So I got my CB radio installed and tuned. I have ch1 at 1.6, ch40 at 1.5 and ch20 at 1.1 for SWR levels. Leads me to believe I have it tuned pretty well for thrown together parts. I can kind of hear people at my house on ch8 but can't talk to them. I work next to the freeway and during lunch went to play. On ch17 I get lots of back ground noise when I turn the rf gain up past half of the turn. It fills the meter up to #3 out of 4. I have full output power as far as the meter tells me. I have yet to get a response on any channel.
Using a Uniden 520xl, a 3ft tunable antenna, a firestik mount on the tire rack rear passenger side, and a 18ft coaxial cable. I think the cable is a cheaper one so that might be a problem, but I would like so CB expert show his knowledge.