Welcome 243! keep an ear out for me. RC286 from Manitoba. I can hit nova scotia barefoot mobile so ya may hear me out there.
My first base antenna was a 5/8 mobile antenna that I built a ground plane for (3 radials) on my roof attached to my chimney. I made many long distance contacts with it. It worked very well for a DIY pile of junk.
Just get it outside and you will see a huge difference.
Hell even a wire dipole will work. If you are trying to shoot skip, vertical or horizontal polarization doesn't matter. Just get it outside, good coax, good match (SWR) and as high up as you can. You will notice a huge difference!