-
You can now help support WorldwideDX when you shop on Amazon at no additional cost to you! Simply follow this Shop on Amazon link first and a portion of any purchase is sent to WorldwideDX to help with site costs.
Better antenna than a wilson 5000?
- Thread starter Sonic
- Start date
sirio 4000 or 5000 or if you have room just a plain old 102" whip
I used to run a 5k or 1k mag mount for years and I recently switched to a sirio p5000. It does tx a little better but the main improvement I see is in the receive. I also FINALLY got over my fear and drilled a hole in the roof for the sirio so that may be where the improvement came from also. Just my 2 cents....73s
The Sirio magmount is way above Wilson's for quality. I tried the Sirio 5000 on a Wilson 5000 magmount, good at near normal speeds (in town) but blew off at highway speeds.
A mag mount is a temporary mount at best. It lowers the efficiency of the antenna and causes all kinds of common mode issues. If your really serious about getting a good mobile setup you must drill or at least use a quality "clip" mount.
Have a look here for loads of information about mobile antennas.
Have a look here for loads of information about mobile antennas.
Define a 'good' antenna. To me, it's one that has an input impedance close to 50 ohms or can be made to be close to 50 ohms. I would be resonant by either it's length or it's loading. And it would produce a radiation pattern that is predictable.
All of those characteristics have an affect on each other in various ways. That means that almost any antenna can be 'manipulated' or adjusted to satisfy at least one of those characteristics. Unfortunately, it also means that except in very unusual circumstances, one or more of those other characteristics will suffer when one of them is made 'better'/'improved'. So the whole antenna tuning thing is a balance between all of those characteristics. Sound like a three dimensional 'see-saw'? Yep, exactly.
Then you can throw in a couple of other factors, like 'practical', and how that antenna 'looks'. Mix in the fact that the antenna is on a moving vehicle who'z location has a huge affect on all of this stuff. It's a matter of finding/accepting the 'best' compromise in performance. What happens when your interests change? Hey, you get to do all of it again!!
- 'Doc
TANSTAAFL! There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.
Another one is that... If it ain't big and ugly, it just ain't no good.
All of those characteristics have an affect on each other in various ways. That means that almost any antenna can be 'manipulated' or adjusted to satisfy at least one of those characteristics. Unfortunately, it also means that except in very unusual circumstances, one or more of those other characteristics will suffer when one of them is made 'better'/'improved'. So the whole antenna tuning thing is a balance between all of those characteristics. Sound like a three dimensional 'see-saw'? Yep, exactly.
Then you can throw in a couple of other factors, like 'practical', and how that antenna 'looks'. Mix in the fact that the antenna is on a moving vehicle who'z location has a huge affect on all of this stuff. It's a matter of finding/accepting the 'best' compromise in performance. What happens when your interests change? Hey, you get to do all of it again!!
- 'Doc
TANSTAAFL! There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.
Another one is that... If it ain't big and ugly, it just ain't no good.
As far as efficiency goes, there is no substitute for a permanent drilled mount.
That being said, a magnet mount can be efficient. It all depends on the size of the magnet. Very few people on the far end would notice the difference between identical antennas, one being attached with a magnet mount of sufficient size, and the other using a proper permanent drilled mount. It all comes down to the size of the magnet, and at these frequencies a magnet of 5 inch diameter is enough. The only real issue is the outer shielding of the feedline typically runs along the metal that makes up the antennas ground plane, and that is where the common mode currents mentioned above comes from, and I think is typically less of an issue than is often claimed.
Careful with the clip on mount option if you choose to use it as using it in a way other than it was designed can cause more damage to your car than drilling holes. These are designed to go onto a trunk, where the clip is towards the front of the car from the antenna and the rest of the antenna sits an inch or two further back on the trunk lid. This allows the torque generated by the wind blowing over the antenna as you drive to push into metal that is not directly on an the edge of a metal panel, which is also the weakest part. In your case I don't think you have a trunk lid, at least not one that is flat enough to mount the antenna near straight up, so to use such a setup you would have to mount the antenna to the side of your hood. This would allow the torque generated by the antenna and the wind to directly affect the mount point where the clip is, and the damage caused can be more expensive to fix than repairing a few drilled holes.
Another weak point of a clip on mount is the real world efficiency, or lack thereof. IF an edge of the clip actually breaks through your paint to get a good clamped connection to the metal nearby you will be fine, the problem is it rarely works that way. Many are designed that the clamp is used to simply hold the antenna in place as opposed to making a good connection (referring to the design info in previous paragraph). With the design of most of these mounts, they typically act like magnet mounts for their connection to ground, and most simply don't have enough metal close enough to the car's body for efficient operation.
All that being said, I have run all three mounts in my day and have had good success with all three.
The DB
That being said, a magnet mount can be efficient. It all depends on the size of the magnet. Very few people on the far end would notice the difference between identical antennas, one being attached with a magnet mount of sufficient size, and the other using a proper permanent drilled mount. It all comes down to the size of the magnet, and at these frequencies a magnet of 5 inch diameter is enough. The only real issue is the outer shielding of the feedline typically runs along the metal that makes up the antennas ground plane, and that is where the common mode currents mentioned above comes from, and I think is typically less of an issue than is often claimed.
Careful with the clip on mount option if you choose to use it as using it in a way other than it was designed can cause more damage to your car than drilling holes. These are designed to go onto a trunk, where the clip is towards the front of the car from the antenna and the rest of the antenna sits an inch or two further back on the trunk lid. This allows the torque generated by the wind blowing over the antenna as you drive to push into metal that is not directly on an the edge of a metal panel, which is also the weakest part. In your case I don't think you have a trunk lid, at least not one that is flat enough to mount the antenna near straight up, so to use such a setup you would have to mount the antenna to the side of your hood. This would allow the torque generated by the antenna and the wind to directly affect the mount point where the clip is, and the damage caused can be more expensive to fix than repairing a few drilled holes.
Another weak point of a clip on mount is the real world efficiency, or lack thereof. IF an edge of the clip actually breaks through your paint to get a good clamped connection to the metal nearby you will be fine, the problem is it rarely works that way. Many are designed that the clamp is used to simply hold the antenna in place as opposed to making a good connection (referring to the design info in previous paragraph). With the design of most of these mounts, they typically act like magnet mounts for their connection to ground, and most simply don't have enough metal close enough to the car's body for efficient operation.
All that being said, I have run all three mounts in my day and have had good success with all three.
The DB
Had to do some minor shopping today, and I saw a Sonic or three. Not a lot of room on the roof nor much sheet metal there for just any antenna.
If you have a Wilson 5000 already and it is working; then I think that you cannot do much better. I certainly wouldn't try to put anything else up on it, as it might tip the car over - lol.
I would keep away from the K-40, K-30, and a 1/4 wave steel whip. The K-30/40 simply won't handle anywhere near that much power. Don't think that your roof will support a 1/4 wave whip if it has a sunroof on it.
A Sirio 5000 or a Wilson 5000 is all you might get to work for you on that small car. Don't think your electrical system will handle that size of an amp w/o replacing the alternator for a bigger one as it will draw some 50 amps with the amp alone. Not to mention what that amp may do to your car's computer control system; that much RF just might whack it.
I agree with Robb, after looking at the pics of a Sonic you really don't have a lot of metal there to play with. I would stay with that you have.