I had my CB unhooked for a few months but left the cable running from my mount to inside the cab. At one point it came unscrewed from the mount and got burned on my exhaust pipe, melting the rubber coating off. I have it covered in electrical tape, but I don't know if that fixed it or not. I've been getting some of the worst static i've ever heard. It could just be where I live though.

On a semi related note, I think my 108" whip was picking up a conversation about 8-9 miles away.

Here is a picture for reference with no tape on it.

 

cut it, strip it, and get a new end from radio shack for like two bucks

 

end, as in the piece that attaches to the mount/antenna?

 

yupper

edit: or you could just wrap the heck out of it with electrical tape and check your swr's. as long as it didn't melt the core protective plastic, you'd be alright.

 

is the core inside the copper? No way to check unless i cut it... Its wrapped in about 4 foot of electrical tape at the moment, the burn is only 2.5 inches long. How would I check the swr?
me= near noob.

 

Some cb's have a built in meter. Otherwise, you'd need a swr meter. Google "calibrating swr" and you should find a billion how-to's. Not hard at all.