2010 Freightliner Cascadia antenna solutions

Finally got my system working really good. I have a 2012 cascadia and ran a new wire from the left ant directly to the CB. The trick is you need a cable with a mini UHF on one end and pl-259 on the other. I used 9' of RG-8x. I also ran a ground off the back of the factory mount to a chassis ground using 8 gauge. For the antenna I used a Wilson Flex-4 top load. Do not connect the little wire on the ant. It is not a ground.
To run the wire all you have to do is remove two screws in the plastic piece above the drivers head. Pull that piece back and "fish" your new wire from the ant mount location to the inside. Also, place a string on the old wire and tape the string under the mount, this will make it easy to replace the wire in the future.

 

Been waiting for someone to do this! (see post 83..or 85?) Thanks! Why the mini UHF? Is that what the factory antenna mount is? Also, what was the SWR difference with the #8 wire versus without it? These answers would be interesting if you get time post them.

 

Correct, the factory mount uses a mini UHF connector. Good question about swr with and without ground. I didn't test it. I'll do this in the future and post the results.

 

Also, what's going on with all the skip? Sun spots? I've been hearing a guy out of Barstow, CA like he's sitting next to me on my trip from WI to KY. Picked up conversations from TX also.

 

Exactly. When the sun gets active, the energy sent out energizes our F-layers in the ionosphere, to the point CB signals can bounce off of them.

 

Hi! I am a new driver with '10 Cascadia when I got it the driver's side antenna was missing, I don't have good FM radio reception, needless to say! I also want to get a starter CB! After reading on this forum, looks like I am going to have trouble!? lol Do I treat my FM radio and a CB antenna separate?? What antenna do I replace the one that is missing with? What would be the a good CB starter set? I don't make very much $ so can't afford the "best"! Thanks, MoJo

 

On our Cascadias, the left antenna is the CB, the right is the AM/FM. If I were you, I would do what "seawheeler" did. Run a new coax from the left side antenna spot to the CB radio. Antenna - 41/2ft Francis cause they are cheap and you can get them anywhere and they work good. Radio - Cobra 25 or 29 cause they work good, can be found for less than $100, way less if you buy used, and they work well and last forever. As far as your FM reception: The coax runs thru several junction boxes. We have found brand new trucks that didn't have the coax plugged in well to the junction boxes, this could be your problem there. Also, the coax may be damaged or the antenna for that matter. I haven't found a Cascadia that gets good AM reception. I haven't tried to figure this out cause I have XM and never listen to anything else.

 

I drive a 2010 Cascadia and have reached nearly perfect SWR with 3 different radios using factory wiring and a set of wilson trucker 2000's. 1:2 with Galaxydx949(mounting suggestions please, its in but dont know how to secure it..)1:3 with Uniden bearcat880ssb and 1:5 with my old 29nwst (inaccurate cobra meter?)

 

I've gotten near perfect SWR in the Freightliners using all factory stuff as well. Doesn't happen very often though. Some of our drivers with assigned trucks have chased their coax and found loose connections at the many junctions boxes it runs through. Once fixed, they had good SWR also. Oh yeah, the plug you screw onto the radio has given problems for some of them as well. That said, even with a great SWR using the factory stuff, there is too much loss in the coax and all its many junctions points to receive or transmit very far, even though the SWR is perfect.

 

Yes makes perfect sense. I just picked up a General Washington brand spanking new for a pretty good price, shop opened it up as i watched and he did whatever he had to do to put it to 11m, im totally new to the export radio thing, but am looking forward to installing it in my truck. Should fit a bit better than my dx949 seeing as the mic jack is in the front! The blue display is sharp too i must add