Help with antenna?

Either one. I have a used a Francis a lot. Like the 4.5 ft or 5.5ft. The Wilson is good too. The SkipShooter is better, IMHO. A lot of people like a FireStick On a dump truck I would go with the cheaper of the those. Longer is better, but it us usually easy to get too long quick on a dump truck. Most the dump trucks around here run a 3ft fiberglass antenna, not a very good performer because it is too short, or a antenna with a lone metal whip because the metal whip holds up better and bends easier. You see a lot of dump truck with the antennas leaned forward. Looks cool but won't perform if leaned more than about 20 degrees....they are meant to be vertical antennas and not horizontal antennas1

 

Leaning the antenna forward is not always done to look cool. Some of our drivers must do this due to the low clearances. We will load out of elevators that our stacks barely clear. Some places have tree limbs that we must watch for. I run a single Wilson Trucker 2k, but use the shorter mast, others are using Predator or Monkey Made and will lean them forward to keep from breaking them off.

 

There is no point in spending a lot of money for an antenna that is leaned over nearly horizontal, it isn't going to perform as designed. I'm not sure a short little fiberglass antenna, stood straight up, wouldn't preform better than a high dollar monkey made leaned over to nearly 45 degrees........any experts out there care to comment????

 

I destroyed a nice wilson 2k with the LONG 18" or so shaft last week, I was cruising about 60 mph down a 2 lane road here local to me in western PA and it aparently hit a branch and sheared clean off at the coil....that was really sucky!

 

For Mikes question: cross polarization can be a 20 dB loss in signal.

Mounted nearly straight up, but able to bend past obstructions fairly well, I would suggest the copy of an AST-36 in the link below. I will give you a fair range with a low SWR, not to mention usually survives longer than the Francis in this service. The AST-36 or 4 footer AST-48 are good if you can find them, by Antenna Specialists. Some even put a small spring at the bottom of this antenna for a little more protection in dump trucking, a job most hard on antennas. The larger 102 whip type springs will not bend enough for this antenna design, they are too stiff.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Roadpro-RP-...535?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cc8bced87

The link below is another choice but I like the AST design (above) better.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-TRAM-NH-4-HC-HEAVY-DUTY-STEEL-4-FT-CB-ANTENNA-/170889597780?pt=US_CB_Radios&hash=item27c9d05354

 

fiberglass antennas snap way too easy for my taste. all you have to do is look at a truck when you pass, and 7 out of 10 of them have a snapped fiberglass antenna on the mount.

and leaning them forward is stupid too unless it is for a clearance issue. lean the antenna back. if you have it pointing forward and your headed towards a limb that is hanging down, your playing joust with your antenna. at least with it laid towards the rear of the truck, anything that might strike it will pass by it much easier. and dont give me that crap about it affecting your super trucker cb radio transmitting radius. the antenna angle isnt going to affect you one bit. 98% of truckers are only talking to a driver really close to them or a shipping/receiving office when you pull in the lot.