2016 freightliner cascadia - newbie needs help w/ antenna

Most of these guys are gonna tell you a long Firestik or Skipshooter is the best way to go on a Cascadia. I personally have the 6' Skipshooter and it seems to perform decently (could/should be a lot better if I would put effort in to improve the setup) and my SWR's and nice and low. I'm using this mount on the driver side, too much antenna for the little dowel mount.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/WORKMAN-CAC...hash=item27de24f528:m:m1x-E-56v3ojPGFr6pZT5ig

 

Hey there, yes your wilson antenna will work fine with the mount racemaxx24 posted. As for coax there's an old myth that you should always use 18' but it truly doesn't matter. Just make sure you don't coil up your coax when running it to your antenna, snake it instead. I've always mounted my single setups on the driver side because you'll keep it out of the trees on most roads in the slow lane
Also don't forget to check your SWR with an external meter before keying up your radio

 

Posts 33 - 36 with pictures if you want the short version. I've tried about all the different antennas you would normally use. This one in the link below is the way to go.


http://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/threads/cascadia-antenna-solutions.249124/

 

15amps on factory wiring might be pushing it. When I had a Cascadia I used the bracket maxx posted with a Wilson antenna on 12' of cable. It would usually reach way futher than I needed it too on full power but it worked like a charm at 1.2 SWR and drawing about 30amps. I used lugs to mount to the inverter power cables and 10ga wire to the cb. But the sure fire way to find out is hook it up key up briefly and if the cb lighting dims or the fuse pops you have your answer.

Edit: Also yes there is a specific resistance you need for single vs co-phased. I believe single is RG8x (forget the ohm)

 

Nighthawk325, The resistance value of the coaxial cable when using a single antenna setup is 50 ohms. When using a single antenna setup, stay far away from RG59 - wrong resistance value. Most anything else would be good. Specifically, any of the RG 8, RG 58, RG213 many of the LMR coax. For more specific information on the type of coax you want to use, try searching the web for "what coaxial cable for mobile cb radio". Also companies that sell coax cable have websites with alot of information; such as "http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/cable.html" among many others.

 

Thanks I knew it was a specific cable but late night posts = lazy .

 

Forgot to mention 762 that wilson antenna is ver easy to tune. There's a small hex screw where the steel rod meets the coil. Just loosen the screw and raise or lower to tune. When i run wilsons like that when I installed them i just dropped the rod all the way down, then lifted it up about 1/4' and checked SWR and got lucky. Hope this helps. Cheers