I'm now moving into a mid roof Volvo it's a 2012 Anyone driving a volvo how do you find the factory Antenna and cable 'as i would mount my own Antenna and cable ..what would a good antenna to use and can I use a bird perch on a Volvo as the mirrors look different than the cascadia I used to drive
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Mid roof Volvo sleeper
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I drive a Volvo and know them very well since this is my 6th assigned Volvo in over 15 years with the company I drive for. I can say I am somewhat of a Volvo expert when it comes to radio installs.
The factory coax runs deep down under the center console. I had to really dig deep and remove panels to get to it. Unfortunately the CB coax on the dash runs down there to a splitter box which is more of a diplexer and combines CB and AM/FM radio and some models even have cell phone antennas out to the factory mirror mount antennas.
While this is convenient for most drivers who don't care about CB radios, it is hardly Ideal for those who do. I strongly recommend by-passing the factory setup but do it right.
A bird perch is fine and you can find them at Pilot truckstops and they are packaged " for Volvo trucks". These mount in the trucks mirror post bracket screw hole which requires a Torx screwdriver bit (T45 I believe) which you must remove. However, you should put it on the driver-side because my experience with these is the wind loading on the antenna on the passenger side is pushing the antenna back to the left and is loosening the birds perch. On the drivers side, the wind loading on the antenna is actually pushing the antenna in a tightening direction in regards to the threads on the bird perch.
If you are really interested in running the coax properly where you won't drill holes and not damage the coax, respond back and I can tell you how I do my coax runs.
Here is my pic of my Volvo with a HF amateur radio antenna and you can see the coax and ground strap coming out from the corner of the hood where there is enough gap where the coax won't get pinched.
I will post a pic tomorrow of the right side which has my CB antenna. I'm using a Sirio Performer 5000 3/8 10m & CB Mobile Trucker Antenna and is a very well designed antenna and I highly recommend it. It is not widely yet available that I am aware of but can be ordered online from a few online Cb dealers and Amazon.com. Other than that a Wilson 2000 is fine just as most antennas out there as long as they are properly installed, D.C. grounded and tuned.
The factory coax runs deep down under the center console. I had to really dig deep and remove panels to get to it. Unfortunately the CB coax on the dash runs down there to a splitter box which is more of a diplexer and combines CB and AM/FM radio and some models even have cell phone antennas out to the factory mirror mount antennas.
While this is convenient for most drivers who don't care about CB radios, it is hardly Ideal for those who do. I strongly recommend by-passing the factory setup but do it right.
A bird perch is fine and you can find them at Pilot truckstops and they are packaged " for Volvo trucks". These mount in the trucks mirror post bracket screw hole which requires a Torx screwdriver bit (T45 I believe) which you must remove. However, you should put it on the driver-side because my experience with these is the wind loading on the antenna on the passenger side is pushing the antenna back to the left and is loosening the birds perch. On the drivers side, the wind loading on the antenna is actually pushing the antenna in a tightening direction in regards to the threads on the bird perch.
If you are really interested in running the coax properly where you won't drill holes and not damage the coax, respond back and I can tell you how I do my coax runs.
Here is my pic of my Volvo with a HF amateur radio antenna and you can see the coax and ground strap coming out from the corner of the hood where there is enough gap where the coax won't get pinched.
I will post a pic tomorrow of the right side which has my CB antenna. I'm using a Sirio Performer 5000 3/8 10m & CB Mobile Trucker Antenna and is a very well designed antenna and I highly recommend it. It is not widely yet available that I am aware of but can be ordered online from a few online Cb dealers and Amazon.com. Other than that a Wilson 2000 is fine just as most antennas out there as long as they are properly installed, D.C. grounded and tuned.
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I to have been in and out of Volvo's too. In my opinion. I like to mount a Frainis antenna with a standard mount on the back of the cab. Put it on the cross bar that holds the air lines. Run the coax across the top right and run through the faring down to the botton. Then down the passenger side and through the door. May have to splice two pieces of coax with a barrel connector. I have good results that way. Probably the cheapest and easiest way to get started. CB post are connected to a yellow 20amp fuse under the panel on top of the dash. Good luck!
You really shouldn't put an antenna behind the cab unless your trailer is low profile like a flatbed, tanker, or car hauler, etc.
With a van/reefer, too much of the antenna is surrounded by metal.
Like all antennas, get it up in the air and out in the open if possible and away from being next to metal.
Only metal underneath an antenna is good which can act as a ground plane effect, not metal next to an antenna.
With a van/reefer, too much of the antenna is surrounded by metal.
Like all antennas, get it up in the air and out in the open if possible and away from being next to metal.
Only metal underneath an antenna is good which can act as a ground plane effect, not metal next to an antenna.
Here is a pic of my Sirio 5000 trucker series antenna. I changed the lower mast to a 36 inch from the stock 8 inch to put it more in line of a center load antenna. The overall length stayed about the same after tuning.
This looks like a good tip to file away for future reference.
That's a very impressive Antenna and mount you have there I want something that isn't noticeable a perch would be more to liking , and I would get any Antenna installed at a radio shop
I plan running a barefoot ranger rci 2950 dx so I would want s good Antenna to match
What about an Antenna using a bird perch would compromise Antenna as I run down through Montana and Wyoming which has very high wind
Like I said earlier, the Wilson antenna works fine. Your antenna mounting location and D.C. grounding contribute greatly toward your antennas performance.
With a birds perch on the upper mirror post, that will give you a good D.C.ground. also like I said you must mount a bird perch on the driverside especially in those windy states. I have tried lockwashers, starwashers, and high strength lock-tite and nothing works for long.
You can install your own coax and antenna system yourself easily enough and I can give you the locations where to route your coax without drilling holes.
If you are interested, respond back and I will reply.
With a birds perch on the upper mirror post, that will give you a good D.C.ground. also like I said you must mount a bird perch on the driverside especially in those windy states. I have tried lockwashers, starwashers, and high strength lock-tite and nothing works for long.
You can install your own coax and antenna system yourself easily enough and I can give you the locations where to route your coax without drilling holes.
If you are interested, respond back and I will reply.
Thanks but I would rather get that stuff installed at a radio shop as I would need the Antenna tuned as well I Have a Wilson 2000 trucker it's an extended shaft so might be to long I'm looking at a predator or monkey made 9inch shaft predator I will try and upload a pic of my old Antenna system
No problem.
Speaking of Predator antennas, I have used them before, they are kind of tall, just over 6 ft. The overall height on your mirror bracket can be over 14ft. The shaft length doesn't vary the overall length much if any after tuning. The antenna length would definately be changed if the coil was modified though.
A short shaft means a longer whip and a long shaft requires a shorter whip. Your Wilson antennas overall length shouldn't vary much either after tuning. I believe Wilson antennas are around 5 ft.
The antenna length for coil loaded mobile CB antennas is determined by the loading coils inductance needed to match the antenna to 50 ohms, not the shaft size. The longer a designed antenna is, the less coil inductance is needed which also improves radiated power over a shorter antenna with more loading coil inductance.
The Predator antenna is a good choice but consider if the height issue may drive you nuts from whacking bridges and tree branches.
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for my volvo 880 I built a phased array of two elements mounted on the outside of each fairing. the brackets I custom built to mount the elements will only fit on a full size Volvo truck and will not work on a Volvo 670.I pulled a 53 foot refrigerated trailer and I had an average transmit and receive of approximately 65 miles ground wave. it was an extremely efficient system but unfortunately I have not been able to duplicate the same results on a smaller Volvo truck although I did duplicate the same results on 8 or 9 Volvo 770 and 880 trucks
Just a note. A loading coil is a current device, so it will be more effective at shortening the antenna the closer it is to a current node. In the case of a mobile antenna that will be at the base of the antenna. The further away from this point you move the loading coil the less current the load has to work with, which has two effects. 1) The shortening effect is lessened and 2) the more efficient that load becomes. So in essence, the further up the antenna the loading coil is the more efficient it becomes, at the cost of how much it shortens the antenna.
All that being said, with the shaft lengths of the Predator antennas, I don't see it making more than an inch or two difference in overall length. However, raise that load up past 50% and the antenna will get noticeably longer...
The DB
I think u need to re-read about the differences between base loading, center and top loading mobile antennas.