Antenna warning light no matter what I do.

Did you try an external SWR meter? One of my cobra 29s will give antenna warning if SWR is around 2.7 but won't even kick on without an antenna plugged in! Very unreliable.

 

Just speculating now, but the antenna LED doesn't allow you to calibrate forward and reflected power. Even the inaccurate SWR meter built into the radio has a calibration knob. Maybe the the increased reflected power triggers the light? With higher output, even a decent SWR reading will look bad if the LED is not calibrated for it. Consider 1 watt reflected power. On a stock 4 watt rig, that's 25% reflection, or 3:1. On a 20 watt rig, that's only 5% reflected power, or 1.6:1 -- much better SWR reading even though the same power is reflected back. Again, this is only speculation on my part.

So let's say your antenna system is 2.5:1, or 88% efficiency, which I think is fine. I'll round it to 90% for easy mental math. Stock CB gets about 0.4 watts reflected back to it. A 20 watt rig gets 2 watts back to it. If not calibrated for increased forward power, it thinks it's getting 50% of its output back! That false reading would be between 5:1 and 6:1!

Again, I'm only thinking out loud.

Chart of SWR percentages:
http://www.firestik.com/Tech_Docs/SWRLOSS.htm

 

I'd take it out and bury it on the hill ... lol just messing with ya....

 

I'd have an antenna analyzer hooked to it and see what the real deal is.

 

Ground

 

Idk much but maybe trying grounding directly to frame?

....
Maybe when the person touches it they are absorbing some of the reflected power?

 

Bad ground connection, or a break in the insulating washer in the antenna mount which then might be grounding the antenna,instead of just the mount, even with a proper ground on the mount. Those would be the first places I'd check.

 

There is an adjustment for those lights too if I'm not mistaking. (which I could be) If somebody has been inside your radio and made changes, that could be cause if everything else checks out good.

 

I trust those warning lights like I trust politicians. Look, I've had a Cobra tell me it was fine without an antenna hooked up at all, but it was triggering the light with an SWR of 2.4. Yield to an antenna analyzer or at least an external SWR meter.