bearcat880 in 2013 shakeliner

I just installed a Predator 10k on mine. It tuned to 1:1, resonant @ 27.185 according to an MFJ antenna analyzer. I'm liking it.

 

Q5 Communications in DeForest, WI. Best in the midwest. I-90 exit 132, upstairs in the Truckers Inn travel plaza. (Shell/Pine Cone)

 

Well 1st off it depends on what truck its gonna be mounted on...Even though i run a predator 10k and love the product im not convinced its the best for some of these newer fibreglass throw away trucks..
Its in my head to try a 6-7 ft skip shooter/firestick but they will need support towards the base area...I thought about it before and saw it mentioned here but useing a short length of pvc pipe for the 1st foot or two of the ant will help its weakest area..I think i have the 6 in base shaft on that one(pic below) but i have 22 now..Gonna install that 22 in shaft on my duel coiled but remove the top coil and install a short top mast,see if that helps..

 

My boss here at Exit 42 Electronics (in NC) had a frank discussion with the engineer at Freightloser HQ in.... OH, IN, IL? ....responsible for such things, about the CB antenna lack of performance and such on their plastic cabs on Cascadias, Evos, etc. Jaguar (my boss) explained what he & I, with our combined 75 years' experience with mobile HF systems, had been finding and trying. Their engineer, while a nice enough guy, said, "With all the other electronic systems that must work in our trucks, we frankly do not care if a driver can talk on his [sic] CB."

That having been established, we're having good results with copper foil strips on the cab roof and mounting single anntennas near the edge of the air dam and bringing the foil array to the feed point's coax shield connection. Prepped correctly, the foil strips take paint well enough to virtually disappear. And keep in mind that SWR is independent of the radio driving the antenna, whether Bearcat, JC Penney, Craig, Royce, Courier, (did I mention that I'm old? LOL)
73 & HTH.

 

JETHRO712......Im not good with it either but im learning slowly,mostly trial and error..I find when i start to read a lil much i either fall asleep or dont retain anything i have been reading..

 

Removing the top coil will allow you to put a longer whip on