In my previous truck, a 2007 Freightliner Columbia, satellite radio antenna placement was no problem, I simply mounted it to the top side of my right mirror bracket. The signal was strong because it was far enough from the truck. I rarely lost the signal, usually only while driving under a canopy of trees overhanging the right side of the road. However, mirror mounting on a Cascadia won't work because of the aerodynamic design and the softer materials used around the mirror.
The first place I tried was a magnetic antenna near the windshield, just out of sight, but that didn't work well as I lost the signal quite a lot. Later, I was told that mounting that close to the cab would cause interference because of the aluminum lined insulation around the cab. Then, I tried mounting the magnetic antenna on the radiator support bolts in front of the engine. Believe it or not, the antenna will
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pick up the signal with the hood being closed. However, when the truck was positioned in a way to not provide the antenna a line of sight to certain parts of the sky, the signal failed. I'd say 50% of the time, I had no signal.
The Qualcomm mount that was already on my truck was the best place to mount it and I always knew that, but the 23' of antenna cable wasn't quite enough to reach it. I tried to avoid buying extra cable, but couldn't avoid it any longer as all my other antenna locations were not working. I bought the antenna extension cable from
TSS-Radio.com; a great resource for satellite radio equipment that I've bought from regularly. They also have a great selection of products designed for commercial trucks.
Since the installation on the Qualcomm mount, I'm finally getting to enjoy uninterrupted satellite radio that I've been paying for all this time. Imagine that!