I played with antenna position a bit last year. I found that generally, you are better off if you can get the antenna mounted as far ahead as you can. If the front of the tractor gets on line, the rest of the outfit will follow. The further ahead, the sooner the tractor, or combine, or sprayer responds.

First pic is of the hood mounted antenna. If you look closely, you'll see a metal mounting plate for the antenna stuck to the front middle of the cab roof. That is where I originally mounted it and where it was mounted when I finished the season. I was very happy with the performance of the hood mounted antenna, as far as responsiveness for acquiring the line and keeping it. Problem was, when going north, the cab blocked satellites and the number visible would drop below minimum necessary to keep guidance.

Second pic is of the new mounting bracket. It is made out of 1" EMT galvanized conduit. Tests I've run so far, it's much quicker to acquire the line than the cab mounted antenna. Visibility shouldn't be an issue, as there is nothing to block the sky.

We'll see.

(hood.jpg)

(cab.jpg)

hood.jpg (106KB - 265 downloads)

cab.jpg (109KB - 257 downloads)