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Siro 5000 vs Wilson 1000... The results
- Thread starter 70cst
- Start date
My Wilson 5000 is pretty much brand new, has only been on my truck about 3 times for short trips, and has not been exposed to any rain, car washes, etc. Still need to fiddle with it more, but I have always had very good luck with Wilson. I ran a 5' Silverload for several years, and only recently changed because the Firestik did not pick up as much alternator whine. I also have a Wilson 500 which is pretty darned old, and it has become my favorite road-trip-on-the-rental-car antenna. Bad thing is, the FTA sure likes to inspect my bag when I pack it and my Magnum 257HP in my suitcase!
73,
RT307
i hope that if it does become exposed to rain, that you don't end up having problems with it. good luck.
I don't disagree with you, but you should be able to tune the antenna better even with the coax on it. There is still room for improvement, even with just an SWR meter at the far end of a length of coax.
If anything using the length of coax that shows the worst match and tune the antenna itself from there.
The DB
best length of coax to use when measuring swr remotely is a halfwave multiple (impedance repeater) remembering to account for velocity factor.
this is exactly what sirio themselves supply on the mag 145pl.
when replacing the coax, no matter which type i've used (including that crappy mini rg8, some people think its better than sirio's own mil spec M17/28 rg58
) when replacing the coax with a halfwave multiple it has made no noticeable difference to swr or performance for that matter. As the sirios power handling is heavily over exaggerated , is there really any need for coax better than rg58? i certainly have never had any problems using that setup with a zetagi b300p, except the odd triggered car alarm,burglar alarm,shop alarm,speed camera,dimmer lights, oop's
best length of coax to use when measuring swr remotely is a halfwave multiple (impedance repeater) remembering to account for velocity factor.
this is exactly what sirio themselves supply on the mag 145pl.
when replacing the coax, no matter which type i've used (including that crappy mini rg8, some people think its better than sirio's own mil spec M17/28 rg58
As the sirios power handling is heavily over exaggerated , is there really any need for coax better than rg58? i certainly have never had any problems using that setup with a zetagi b300p, except the odd triggered car alarm,burglar alarm,shop alarm,speed camera,dimmer lights, oop's
You are correct, after adjusting for the velocity factor, a half wavelength multiple of coax is the best. However, the statement to that reply of mine was started because of this line:
From this I have no idea what the original or the modified lengths of coax were. I also have no idea if the coax (before the 3ft section was added) was even stock length. To many unknowns. Factoring in those unknowns the easiest way to tune the antenna well would be to use the length of coax that showed the worst SWR to begin with.
I also pointed out earlier:
If it is possible, that is even better then using a half wavelength multiple section of coax (again as usual modified by velocity). I then followed with:
For this specific instance I stand by my statements as they stand on their own.
The DB
Wow, All this time I thought by changing the length of the coax would change my SWR. The length on the MP145 i thought was 15' the length on my Wilson is 17' So instead of butchering up my Stinger on my Sirio, I added a 3' section in which lowered my SWR's, No am I doing something wrong here ?? And if my Memory serves me right on a 102" whip we started out with a certain length of coax and shorten the length to obtain the best SWR's for usage on certain frequency's. So all this time I was doing this wrong ???
I drive a Company Dodge Caravan. No drilling of holes would be allowed. Not even to run 6 gauge wire through the Firewall to hook an amp. So a Mag mount is all i can do at this point, And I must say this set up i have does pretty well. I Dx'ed to Ohio last night down on some lower Freq's. And was Happy with the results of my Sirio set up. Thank you for the Info though.
Forgot to mention, I don't typically run a straight 40 channel operation. So with that in mind I go after best results on a wide bandwidth. And with that extra
3' section, My SWR's are capable of operating on 26.785 to 27.655
My P5000 came today from H&Y. Arrived in a 7' PVC pipe. The mailman asked if I ordered a stripper pole!
Anyway was a crappy day for testing, all misty and such but I couldn't resist trying. My Wilson 5000 on the trunk lip mount tuned in at around 1.6-1.7
I figured the P5k would do better. I couldn't have been more wrong. The best the Sirio would tune in at (on the same mount as the Wilson) was 2.5-3.
I was able to get a radio check from both antennas from a local friend. There was absolutely no difference between the two antennas. Granted this friend is only maybe 2-3 miles from me as the crow flies so the test wasn't very scientific.
I was impressed at the construction of the Sirio. Heavy duty and 'ballsy'. The whip too was clearly beefier than the Wilson.
I was depressed about the tuning of the Sirio. I won't run the antenna with that high an SWR due to the radio being 2*2290 and I don't want to take a chance.
Will be visiting a buddy with an MFJ this weekend and see if there's anything we can do. Maybe I screwed something up or overlooked something. We'll see.
Anyway was a crappy day for testing, all misty and such but I couldn't resist trying. My Wilson 5000 on the trunk lip mount tuned in at around 1.6-1.7
I figured the P5k would do better. I couldn't have been more wrong. The best the Sirio would tune in at (on the same mount as the Wilson) was 2.5-3.
I was able to get a radio check from both antennas from a local friend. There was absolutely no difference between the two antennas. Granted this friend is only maybe 2-3 miles from me as the crow flies so the test wasn't very scientific.
I was impressed at the construction of the Sirio. Heavy duty and 'ballsy'. The whip too was clearly beefier than the Wilson.
I was depressed about the tuning of the Sirio. I won't run the antenna with that high an SWR due to the radio being 2*2290 and I don't want to take a chance.
Will be visiting a buddy with an MFJ this weekend and see if there's anything we can do. Maybe I screwed something up or overlooked something. We'll see.
It is possible to use various lenghts of two different impedances of coax to match a coax to an antenna. However, to use this method of tuning you need two different coaxes. When you have just one type of coax it may hide the problem from the radio/SWR meter somewhat making it appear that you have a better match than you do. The antenna performs the same either way. If you put the meter between the two coaxes it will show about the same SWR as it did before.
It used to be fairly common for people to "trim" coaxes to tune antennas. It worked much like you adding the three foot piece of coax. It doesn't make the antenna radiate any better, it just makes it appear to have a better match.
The longer antenna the wider the bandwidth. I am not aware of any mobile antenna that has more bandwidth than a quarter wave antenna. If you find one that does be suspicious of it.
It is possible to use a wider antenna as well to increase your bandwidth, unfortunately that is often not feasible in mobile applications.
The DB
I think the Sirio 5000 is probably the best base load mag mounted antenna currently on the market right now @ 72 inches/length. But if they have a Predator 10k center load antenna @ 72 inches/length; that would probably still the best mobile antenna available. Simply because it is a center load and will have 1-2 db's less loss than a base load. None of them will beat 'the whip' - though.
id ditch the trunk mount altogether i never had any great reults with those .load is below the roofline no good. couple of questions
are ALL doors,hood, trunk lid shut?
2] is there a amp inline. if yes is it on or off?
3]r u using a external meter to check swr?
using a mfj 259b will be your best bet..what i use
ALSO what channel or channels you using when checking swr?
are ya moving the stinger up nd down to try to lower it some?if so does it help, or make it worse?
is your swr the same across the entire 40 channel band, or is the a [dip] where it
goes lower then raises again?