Want to pull in from greater distance with factory KW mirror mount

Antenna Farm for pair 6’ Skipshooter.
(I recommend “natural” color).

TOP GUN TEC arm extensions and studs from Bobs CB.

Need to weatherproof coax connections.

First test coax for continuity, etc.

SWR/Field Strength Meter. Not expensive and gets you a good start on tuning. Below 2.0 a minimum, and below 1.5 ideal.

Bonding, a subject to read on. Probably doors at minimum and radio case to sheetmetal. Braided strap.

An RM ITALY K203 on my Uniden pulls (combined withbpowered Speaker) less than the 15A fused binding posts in my 2015 579 Pete. 70W +.

Biggest performance change you could make past this is a DSP Speaker. West Mountain or BHI (See DX Engineering). About $200 and up. Will clean up signal so well you’ll realize there are conversations you couldn’t hear before. This is a MAJOR performance change. .

Chasing noise in the truck is trial and effort. Coax, power leads, other sources. Worthwhile, but given effort, the speaker is cheap, in a sense.

 

Please tell me more about this speaker ?? I drive a 2019 T680.

 

I use a pair of 5 foot firestick II adjustable tip antennas on my 2019 T680. My swr runs between 1.0 and 1.3. I would think ya really need to have your cobra 29 peeked and tuned as well. I run a Stryker SR447HPC2 and it fits the factory hole.

 

This is the setup in my 2016 Peterbilt 579. Cousin to your KW

A GPS locator and the Uniden 885 Hybrid CB/Scanner are on lower level. The West Mountain DSP ClrSpkr is above (with power and audio cables shown).

The speaker has two controls:

1) Volume
2) Filtration Amount

Digital Signal Processing might mean that some “sound” isn’t ever human speech. So it cuts that off.

On the sound that is closer to speech it modifies along a curve. The greater the Filtration the more that speech “naturalness” is stretched

Overall, some extraneous sounds still come through. What you’ll find interesting is that there are conversations that were hidden behind noise you can now follow.

Some of those are distant enough you may not be able to reach them with a great rig install (though it isn’t skip).

Overall, nothing makes as much of a difference given that we are working with factory coax, power leads and antenna.

Change power (and filter), change coax (and cut CMC) and a better antenna mount plus antenna (tuned) you’ll STILL choose to use a DSP speaker. They really are that good.

If the best possible pair of ears is a priority, you won’t want your money back.

Now, as with any length of wire, the power/audio cables may act as an antenna. Same problem as the rest of the rig. Ferrites as beads or toroids are recommended

PALOMAR ENGINEERS

DX ENGINEERING

are sources. Also EBay. Read up as a separate problem. It’s a finishing touch to all the electrical. Chargers, inverters, etc.

I’ve got close to 200k miles on the speaker.

Takes a little time to dial in (not in order):

A). Mike Gain
B) Talkback
C) Speaker Volume
D) Filtration
E) Squelch
F) RF Gain

The speaker is sensitive as to feedback. Location will matter. (Mine will eventually move). Same for using a power mike.

Getting feedback from another radio operator is useful with any rig as to transmit audio quality. With this speaker it sets a baseline to dial in the other controls. I ran across OKC not long ago at something of a right angle to some base operators who helped me set that baseline. .
Now, if I change Gain or Squelch the other controls stay constant.

The amount of Filtration (think of it as modification) may not seem to change much from Low to High. I usually have it set something less than half the full range.

Nothing else will do as much to improve the usefulness of a given transceiver.

If we posit that the minimum radio rig is:

1). UNIDEN 980 AM/SSB Radio

2). and that the longest Skipshooter brand antenna(s) for factory location(s) are installed (closest to 13’ 5”)

3). An RK-56 or 636 mike

4) plus attempts at noise reduction via filters, ferrites,

5). An RM ITALY KL203 amp is installed per factory power leads (radio, amp & speaker will draw less than 15A) (70W plus on output as measured).

Then other changes in equipment quality WILL NOT be as dramatic as in using a DSP Speaker.

In other words, do the above. And then study and save towards “more” or “better” as desired.

There’s no end to potential improvement: coax, power leads, antenna locations &mounts, etc.

Can you run RF Gain and Squelch wide open? Sometimes. More often than without. And closer to open in any event. The problems affecting those need to be addressed individually.

So, I can take the above equipment and be assured of outstanding performance versus what most guys wind up with. On their own or via a CB Shop.

Get a good shop to help with dialing in the antennas. Leave the other gear alone.

1). Ck electrical performance of power leads.

2). With multimeter, check the coax (even if brand new).

3). Make sure connections are tight and nothing is binding.

4). Tune antenna(s) with external SWR bridge in a place without buildings, power lines, etc.

5). Set the controls.

.

.

 

That is a lot of good info. Thank you for taking the time to add so much detail.

I will be looking into one of these based on the details you added here.

1 question, do you happen to know of anything to help from interference from switching my headlights to led ??

Lights off static isn't bad at all. Turn headlights on static doubles. The head lights on the T680 suck a d I do a lot of night driving when ever possible. Just wondered if you knew of anything on this ?

 

Daniel Stern is an automotive lighting engineer. His advice is gold per what lamps to use in what housing, and on any subject he chooses to write. Essentially, stick with stock part, but maybe upgrade manufacturer and lamp spec. Avoids the problem you mention. I’ve used his services, his advice, and his links since about 2000 or so.

IOW, LED in a housing designed for other types not a good idea. Light scatter is actually hurting your long-distance vision. If it’s dark, ought to be down 3-5/mph on even the very best long straight desert highway in a full moon.

As to noise more specifically, the reason I mention ferrites, etc, is because I’ve had some success with them. My DOMETIC portable refrigerator/freezer compressor was very noisy. But not now (Palomar Engineers). That’s one example of several.

Any portion of your radio system that is improved will be reflected in audio. Total noise and voice quality.

Use www.K0BG.com as starting and ending point for most of the radio rig requirements.

The speaker will “help” but not cure. The more diligent you are about problems, the better.

Yes, you may be able to hear around noise where you couldn’t before. But it’s still so ###### irritating you turn off the rig.

Let’s assume for discussion purposes that a Uniden 980 with otherwise all factory provisions will be an adequate performer.

But if you add something truly bad (cycling compressor, RFI from headlights, etc) you’ve added a problem that only a speaker can’t fix.

Sure, it’ll be better than the radios speaker or one built into headliner. Or a Uniden BC20.

But will it be enough?

It’s the best start. It’s not the end.

 

Your Dometric uses a swing compressor and it is noisy by the nature of the controller on the compressor.

Headlights that are factory are not a real issue, the wiring harness that come close to the units (HID and LED which are both available on a t680) can emit a small amount of ultrasonics on from the switching ps and this is picked up in the harness. The same issue is with some Cascadias where the harnesses cross.

For lighting static, grounding is essential, and putting a choke or two on the harness should help a lot.

 

Thanks for insight on the refrigerator/freezer compressor.

One extra-large toroid around which I wrapped the 12V-DC power cord 7-8 times cut the noise on the Dometic to where it’s not objectionable. Almost not noticeable.

 

From the title it sounds like you want to receive better?

I recommend using at least 5' top load antenna Firestik2 or Skip Shooter. You can get Skip Shooter's online for $30 each. You will need to ground the antennas on the T680. You can get the ground straps off Amazon for $10 each.

You can watch the first half my video on how to ground the antennas. You will be able to send and receive better by doing this. If nothing else at least add the ground strap, dielectric grease, and 5' antenna. Even if you don't grind the paint like I did.