antenna is either too long or too short. So how do you know which?

Here is how.

Turn to channel one and repeat the SWR process from above. Make note of the reading.

Then turn it to channel 40. Repeat the process again and take note of the reading.

Now, if the SWR is higher on channel 40 then 1, then your antenna is too long and you must shorten it. If the reading is higher on 1 then 40, then your antenna is too short, and you must lengthen it.

Make adjustments in length about an 1/8th inch at a time until you have either the same reading on 1 and 40 or real close, and or the reading on channel 20 is really low.

If you get it so that the reading on 1 and 40 are the same, then the SWR reading on 20 will most likely be almost nothing, unless there is either something wrong with the antenna, coax, or its just a crappy antenna.

K40 should be able to get a nice low SWR.

then there may be prob with antenna system or radio has too low of dead key to operate the meter.

Hi and welcome to FixYa,

Which output is muffled, transmit (modulation audio) or receive audio?

If you are referring to the receive audio, initially, have you tried an external speaker? If it works good, then it would be an internal speaker problem; if not then others to check would be:

• IC1 - KIA7217AP audio IC;
• CM 10 & 15 - audio output capacitors 470uF / 16V.

if it were transmit / modulation audio, try replacing the mic.

Please postback updates.

Good luck and thank you for asking FixYa.