Have someone tested the difference in performance between wilson 5000 mounted in chassie vs magnet mount. I just hesitate a little drilling holes in my 90.000$ car. I have been running wilson little wil for a while and want a little more reach. I have a 102 also but then its back to drilling holes. ;-)
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Drilling Hole vs Magnet Mount
- Thread starter 20CB110
- Start date
well I've never tested it with CB antennea, but I worked for a number of years fitting VHF antennae on vehicles, mainy taxis but some other stuff too. The first thing we would advise to a customer was to panel mount the antenna, only if they were stuborn as hell would we ever fit a mag mount. It is a slightly different situation though, as a taxi driver, having the best reception you could get directly reflects upon your livelyhood, hearing that job or not hearing it because of a badly fitted antenna would directly reflect upon your income.
If you want the best performance from your antenna then panel mounting is the way to go, a small hole in the roof is not that hard to patch up and most people would miss it if you decided to sell your vehicle. Mag mounts won't perform quite as well, but they work well enough for me, and it really comes down to how much do you want that extra performance? Drilling a hole in the roof of a vehicle that costs 90K I would be reluctant to do unless you know you are going to be keeping it long term. If you plan on selling it in the next few years I would stick with the magmount. My car is probably only worth about $4K now, but I've had it since new and I still won't drill any holes in it. You do have to be carefull when putting these mounts on aswell, I've seen quite a few cars that have been badly rusted up around where the antenna has been fitted if the mount isn't tight enough and allows water to get under the seal.
If you want the best performance from your antenna then panel mounting is the way to go, a small hole in the roof is not that hard to patch up and most people would miss it if you decided to sell your vehicle. Mag mounts won't perform quite as well, but they work well enough for me, and it really comes down to how much do you want that extra performance? Drilling a hole in the roof of a vehicle that costs 90K I would be reluctant to do unless you know you are going to be keeping it long term. If you plan on selling it in the next few years I would stick with the magmount. My car is probably only worth about $4K now, but I've had it since new and I still won't drill any holes in it. You do have to be carefull when putting these mounts on aswell, I've seen quite a few cars that have been badly rusted up around where the antenna has been fitted if the mount isn't tight enough and allows water to get under the seal.
sorry, I was refering to the panel mounts rusting up if they aren't fitted properly, the mag mounts can only do that if you don't clean the base before you put them on and anything stuck to them can scratch the paint off
I haven't done any testing but can say from experience that drilling the hole will make a difference. It isn't a 'day light/dark' type of difference, but it is noticeable in a few instances.
Electrically, it's frequency dependent. The higher the frequency the 'better' a mag-mount -can- work. Deals with surface area and capacitive connections, which is how the things work.
Physically, count on there being wear marks from using a mag-mount over time, it will happen. Ordinary regular cleaning slows that wear down but can't stop it. It deals with how clean the air is, and it's never clean on a road/highway (fumes, dust, whatever).
'Fixing' a hole is 'relative'. How hard/easy it is depends on where it is and how big it is. If 'they' have to pull the head liner, count on it costing a bit more. And depending on how 'modern' the shop, sometimes you don't have to pull the head liner.
Drilling a hole can be traumatic! In most cases, it just isn't going to make a dimes worth of difference at selling time. I've also seen some vehicles that you just can't drill a hole in the roof (newer vans for instance), the AC ducting is up there. Who'da thunk it?
If you have the option, drilling the hole is the 'better' way of doing it. If no such option (for whatever reason), then don't.
- 'Doc
Electrically, it's frequency dependent. The higher the frequency the 'better' a mag-mount -can- work. Deals with surface area and capacitive connections, which is how the things work.
Physically, count on there being wear marks from using a mag-mount over time, it will happen. Ordinary regular cleaning slows that wear down but can't stop it. It deals with how clean the air is, and it's never clean on a road/highway (fumes, dust, whatever).
'Fixing' a hole is 'relative'. How hard/easy it is depends on where it is and how big it is. If 'they' have to pull the head liner, count on it costing a bit more. And depending on how 'modern' the shop, sometimes you don't have to pull the head liner.
Drilling a hole can be traumatic! In most cases, it just isn't going to make a dimes worth of difference at selling time. I've also seen some vehicles that you just can't drill a hole in the roof (newer vans for instance), the AC ducting is up there. Who'da thunk it?
If you have the option, drilling the hole is the 'better' way of doing it. If no such option (for whatever reason), then don't.
- 'Doc