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Which antenna? I'm stumped.

007_man

Active Member
Apr 29, 2011
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Savannah,Tennessee
I'm thinking about getting a Galaxy 98VHP. Should I run a Wilson 2000 Trucker mounted on my toolbox or a Wilson 5000 Mag Mount (currently have). I have a Dodge 2500. I wanna talk and hear pretty far.
 

5000 mag mount on the roof.

Now I'm thinking about a 102" whip now. A local guy has one on his toolbox and he talks and hears about 45 miles in the area. He tried a Wilson 5000 on the roof and he said he HATED it! It didn't hear and didn't talk very well he said. He runs a Connex 4300-300 btw.
 
Any antenna is only as useful as its highest point above all of the surrounding sheet metal.

Sooo...mounting it on the roof with a mag mount is far better than a 102 inch steel whip mounted on the toolbox...or bumper...or - you get it now...
 
the higher the tip the better , the less coil the better . you have to decide how much stuff you're ok with potentially hitting and get a durable antenna for your particular needs . if you can run the 102/108 id suggest giving it a try .
 
Now I'm thinking about a 102" whip now. A local guy has one on his toolbox and he talks and hears about 45 miles in the area. He tried a Wilson 5000 on the roof and he said he HATED it! It didn't hear and didn't talk very well he said. He runs a Connex 4300-300 btw.

I have a 102" whip on top of my 1999 Suburban and ya it works ok but I hit way to many thinks so very soon I will be switching to a Wilson 5000 mag mount!
 
Any antenna is only as useful as its highest point above all of the surrounding sheet metal.

Sooo...mounting it on the roof with a mag mount is far better than a 102 inch steel whip mounted on the toolbox...or bumper...or - you get it now...

I don't think you'd notice too much degradation with a 102" whip on the toolbox. The radiation pattern would be skewed slightly, but the majority of the whip would still be over the roofline.
 
I don't think you'd notice too much degradation with a 102" whip on the toolbox. The radiation pattern would be skewed slightly, but the majority of the whip would still be over the roofline.
Degradation; or skewed propagation? I think you meant the latter. That is true.

The distance of 2 1/2 ft between the toolbox and the roofline (an estimate) would mean that a 102 inch whip would be 6 ft above the roofline. Adding a 6 inch spring to the 102 inch whip would make it 6 1/2 ft above.

Sooo...if one ran a Sirio 4/5000 - a 6 1/2 ft tall antenna - that would be the advantage of being on the roof center and having a more evenly distributed radiation pattern AND the same height as the 102 inch whip above the cab.

Now, the Wilson 1000/5000 is shorter than the 6 1/2 ft Sirio antenna. So, it would be shorter than the 102 inch whip and the Sirio. The only advantage the Wilson would have would be being above the sheet metal and distributing transmitted signal evenly.

Sooo...the REAL advantage in the scenario is the roof mount and the even transmit propagation. Less whipping about under driving conditions with the Sirio or Wilson as compared to the 102 inch whip. Which can be considerable.

The choices are yours alone. But that is the way I see it stack up.
Just saying . . .
:whistle:
 
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The electrical characteristics of an antenna depend on it's physical characteristics, and neither of those has much, if anything, to do with it's appearance, OR, convenience.

An antenna's electrical characteristics include resonance and impedance, the pattern of it's radiation, and efficiency.
Resonance means there are no unwanted reactances. Why? Cuz reactances don't contribute to anything being radiated unless they are neutralized. Reactances comes in two kinds, a (+) inductive and a (-) capacitive. If you've got too much of the inductive (+) kind then add some capacitive (-) kind and they equal '0', which means they are effectively gone. (Gotta be the right sizes though.)
Impedance matching is a fairly well known thingy. It can get complicated real quick cuz impedance is made up of two thingys, resistance and reactance. If the antenna is resonant, then there's no reactances present and then you only have to worry about resistance. The 'ideal' resistance would be 50 ohms because that's what the feed line impedance is (probably) and that's what the radio's output impedance is (hopefully). Unfortunately there are no 'naturally' occurring antenna input impedances that are 50 ohms. So, things get even more complicated because you have to do some "magical" juggling with reactances to make the antenna 50 ohms resistive.
[You said get rid of reactances, not add some! Right, but it makes a big difference -where- and -how- that reactance is added. (There's nothing "magical" about this stuff, it's just complicated, which means it might as well be "magic", right?)]

Physical characteristics and efficiency and 'convenience'.
There are things like size of an antenna that can make them very inefficient to make mobile. A 1/4 wave antenna is roughly something like 9 feet long. That means it's going to be 'large' if placed on a vehicle of any kind, which means it's going to hit/drag on things cuz there aren't many places where you will have at least 12 - 15 feet of clearance. Okay, so shorten the thing by 'loading' it. 'Loading means adding some 'small' inductance to make the thing seem like it's 9 feet tall. That does work! But it changes some of the other characteristics of the antenna such as efficiency, and it's radiation pattern (where it can put the signal). A very rough estimate of that 'shortening' ability/usefulness is maybe half the height, or around 4.5 feet. After that, it get's very inefficient. the radio may be 'happy' with it, but the signal just doesn't get anywhere, you know? But it's sure a lot more convenient. Just depends on how 'convenient' you can put up with. Which says absolutely nothing about what the @#$ thing ~looks~ like!

Antennas tend to like being above metal or stuff. Ain't happy with being beside metal or stuff. And don't like being under metal or stuff. That's a fairly good thing to remember! 'Playing' around with the antenna's happiness is certainly possible, and is done very often. Sometimes that's the only way you can make them convenient enough to even have at all! It ain't happy, but you are, so it sort of balances out... kind of.

Propagation.
Antennas 'propagate', produce signals that scatter around in a particular way. But propagation usually refers to how that 'scattering around' occurs, and we have no control over that at all. That belongs to 'Momma Nature' and 'she' don't let nobody mess with it but 'her'. Don't get too big for your britches and think you have any way of controlling propagation, or 'Momma Nature' will tan those britches! You can certainly take advantage of what 'Momma' provides (just like with your own mother?), but that's about it, you know?

Just somethings to think about...
- 'Doc
 
keep the wilson 5000 mag mount, get a 6 1/2 foot sirio antenna for it.

Then also get a tri mag mount for the 102 whip so you can run it when parked and shooting dx.

just a couple cents worth:laugh:
 
I'm thinking about getting a Galaxy 98VHP. Should I run a Wilson 2000 Trucker mounted on my toolbox or a Wilson 5000 Mag Mount (currently have). I have a Dodge 2500. I wanna talk and hear pretty far.

just using you 2 choices id suggest the 5000 on the roof because the roof is a more effective place for a antenna and also because the 5000 is a longer antenna .

Antenna Cutting Guide | Wilson Antennas

if you can go hard mount (drill a hole) for the 5000 id do it just because its easier omn the coax .
 
I'm thinking about getting a Galaxy 98VHP. Should I run a Wilson 2000 Trucker mounted on my toolbox or a Wilson 5000 Mag Mount (currently have). I have a Dodge 2500. I wanna talk and hear pretty far.


Wilson 5000 on the roof....so easy to install and tune a cave man can do it. Best base load CB antenna out there.
 
Then also get a tri mag mount for the 102 whip so you can run it when parked and shooting dx.

Groossss.

Just go all out and make a hole.

ju016.jpg


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