How to best improve antenna setup

Yep agree you want the antenna free and clear of the cab and trailer ....

 

Thanks guys,mainly I'm trying to get away from fiberglass antennas.They don't last or hold up to branches well.

I've got a 2005 Volvo day cab with a large fairing on the roof and pull a 13' 6" high box.Also,the doors have no vent windows for running new coax.

I have $100.00 worth of Pilot Points to use.Any suggestions?

 

You're probably not going to do well with anything in between the truck and trailer, that cab is mostly aluminum (except maybe the roof, I'm not familiar with Volvo daycabs) and there's probably more aluminum in the bulkhead of that dry box than you'd think by looking at it.

Are you willing to take the door panel off to run new coax? If not, you could run it through the passenger door opening and back over to the driver's side so you're not closing the door on it all the time. If you're having problems with tree limbs, you definitely want it on the driver's side. You can probably run it out the door and either around the back zip-tied off to the grab bar, or over the top and zip-tied to the braces for the roof fairing. Don't be tempted to use the factory coax, it's almost always junk.

So you've got $100 to use at Pilot and want to stay away from fiberglass, huh? Most Pilots have those bird perch mounts made just for Volvos, they replace one of the bolts in the mirror bracket. Get one of those(about $15), a good mount and stud if you don't have one($10-15), and a 10" bottom shaft Wilson 2000 (I think they're about $70 at Pilot). I've had good luck with those mounts that have the gumdrop-shaped studs they have at Pilot. I think they're a little more expensive, but they seem to take a beating pretty well. You'll need coax too, of course. I think that would be a good, durable setup for you.

 

Thanks Josh.It's a company truck and I'll probably have it for a year or two,so I'll probably try to do it right by going through the door panel.I've never had much luck with factory coax.I'ts a shame the truck makers can't use a better quality product on something so vital to the person operating it.

 

Yeah, it is a shame, and I think it's pretty universal between all the truck manufacturers.

If you install the coax yourself in place of the factory coax, you can cut off one of the connectors (called a pl259) and (probably) run the coax wire through the factory grommets, then attach a new pl259 to it. If you're not really good at soldering, spend a couple bucks and take it to a cb shop and get them to solder the new one on-you have to be really fast or you'll heat the insulator in the pl259 up too much and melt it.

 

I think I found where you read this info on the long and short of CB antenna's.
CB Antenna Length – How does an antenna size affect my CB radio? | Offroaders.com

 

Vehicle size and antenna placement changes radio performance also.