Freightliner Cascadia maximum distance transmitting

Picture is too low res to see how you made the dipole. What is that, just another shorter antenna pointed down?

 

I believe the biggest issue for everyone is how low the attenna is mounted on the door and every attempt is being made to get the attenna load up as high as possible, and also acheive a decent swr reading. Some have suggested mounting on passenger side up on spot mirror as an alternative setup. I dont believe the cascadia is anymore fiberglass than a prostar or volvo , its just the position of the attenna we are forced to utilize.

 

I guess I dont understand all the hoopla either, Ive been in a 2015 cascadia and now a 2016 ,together for about 18 months now, have used 10k,firestick, and francis, and have always been able to acheive good swr and tx and rx 6 to 15 miles on average without a problem, which is comparable to same results I experienced in previous truck which was a Volvo which perch setup. In comparison I havnt made contacts as far as volvo has but from reading previous posts in reference to the frustration experienced by some I guess Im doing better than most, just my 2 cents.

 

I have seen what Mike alluded to in one of his posts in reference to other drivers that run a wilson 2000 with short shaft or another type of attenna that just doesnt yield good results, and you ask them " hows it working" and they say good but then you check the swr for them( because they dont have a clue) and its like 3+ , so I guess if you want any type of good results take the advice that has been given by those that have acheived good results through trial and error.

 

Darthanubis, from viewing your setup I have no doubt that you can easily tx and rx 10+ miles. More and more drivers are not using the cb that much anymore your attempted contacts are probably falling on deaf ears. Every now and then a driver will be leaving a truck stop ( and Im not) and we will see how far we can keep contact. The other day I was at Bosselmans in Grand Island NE ( I80 x312) and a driver was heading west, he had a General Lee and I had my Galaxy 99v2 in line and he started to fade about the 300 mm, and Im assuming I started to fade aswell, so on flat terrain with two 40 watt ( pep) radios, 5ft attennas on cascadia about 12 miles. Have you ever tried that with someone you know or just by chance another driver? Drivers are always trying to find out their range, sometimes they are dissapointed because golden screwdriver told them they could talk to China.

 

I dont run a dedicated route but my home terminal is Zephyrhills fl and sometimes I will be there for a night before heading back ( if not going on hometime) and the base stations i Lakeland, Plant City, Dade city, and Tampa are always active, and if Im passing through Bradenton ( where I live) I will start calling out for the locals on ch 17 when Im about 20 miles away, now if they are playing what I call keydown jeopardy they wont start hearing me until they finally shut up and pause.( lol)

 

Well, If the guy who was selling radios in Kentucky was right, he was saying either mm45 or 48, I heard him while traveling north at mm 58. I think he was stationary, as I heard him at the truck stop at mm41 before I left. There was a war on air so couldn't get details. But sounded like he was using a big radio. The truck wash at 41 I could no longer hear and she had a stryker 497, a tower, and power. He may have been at mm49 as there is a trailer park and truck parking there. So maybe 10-13 miles?

Today, I was coming across 77 at mm26 and a guy at the Loves @mm 84 on hwy81. That's about 6 miles and I was going south away from him. Again, didn't talk long enough to get details.

I'm still looking to confirm with a reliable contact.

 

Is it just the angle of the pic or does that antenna reach well above the roof of your truck?