Back in a T680...

Thanks. I'm just trying to see what gives me the best results using the stock mounts and wiring. So far the 10ks are spoiling me. I might get around to adding aftermarket stuff, but I'm thinking that I won't really see a big difference once I find the antennas that work best on this truck with no modifications.

The single biggest improvement I could get right now is changing the coax. That factory stuff is very noisy when the truck is running and everything is on. If I replaced that junk I could turn the gain up and squelch down and that would help so much on the receiving side.

 

Are you talking about where the very bottom of the antenna meets the top base of the stud or just the top of the threaded stud?

There is a rubber/plastic washer on there now but I have some conflicting info on that. One part of the Firestik site goes in depth about which way that washer should be turned, but on a other section of the site it says that for permanent antennas you should remove this completely. Now what kind of jive is that? Besides magnetic, do they think people will be removing them and sticking them back on all the time? Heh.

Then other people say they have problems when that washer is backwards/etc. So I've been just leaving it on. Should it be there?

 

The 27" shafts on the 10ks are part of the reason I bought them. Getting above the mirrors help, but there seems to be a bit of a sweet spot once you get the loaded section of the antennas higher up where the cab slopes back more and more. That and the overall length of the 10ks seems to really help on this truck.

I still think the Skipshooters will do the absolute best and the Wilsons *might* do better than the 10ks. At least on the 680 with stock everything. I really would like to figure out what is wrong with those Skipshooters.

I can definitely tell a difference between the 10ks and the Francis which were the previous best set. But of course the Francis were 5.5' and the 10ks are clicking 13'8" bridges

 

OK so it is supposed to be there then. Gotcha, thanks. I left it on there thinking it wasn't hurting anything.

 

I think that would require removing some screws. It's a company truck, so that's a no-no. That's why I can't replace the factory coax...