satellite radio antenna mounting locations on freightliner cascadia

Not Cascadia, but when I went to install XM on '06 Century I found no magnetic area for it. I made an L bracket that screwed on with a cowl bolt. It was right in the middle and worked everywhere but the northeast.

I've since been given a mushroom off a ProStar guys truck who was going to a Cascadia. I put it on the drivers side mirror and my XM only goes down about 1/4 as often.

 

I know this is an old post, but i ran across it when i was having the same issues. My entire truck is fiberglass (2010 cascadia) and the only metal i found was behind the cab. Had decent signal there but cut out alot, especially heading s and e. I found in one of the truck stops probably a pilot, in the office supplies isle, a metal handy hook. Its a metal plate with a formed in hook and double sided foam tape on the back for like 1.99. Its just big enough for the magnetic mount antenna that came with my receiver, and that little hook fits right over it facing toward the front of my truck kinda like its own personal air foil. Just wiped of the top of the truck and slapped it up there and have had excellent signal everywhere in all directions since. not sure how well it will hold up, but if the tape fails ill find better two sided tape, gorilla or 3m. the plate itself is about perfect for the xm/ sirrus antenna.

 

I have a 2011 cascadia.. Where exactly did you mount the metal plate? on the dash or somewhere outside?

 

I will give a bump to this old thread just because I'm in the same spot now that I got a 2012 Cascadia. Someone please post some pics of what you have made or bought so I can better understand what I need to do to get reception with my xm. I tried the throwing it on the dash thing like a buddy of mine told me he does with his Cascadia but that kinda sucks and still cuts out and looks like crap.

 

Try this before you do anything else. Get a metal plate. Anything, it can even been an old license plate. Stick the ant. to it and sit it up in the shelf over head. Those mag mount ones have to have a ground plane and there should be no metal overhead of the front top shelf to interfere with the signal.

 

i give this a bump with my little trick. the truck i was put in had one of those folding antenna swivles that lock. its on the passenger side and from what i have found that antenna is the am/fm and tv. not cb. i have a mirror mount sat ant the big one. i was able to mount the mirror bracket to the ant swivle with it locked straight. my am/fm and tv still work fine and i have good signal so far. i may try and move it to the driver side to avoid tree cut out but waiting to run some back roads see how it works

 

Ok so I took it all in and had a look at the top of my new 2012 Cascadia and it hit me, I undid the right top most bolt for the deflector above the windshield and bought a 5 inch triangle door hinge (because they have a hole at the thin end) which is just regular steel, so magnetic. I then drilled out the hole so the Freightliner bolt would fit through and bent the hinge until I got the right angles.

Here is the result:

And another bonus is the wire for the antenna hides very nicely under the rubber around the windshield, showing only in back of the deflector and where it goes into the cab at the bottom of the windshield.

Hope this helps others, very simple and quick fix which works well. Gets as good reception as it did an my old 2008 Pete where it was on the crome wind deflector above it's windshield.

 

Mounted my stick antenna on the top fairing bracket behind the sleeper. Took about 30' of cable (bought 2- 21' rolls from pilot, 2- female plugs, 1- double male union to splice the cables together. Ran cable under the truck with other lines to the firewall than cut a small slit in a rubber grommet and pushed cable through firewall into dash then up along side dash and across dash to my radio. Antenna only sticks above sleeper about an inch maybe 2 but pretty sure its still below trailer roof height. I now get perfect reception with no loss of signal since I installed it this way compared to on a perch mount on top if door or mirror

 

But if your really worried about the antenna sticking up to high than you could just turn the bracket upside down. That will save you almost 2"

 

Sorry to wake up a dead thread but I have to know how does that plate idea work and where does it go and isn't the roof made of metal or fiberglass?
I have a 13 Cascadia and wanted to temp mount it in the best place I can. I have tried mounting behind the cab on the support at the top and tried a homemade antenna mount on the right side of the cab I'll try the left tomorrow morning but if the plate works better I'll run with that just tell me if it works and would it receive a signal through the roof.
Thanks!