I drive a 2012 silverado 2500hd with a cobra 29 nwstwx peaked and tuned deadkeying 5.5 swinging 18 running into a Texas star modulator v 100 watt. I currently have a 4ft firestik mounted on the left fender. I would like to get a better antenna and was looking at the Wilson's and the k40. What do you experts recomind? Would be open to any suggestions but don't. Want to go much over 5ft. Thanks squirrel in Greer sc
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wilson 5000 vs 2000
- Thread starter chadinsc
- Start date
Since you will know what will be most convenient for you, I'll leave which antenna you should get up to you. I would recommend the tallest antenna you can stand. I don't know how to quantify 'how' good it could be, how to measure it, but the closer you can get to 8 or 9 feet the better off you are.
- 'Doc
And just to clarify things a bit, that power rating for antennas is a bunch of BS. If you aren't going to get sort of close to whatever the max rating for a particular antenna, there's no benefit to having a higher power rating. Typically, all that higher power rating means is that the wire used in the antenna's construction is larger. Nothing 'magical'/secret about it...
- 'Doc
And just to clarify things a bit, that power rating for antennas is a bunch of BS. If you aren't going to get sort of close to whatever the max rating for a particular antenna, there's no benefit to having a higher power rating. Typically, all that higher power rating means is that the wire used in the antenna's construction is larger. Nothing 'magical'/secret about it...
I would recommend a sirio performer 5000 over the wilson 2000 or 5000. JMO, but I have had better results with the sirio performer 5000 vs the wilson 5000. Same radio and vehicle used. The sirio has better rx and tx characteristics as it is taller. The k40's are about bottom of the barrel IMO, used one and could not get it to tune worth a crap!! Same vehicle, same setup. The sirio outperformed both the k40 and the wilson 5000. These are just my results and JMO. I can't go the full 108" on an antenna as the van I drive is just too tall. But height is might and my antenna tip is right at 14ft with a sirio performer 5000. If I go any higher I am guaranteed to hit every overpass I go under lol. But seriously, check out the sirio antennas if that is the route you are looking to go, that or a predator 10k. If you can get the predator 10k with the proper mount from Breedlove for your Chevy truck, that would be the ticket, that or a 108" whip. JMO. Other than that, you can go with the sirio 5000 performer with the pl145 mag mount and put it dead center of the roof of the truck. As for the amp, 5.5 watts into a 2290 toshiba transistor is a bit much and will probably make the amp run hot, which in the end will decrease the life of the amp. Do I think the transistor can take it. Yes, does it mean it's right, maybe, maybe not. Texas star suggest a 4 watt dead key, and to me that is still too much to leave a good ratio of power. I would key the amp so that it has a 25-30 watt carrier. This will most likely require 1-2 watts of carrier from the radio. JMO. God bless.
truthfully that really depends on your mounting location. if ya wanna stay on the fender
thats fine. but ya really need a antenna that can get the coil above roofline.for that
id recommend the wilson 2000 trucker with either a 10 or 18 inch shaft. [gotta get coil above
roofline. wilsons recommends this. if ya go to the roof a wilson 5000 roofmount/magmount
will meet ya needs and be about 5feet in lenth.but really depends on mounting location
ust curious what kinda numbers ya getting with that mod v? im helping a local setting up a dump truck
and he wants similar setup but to drive a bigger box
If 5ft is your limit, then the wilson 5000 or a predator 10k mounted properly would do the trick. I like the sirio performer better myself but it is about 1ft taller than the wilson 5000. Just seems like the new wilson 5000 have had some quality control issues. Water intrusion being a big one. I guess with any mag mount system, cleaning and making sure no moisture has accumulated is the key to keeping it performing correctly. The older wilson 5000's seem to be built better. I am talking about the pre barjan ones. That is what I used for my testing. They do work well, I just don't think they work as well as the sirio performer 5000, like I said I have used all three, the k40, wilson 5000 and the sirio performer 5000, also have been using the megawatt 4000 and it does well for dx'ing. It's right at 7ft tall. Power handling isn't as much as the wilson 5000 or the sirio 5000, but it does work well. JMO.
Unless you need a rust incubator, I'd avoid buying a Wilson and go for the Sirio. Wilson's will begin manufacturing a pile of rust under the magnet shortly after the install. They are also prone to developing intermittent solder connections too but new Chinese quality control standards are effectively addressing that solder problem by forgetting to use any solder at all.
I run a Siro Performer 5000 with the 145 mag mount on top of the cab on my truck. Best setup Ive used so far. My last one was a pre- Barjan Wilson. Hard mount might give better performance yet... But with todays thin sheetmetel vehicles I definetly wouldve ripped a hole in my roof by now. I spend alot of time offroad in the desert and on the cow trails. My setup has withstood 90 mph highway with bad windgusts through AZ, NM, and TX and never budged. My very first setup was a mirror mount mounted to the stake pocket on the bed and that didnt work worth a flip!!
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...runna pile-up on 6m SSB