Sorry, I should have updated this, after "fixing" the issue -- after trying many, many things, including antennas, coax, etc., I finally followed Jake's advice and looked at the wiring to the EMS. --- I had not trimmed off any of the wire harness not being used, so I had a bunch of wire, neatly coiled behind my firewall --- Jake suggested trimming off wire not being used, and ensure that I did not have "coils" in the wiring harness. ------ problem solved! --- no issue with amp readings during comm transmissions (I still have the amp readings jumping around 5-6 amps, continually) but I can live with that.
Thanks for everyone's help!
Ron