new CB wont work

i bought a new CB Radio, and have it all wired up, but the reception is crappy. i played around with the sqwelch, and RF Gain, but it still sounds like crap, any one out there that can help, i would greatly appreciate it

Way back, when i had a cb, my buddy had a meter you connected in the line to the antenna and depending on the reading with the mic keyed and then not you used the allen key to lengthen/shorten the antenna, i think it was called a swr meter Antenna length is a big deal for any transmitting device, also the "groundplane" ie rest of the car. They said (12 years ago mind you) that it was better to have the antenna
a) as far fom electical interferance (ignition system) as poss and
b) if on the roof or trunklid as central as poss
i cant fully remember all the details but that should give you something to google with

Holy crap...I found the car section! It does exsist!!

Anyway, I was an amatuer radio operator for 10 years so I have a fair amount of expierience with radio equipment. Tuning the antenna is the good place to start, although you should be able to get reasonable reception on a poorly tuned antenna. It's more important to be tuned for transmiting to avoid unnecessay power feedback into the radio. And yes, you need to use an SWR (standing wave ratio) meter. This is a good tutorial. It's meant for Firestik antennas but the basics apply to all antennas.

If after tuning the antenna you still have bad reception (assuming you mean noise), you may need an RF filter. Assuming the CB is in a vehicle, it may be picking up interference from your ignition system. This page at http://www.roity.com/rc/rfi.html has some helpful tips.

Hope this helps!