Fiberglass Antenna for Cascadia

I've posted this in several different threads, including one I started, if you want to check them out. But I'll go ahead and tell you that after trying several types of antennas, here is what you can do to make it work:

Get a 7ft, top loaded, fiberglass whip. SkipShooter, Firestick, etc. Mount it on a mirror mount perch that are now readily available. The perch is about 6ft off the ground + a 7ft antenna and still under 13'6". Run a good quality coax to your radio. I used 9ft because that is about the right length and I already had one made up. (There is a rubber grommet on the fire wall you can run the coax thru to keep from going thru the door....I slip seat so I just run mine thru the door).

I also stabilized the antenna with a piece of Lexan 1/4 inch thick. (what motorcycle windshields are made of...won't shatter, non conductive). The antenna flops around too much because of the wind turbulence on these trucks and their flimsy design. (nothing is made like it used to be!) I drilled a hole in the Lexan and put a rubber grommet in the hole (got grommet from NAPA after searching several other places for one that would fit. The hole was about 11/16, i.d. of grommet is 1/2"....antenna is about 3/8".) You could use a piece of hose zip tied to the antenna where it goes thru the lexan as well. Just something to protect it from wear at that point.

I fastened the Lexan to the top of the mirror with a pair of needle nose vice grips. I slipped a piece of rubber hose over the jaw that makes contact with the Lexan so I wouldn't damage the Lexan. I stood the antenna straight up, no lean at all. This set up results in a perfect SWR reading over at least 80 channels (that is all I checked) and transmits and receives as good as any set up I've ever had on a truck. CAUTION: DON'T DRIVE THRU A AUTOMATICE TRUCK WASH WITHOUT REMOVING THE ANTENNA!

This doesn't cost much to do, and works great. I promise you will love the performance of this set up. I've used this on three different trucks with the same results. No ground wires used. Oh yeah VERY IMPORTANT; remove the factory antenna, if present, behind the driver's door. It will cause the SWR to go up because of its close proximity to your new antenna.

CASCADIA ANTENNA PROBLEM SOLVED!!!!!

 

If I had a 10K I would give it a try. They are a good antenna. It may work pretty good especially if you have the one with the longest shaft. Move itt as far out away from the cab as it will go. I moved the fiberglass antenna around on the mirror mount just playing around. The closer to the cab the higher the SWR. I could touch the antenna to the mirror and it didn't change the SWR at all.

 

If you have the ability to get your antenna tuned, I'd go with the 7' Skipshooter. Otherwise, the 5.5 Francis (pre tuned) is quick and easy.

 

A SWR meter is all you need to tune one. Almost any CB shop will do it for a few bucks as well. The 5.5 Francis works fairly well, if you tilt it forward, which reduces it's efficiency if you go past about 22 degrees, but it works way better than the stock configuration. Looks dumb IMHO though......even though I'll do it if I'm running that particular antenna.

 

But would you cophase 7' skipshooters?

And can they be ran without the homemade brace?

 

I used the 10k with 27 inch shaft for about 15 months or so (just switched to a 5ft firestick) and it worked really well, good swr, tx and rx., the only problem I ran into(slight problem) was whe the wind would be really strong, since the shaft has no flexibility at all the attenna mount and the mirror mount would get all the stress put upon it when the attenna would start shaking. Most recently the attenna was being blown so severely that the attenna mount actually moved back towards the mirror on the perch and it was pretty darn tight. So far with the fiberglass attenna when the wind blows the attenna will bend slightly eliminating any stress being applied to the attenna mount.