Another Newbie With Antenna Issues

[WSFX665]

Let me preface this by saying I am an absolute newbie! Last radio was a Realistic Mini 23 CB radio in the late 70s.

I purchased a Midland MXT 575 and their MXTA26 antenna to mount on the spare tire rack of my Wrangler. The spare was putting pressure on the antenna so I ordered a ground plane kit from Nagoya and roof mounted it. Checked the SWR and it was 3.78.

Unhappy with that, and the fact I couldn't drive in and out of my carport, I purchased a mount that pivots. I didn't have the correct connections on the cable at this point so I mounted without the ground plane kit. SWR? 19.99! Dang! I shut it down and waited for another cable.

New cable and ground plane kit installed today and SWR is still 19.99! I though maybe an antenna issue, so I replaced with Midland's Ghost Antenna. No reading whatsoever on the meter now. I am thinking it must be the meter. Any of y'all have sound theories? Any ideas are greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[SteveShannon]

1 hour ago, WSFX665 said:

Ok, so I dug the mag mount antenna out and tested that as well as retesting the others. Here's what I got this morning:

Mag Mount: SWR 1.19, 45 Watts

Ghost: SWR 1.36, 50 Watts

MXTA26: SWR 1.10, 46 Watts

So apparently it was the meter or operator error . Needless to say I am both pleased with this morning's results and a bit embarrassed by my panic.

I certainly appreciate you guys helping me sort this out, as well as your patience!

As you can see from my meter foible, I can not afford too much hubris.

Good job figuring it out!  On many occasions a good night’s sleep has yielded better results.