Older 29ltd

After digging out my 148 gtl, you guys are correct. There is nothing less than 1.
So 1.5 would be good in my book.

 

Seems to me someone else driving a Mack was having a similar issue just recently. Must be something about the Macks and Freightliners..?

 

Trying to solve antenna problems with more power is not advised…

 

You can buy amps from 100watts to 1500 watts or you can buy radios with built in amps like a galaxy 98vhp that does about 260 watts. A good amp to run with a cobra 29 would be a 2 pill like a Texas star 350 or a Palomar ld 400 fet both will get you 250 to 300 watts.

 

Your radio will probably reach out twice the distance if you turn VR4 down to where it was.
Good luck finding that Precise spot without an oscilloscope

 

Not sure about the new Macks, but the older CH613's use to have issues with the doors not grounding properly. We always would run an 18' coax to the rear of the cab and mount an antenna off of the rear of the cab (lower half was metal). Some of the daycab drivers would even frame mount a 102" whip off the frame and use the ole redneck tennis ball trick to keep it from smacking the truck or trailer.

 

OK I know these guys confuse the hell out of the simplest things so here is what I would do.

These are random thoughts because I have been up all night and am very tired. Sorry about it.

I would start with the coax to ONE antenna.

I would also just order good coax, someone can help you with that (HINT YOU GUYS tell him) and use that, instead of truck stop coax. I would not rip out the original coax just yet, the fm radio is tied into that if it is factory so just work on the left antenna, leave the right one alone for now.

I would also go somewhere that they can use what is called an antenna analyzer (AA), which is a lot more informative than the swr meter.

Then I would shop around for a good antenna, more or less the guy who has the AA can sell you a good one.

On my macks, IF I replace anything, I replace it all, from the mount to the coax to the antenna. SO maybe the coax is all that is needed in your case, but I would also look at the ground of the door or the mount, maybe getting some grounding straps involved to build an rf ground.

I would take the radio to someone who knows what they are doing, get a good alignment and have it tuned right.

Combining a good antenna system with a properly tuned radio helps more than an amp.

BUT once everything is in place, then think about a low wattage amp - IF YOU NEED ONE.

Don't think 500 watts is going to be the thing you need, you may only need 50 watts to really be effective.