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My new Big Mistake Mobile Antenna- TBD.
- Thread starter My3kidsfather
- Start date
Good news. Hopefully it won't be too long. Keep us updated with progress and some pictures if you would be so kind to. Too often people ask about something on a forum, go off and do it and we never get to hear any more. I think for a lot of people it would help them to see what someone else has done.
I may have made a bad decision in that I ordered the Sirio performer 5000 PL mobile antenna which uses a UHF female pl259 mount in the roof.
It may have been better to order the Turbo 5000 antenna with the 1/2" mount.
We may have as much as a 1" of room under the headliner in the roof. Is there anyone here with install experience that may know of the best brand of roof mount (no magnets please) we might use with this ordered UHF mount without a bulge in the headliner?
It may have been better to order the Turbo 5000 antenna with the 1/2" mount.
We may have as much as a 1" of room under the headliner in the roof. Is there anyone here with install experience that may know of the best brand of roof mount (no magnets please) we might use with this ordered UHF mount without a bulge in the headliner?
did your antenna come with a base mount? I was just at gps central(radio world) looking at the comet mounts. about 1/2ish of space needed.
It's just the antenna, a UHF female is needed to go thru the roof. The problem is the UHF mount the installer showed me is a longer mount and may make a bulge necessary in the headliner.
Have to agree, the Wilson through the roof mount is low profile and about 2"ish in diameter. I used my Sirio on the Wilson mount, hit tons of trees with no problems.
Antenna arrived today. Took said antenna and radio, a Sirio Performer 5000 and Uniden 78 Elite combo to my installer and they showed me how it will not work in the roof because I ordered the wrong base and without the coax with right-angle connector.
After much discussion I decided to have them install the Performer on the left edge of the hood, a simple install until I can assemble the right mount and so on for the roof mount. This happens tomorrow.
The good news is I will be able to do it right with proper parts and support for the roof too. I talked with my head mechanic and he described taking out the headliner, a time consuming task I might do myself later on in our shop.
General reading led me to an article on ground planes and how to achieve that in a vehicle. It occurred to me I might be able to measure SWR improvements after the radio is installed, as I ground the hood and hatch to the body, even grounding the muffler system for whatever slight improvements that may glean. Anyway whatever comments you guys have would be interesting.
After much discussion I decided to have them install the Performer on the left edge of the hood, a simple install until I can assemble the right mount and so on for the roof mount. This happens tomorrow.
The good news is I will be able to do it right with proper parts and support for the roof too. I talked with my head mechanic and he described taking out the headliner, a time consuming task I might do myself later on in our shop.
General reading led me to an article on ground planes and how to achieve that in a vehicle. It occurred to me I might be able to measure SWR improvements after the radio is installed, as I ground the hood and hatch to the body, even grounding the muffler system for whatever slight improvements that may glean. Anyway whatever comments you guys have would be interesting.
Sounds like you're on your way to a nice setup
Bonding/grounding your vehicle is well worth the effort. It sure made a difference on my pickup, cleared up a lot of static on my recieve. Locals say my transmit seems stronger as well.
Next step is to ditch my mag, and hard mount the antenna to the roof.
Kudos for gathering all the info you can, and trying to set your rig up properly, the first time. This way your not always trying to figure out what the " new big mistake" is.
Great thread..good info here
Bonding/grounding your vehicle is well worth the effort. It sure made a difference on my pickup, cleared up a lot of static on my recieve. Locals say my transmit seems stronger as well.Next step is to ditch my mag, and hard mount the antenna to the roof.
Kudos for gathering all the info you can, and trying to set your rig up properly, the first time. This way your not always trying to figure out what the " new big mistake" is.
Great thread..good info here
It's been fun learning it all again. Antennas have really improved, and I never did have a better radio either back in the day. The best part is the people though.
I will try to follow up with any measurements I take of before and after while bonding the car. It may be interesting.
I will try to follow up with any measurements I take of before and after while bonding the car. It may be interesting.
My 98 chev. k2500 reg.cab...bed-cab-hood/fenders-radiator support-frame and front bumper. 4 corners of the cab to frame. 4 corners of the bed to frame and rear bumper. I haven't yet, but plan to ground the rear axle, exhaust and engine to the frame.
I used 3/4" wide copper braid. Made my own ring terminals with flattened1/2" copper pipe, and used serrated washers to ensure good connection between the copper and steel.
Had to trim down the antenna when i wss done, but can't
remember how much...maybe an inch
or so.