When radio is keyed up the RX/TX ligh changes to red but not movement on the needle gauge and also i have no backround noise when squelch is turned off but other times the whole radio will work fine just by shutting it off and leaving it of for 2 days

The RX light should light up when receiving a signal. It may be your squelch setting is too high. Push the VOL knob until it enters the squelch setting, then set the squelch so it just cancels noise. If still not working you could have a wire broken in connector from headset that plugs into the radio.

It sounds like you have CTCSS (tone squelch) or DCS (Digital coded squelch) turned on, but the normal squelch setting is set too low. This will stop scanning, and as the radio thinks there is a valid signal, it will not transmit. I have no idea what radio you are using, but this is a common situation with modern radio's.

every day? can you add more info.. the more noise on the RX end will make the needle higher then the TX setting so if this is a noisey day and you have 3-9 s-units on the rx yes a needle will drop. without having a watt meter to see if your power is dropping when you TX is different.. add a inline watt meter and make sure you have a decent power source. and TX and see what it is showing for wattage. if it drops then check power supply first make sure its giving enough amps. then next chk swr's and radio..

1- Did you choose the right Tone for both RX & TX?

If you have RF present but not the right tone, the green led should turn on.
One of the side key should be a Momentary "Squelch Off" (By default, it programs like that). Use it when you you see the green led turn on.

If you have the wrong Tone Squelch programmed, the side key will let you hear the repeater to confirm the problem.

2- If it didnt do the trick, Look for a RX/TX frequency mismatch. maybe your RX/TX frequencies are wrong for this channel?

3- If you have checked all the above, maybe your radio have a bad ceramic filter and your unit has lost it's sensibility. (Youll hear only people near to you.)
If it's the case, usualy only one half of the filter goes bad. Try swapping the Bandwith type in programmation. If WIDE, try NARROW or the opposite. If you receive in narrow but not in wide, the filter is bad. In more than 50 radios with Sensitivity problem, I only got one with both Wide/Narrow sides of filter bad.
If you have access to a spectrum analyser, on a "RX Test" you should see ~0.2uV. Anything higher than 0.3uV mean you have a serious RX problem.

OK bare with me now i have no idea of your knowledge level with CB/ SSB radios.
Lets make sure our setting on radio face is correct before we decide this is an mechanical problem.
Set the following

• Volume knob 12 o'clock
• Dynamike knob 12 o'clock
• Squelch full counter clockwise
• Rf gain full clockwise
• Select S/RF position on the SWR/CAL switch
• Select AM position on the USB/AM/LSB switch
• Select CB on the CB/PA switch

Now there will be some critics with opinions on the next instructions. Place a small screwdriver or test lead from a multimeter in center conductor of antenna jack listen for onair noise or radios operators to verify RX is working. Now remove the antenna/screwdrive/testlead. Then key mic just long enough to notice if the meter is swinging do not hold the mic button long this can damage the final. I tell you to do it this way rather that connected to your antenna system so we can eliminate the question if it is you antenna sytem or the radio.
If the LSB or USB was selected when you keyed the mic you would see no meter movement this is due to the lack of a deadkey or carrier for SSB which is a much more efficient method of transmitting on AM.
There are few things that affected the rx and tx together.

Field Programming procedure for the Kenwood TK-270 or TK-370 handhelds. Press and hold (light) & (dial) while turning on radio. Hold until (SEL) appears on the display. Pressing (SCN) allows you to program the following 1. Monitor Key Off = off 1 = Monitor momentary 2 = Monitor Lock 3 = Squelch off momentary 2. Scan Key Off = off Co = carrier operate To = Time operate 3. Dial Key Off = off On = enable 4. TA key TA = talkaround RV = Reverse Off 5. Lo Key On Off 6. Priority None 1 = fixed 2 = selected 7. Fixed Priority Channel Turn selector to channel 8. Look back time A Turn selector to time in seconds 9. Look back time B Turn selector to time in seconds 10. Revert Channel 1 = Selected 2 = Last Call 3 = Last used 4 = Selected + Talkback 5 = Priority 6 = Priority + Talkback 11. Tx Dwell time Turn selector to time in seconds 12. Drop out delay Turn selector to time in seconds 13. Time out timer Turn selector to time in seconds 14. Tot Pre-alert Turn selector to time in seconds 15. Tot Rekey time Turn selector to time in seconds 16. Tot reset time Turn selector to time in seconds 17. Squelch Level Turn selector to Squelch 18. Beep tone On Off 19. Signalling And Or 20. Battery Save On Off 21. Selectable QT On Off 22. Clr to transpond On Off 23. Del/ Add On Off Pressing (Dial) allows programming of: DTMF 24. digit time Turn selector to time in milliseconds 25. inter digit time Turn selector to time in milliseconds 26. First digit time Turn selector to time in milliseconds 27. Rise time Turn selector to time in milliseconds 28. Rise time with QT Turn selector to time in milliseconds 29. PTT ID Off 1 = connect 2 = disconnect 3 = Both 30. Dial ID On Off 31. Connect ID 32. Disconnect ID 33. # of DTMF keys on Keypad 12 16 34. DTMF hold time On Off 35. Store & send On Off 36. D key assignment Turn selector to D or time in seconds for pause 37. Dtmf Signaling Off 1 = code squelch 2 = Selective Call 38. Intermediate Code OFF A B C D E F 39. Group Code OFF A B C D E F 40. Auto Reset time Turn selector for time in Seconds 41. Call Alert/ Transpond Off 1 = 2 = 3 4 5 42. Transpond On Off Pressing (TA) will allow you to program Frequencies Use selector to choose channel Press PTT Enter Rx frequency using: - the Selector Knob to change kHz; - the Selector Knob + (light) to change MHz. If no channel is Shown press the (LO) button. Press PTT Enter Rx CTCSS code Press PTT Enter Tx Frequency as above Press PTT Enter Tx CTCSS code Press PTT 1. Option Signal Off 1 = DTMF 2 = 2-Tone 2. PTT ID On Off 3. Add/ Del 4. Busy Tx 5. Clock frequency shift 6. Power Hi Low Repeat for the other channels (you've got a 32 channel radio, so it may take a while...) <end>

TX means transmit. There are 3 settings for the meter. The top one is to measure your TX/RX that's transmit and receive. CAL is to calibrate the meter to check your SWR.

Reasons your needle may not be moving much when you key while on TX/RX. The dynamic is probably all the way down. That is your mic gain. If you turn that up when you talk the needle will swing more. If the radio is stock and not modded, you can turn this all the way up and leave it.

Also there could be something wrong with the mic. If people can hear you then its not the mic.

If people can hear you fine when you transmit, it may just be a bad meter. Not a big problem, you will just need an external meter to make sure you swr is not high.this is important because if it is over 1.5 you run the risk of blowing the final transistor.

Check all of the switchs on the radio,
if all are were they belong then the meter is
bad,but you need to try to find someone to
give you a radio check onair.
Maybe this helped.

if the antenna warning indicator is lighting during transmission then the antenna is either located and.or installed improperly or a defect exists in the antenna mount or the feedline itself, including connectors.

Yep that should happen.
Green or no color in receive mode
Red when you key the mic to let you know when you are transmiting