CB Help

Here is a quick update on my issues. Was able to stop at a CB shop today. At the Flying J in Lake Station, IN, I80 exit 15. He said a 5foot antenna would do me fine along with an 18ft cable. His reasoning for the 18ft is that you can't stretch a cable that is too short. Makes sense, I guess. But it actually brought up another potential problem. He recommends running the cable thru the firewall so it doesn't get punched in the door jam. Again, makes sense. My problem with that is that he says it takes him 2 1/2 hours to install the cable and that's him knowing what he is doing. Plus he charges $200 to install it. !!!!!!!!!

Did I mention I'm a company driver and have no desire to spend $200 (like I have $200 to spend on that....lmao!!!) on a permanent cable installation on a truck I'm not gonna keep? Is it really gonna hurt that bad to run the cable thru the door jam? I understand it's not the preferred way to do it, but under the circumstances, what choice do I have? What effect would it have on my issues with reception?

Btw, I did buy a 5ft Firestick II and a mirror mount bracket. The bracket is kind of neat. It's not a Wilson bird perch type mount. I've been kind of worried about using a Wilson mount. I know a lot of people use them, but I've also heard they aren't very sturdy. This mount that I got looks like it would hold up any type of antenna you wanted to throw on it. I will try to post a picture of it if I can figure that out.

 

I'm pretty sure the antenna is top loaded. I know it has the adjustable tip on it. I had the same thought as you about being close to the cab. I had seen your comments about that before, but I decided to give this a try anyway. I will let you know how it turns out once it is all set up. I still need to get a cable and then get everything all set up. I'm guessing I could just get the cable at any truck stop? That would help as I could use my points to get that. From what I've read, I need an RG58 cable. Is that right? Is the Wilson cable RG58 and is it any good? I've seen "mini 8's" and "super mini 8's". I just want to make sure I get the right stuff. And you still didn't answer the question about just how bad of an idea is it to run it thru the door jam. I know it's not ideal, but I need easy removal in case of a truck swap.

 

So I looked for plugs under the hood this morning. Found a plug on the left side right above the clutch cylinder. Looked under the dash to see what kind of access there might be there and I can't even see the area. Dang it. Later today I was talking with another driver from my company that has an aftermarket antenna on his Cascadia. I noticed his cable goes under the hood so I asked him how he ran it. His cable goes across the top of the cowl to somewhere on the right side and goes thru a grommet somewhere. He never opened the hood so I didn't see where, but he did show me inside where the cable comes in where the lower dash panel meets the floor in the bottom corner next to the door. When I parked tonight, I opened my hood to see what was there and I don't know what he did. The only thing I found in the area where his cable seemed to pass thru was some kind of large round plastic plug with a bunch of small holes and one little wire. And I can see the back side of that plug inside the truck. I don't think that is where he ran his cable because he talked about a grommet. I did find a grommet hole on the other side of the heater/ac box, but that would move the cable more toward the center of the dash area and not where his cable came out. I don't know.

Am I making this harder than it needs to be?! I still don't even have a cable yet (still got questions about that) and even if I did, I'm not hooking anything up until I can get a shop to check the radio and check the swr's and that is still a couple weeks away at least. Figure I can at least get the cable using reward points. Just not sure which cable to get. I've heard that the RG58 is the preferred cable, but most of the cables I've seen don't say anything about RG58, just a mini or super mini 8. Volvo244t said that his mini 8 is bigger than an RG58. Is bigger better? I've seen some, like the Wilson brand, that appear to be steel braided. Are those stronger and more durable, in case I decided to run it thru the door jam? Why is the sky blue? Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care? Am I asking too many questions? Has anyone seen my mind? I seem to have misplaced it again.

I just want to make sure I'm getting the right components to get the desired results and I'm just worried that I'm still not going to get the desired results no matter what I do. How does my wife put up with me?