Finally bought a Sirio 5000 to try...

[M0GVZ]

Needs shortening ever so slightly on the truck. Its kind of what I'd expect as the truck probably makes a better ground plane than the car. The better the ground plane the lower the frequency of the resonant point of the antenna if you don't change the length of the whip.

Maybe try shortening it 1/4-1/2". It'll up the SWR a little on the car but tweak Ch40 on the truck down low enough to be usable without any issues. Then when you get another you can set them both up properly.

 

[JCH]

Finally nutted up and drilled a hole in the roof of my truck - do yall know if Sirio makes a bigger top nut to better fit the P5000?

 

[M0GVZ]

I have no idea what you mean by top nut.

Congratulations on finding your balls and getting the drill out. You won't regret it. Next thing to do is bonding - bonding the hood to the cab body, the cab body to the bed and the whole lot to the frame. Once you've done that you're finished and can run knowing that the efficiency of your antenna system is the best it can be and your amp is actually adding something instead of just making up for a shortfall in efficiency.

 

[JCH]

I have no idea what you mean by top nut.

Congratulations on finding your balls and getting the drill out. You won't regret it. Next thing to do is bonding - bonding the hood to the cab body, the cab body to the bed and the whole lot to the frame. Once you've done that you're finished and can run knowing that the efficiency of your antenna system is the best it can be and your amp is actually adding something instead of just making up for a shortfall in efficiency.

Top nut is the nut that tightens the angular bracket (SO239 fitting) to the roof, thats what i call it anyway. The dia of the base of the P5000 is larger than the "top nut" And It's not as stout as it could be imo. Any way, I drilled the roof to run the SG-CB center-loaded antenna Sirio makes. Got it tuned and installed currently.

Bonded vehicle for previous antenna mounts, thanks for the info. Tacoma has plastic bed which makes for high Swr and other issues without bonding.

 

[M0GVZ]

Sounds like you're good to go then. Sirio do make this mount which we have available here in the UK and it is the same diameter as the base of the antenna and comes with a convenient screw on weather cover:

Sirio SO239 Mount | Fixed Body Mounts | THUNDERPOLE.co.uk

Other than that it sounds like everything is good to go.

 

[The Jerk]

OK, been running a few days with the Sirio on the car. Subaru Outback Wagon, hole is drilled.

Almost a flat 1:1 on all 40 channels with the Sirio, not much different with the Wilson. Both jump to 1.6:1 with the TS on...

I guess I can't see much difference because I'm mobile and moving most of the time. I don't really have any local bases to play the antenna swapping game with around here. Not that I really was expecting anything significant, but at least its no worse than the Wilson (a real Wilson, not a Barjan). I guess the real test will be durability and longevity...the Wilson 5000 that this Sirio replaced is around a 1998 vintage.

With that said, I'm either going to swap this onto the truck or just buy a second Sirio for the truck. I think that Wilson 5000 (likely a Barjan since its two years old) might be going bad, as I see the SWR fluctuate driving down the road (more than normal)...the one from the car wouldn't deflect the needle driving down the road.

Overall, not a bad antenna; probably the best alternative to a Wilson.

 

[M0GVZ]

Part of the reason you're not seeing much difference is because you did a pretty damned good install of the Wilson 5000 in the first place and the amount of wire in the air the Wilson 5000 has is nearly the same as the Sirio 5000. I think that whilst you would notice a difference its going to be fractions of a S point.

However your comment about the Wilson when driving down the road suggests that it was getting to the point it was due a change so I wouldn't call it wasted money.

 

[The Jerk]

Keep in mind I'm talking about two different Wilsons...the old one still works fine, its the newer one that seems to have issues.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G730A using Tapatalk

 

[JCH]

Here's a cellphone pic of the SG-CB/VHF dual band Sirio I just bought. Seems to receive good. A lighter, shorter alternative. I did have to replace the whip with a longer whip since the whip that came with the antenna was too short. It did tune flat SWR-wise but has a fairly narrow bandwidth but that isn't a concern for me.

 

[The Jerk]

 

[ponykilr]

The tip of my Sirio is about 12.5 feet. I have a pretty tall truck.

 

[The Jerk]

If I place the Sirio on my truck, assuming the Sirio is 6.5ft; I will be well over 13.5ft and probably closer to 14ft. Couple that to the fact the base of the Sirio is tall and prone to tree branches, and the smallish mounting surface installed on sheet metal.

I'm rethinking my approach on the truck...the last thing I want to do is wrinkle the roof of the truck.

 

[milkman21218]

I run a Sirio 5000 w/145 mag on both of my Chrysler mini vans. They may not be as tall as your truck. But no damage to either roof after wacking many of the drive thru overheads and trees around town.

 

[The Jerk]

Magmounts are a lot more forgiving than hard mounts.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G730A using Tapatalk

 

[M0GVZ]

If I place the Sirio on my truck, assuming the Sirio is 6.5ft; I will be well over 13.5ft and probably closer to 14ft. Couple that to the fact the base of the Sirio is tall and prone to tree branches, and the smallish mounting surface installed on sheet metal.

I'm rethinking my approach on the truck...the last thing I want to do is wrinkle the roof of the truck.

Hard mount it on the roof. The fact it hits tree branches doesn't matter. I have the whip from a Sirio 5000 on my screwdriver antenna. Its about the same height and it hits low branches about 10ft high twice whenever I leave my house and return. Its gone through the 8ft height barriers at Drive Thrus and car parks and is still just fine. You can tie it in a knot and it'll spring back.