Predator 10K P-22 / Freightliner Cascadia 2013

Pictures are always good!

 

Definitely a grounding issue with the other bracket. Somewhere between the mount -> bracket -> door.

 

where did you get that bird mount for your truck, all i can find is the one that mounts to both bolts. thanks. looks good.

 

The one that uses both bolts has the advantage of being able to be mounted on either side of the truck. The single bolt mount can only be used on the driver's door.

 

The single bolt perch can mount to either door. Only issue is when you have a heavy antenna. The MM was to heavy and when the wind would catch it it would loosen the mount. I had my Wilson on my passenger side for a year with no issues on a perch.

 

Probably the only thing you're doing by pointing the antenna forward is betting the base end of it away from the mirror mount, which might well have been detuning the antenna by capacitive coupling to said metal. And unless it's over a pretty ideal *RF* ground plane, the pattern from that antenna isn't going to suffer much by being tilted, as it's already a compromise (lossy) antenna compared to a true quarter wave antenna, and already doesn't have the pattern you were hoping for anyway.

A consistent problem with plastic cabs is that lack of that essential RF surface that runs perpendicular to the vertical antenna and is located adjacent (just under) the antenna's feed point. The commonly used braid used to bond the sparse metal parts (mirror frame, door frame, hinges, firewall) *can* sometimes add sufficient metal downwards and away from the feedpoint to make the antenna system into a more-or-less vertical dipole. That converts what would have been a quarter wave vertical ground plane antenna design into a vertical dipole, with ~about the same gain (well, loss actually) as a shortened vertical over a decent RF ground plane (yes, I know: the actual ground plane is the surface over which we drive, and not the roof of the vehicle).
I've still have good luck with my use of a double-mount bracket, with an antenna of the user's choice pointing up, and some sort of shortened CB antenna (the longest that will fit) pointing down. By making a vertical dipole on purpose, it obviates all that need for bonding bits of the cab that may not actually be connected electrically to anything else, and the antenna system kinda stands alone at that point. If there's room for a 4-foot loaded antenna downward from the mount on, say, a mirror mount, and it can be pointed such that it's not in the way of anything, *and* it works, who cares if it looks goofy? Besides, it's usually good to attract some questions from other drivers at the TS when you pull in
73

 

Okay, kb4not. Few questions. Do you think the browning br-28 antenna will work? Says 6" shaft and 48" whip. Second, how did you run your coax into the stock cb location? How far out are you gettng with the new set up? Over all, you happy with your set up? What brand is your purch? Thanks for putting this up, im saving now to under go my project on the 2010 cascadia I have.