Running a Lilygo T3S3 with an 8dbi antenna, just let it sit on the dashboard of my truck the whole drive back.
Meshtastic usage is definitely growing. I hope to get more people into it in my local area, and my gf and I are going to develop some mobile hardware for when we are offroading.
8dbi is really too high for this as that starts to become incredibly directional and flat. If you drove through the mountains at any point during that trip, there’s a good chance you missed some nodes due to the elevation changes and that antenna picking up from too flat of an elevation area. It’s generally better to use a lower gain antenna such as 3dbi instead.