Looking for a nice set for pickup

About 2004 I brought a galaxy 99 in for an alignment and when I left the shop people told me I was over modulated and distorted and I could not hear more than eight miles down the road. TR 32 was missing. I don't remember all the other hacks that were done to the radio because it was so long ago. I do remember it was a nice shop with a nice selection of stuff to choose from but I would not recommend the technician from a technical standpoint but I would recommend the place if you need to purchase equipment that has not been molested.

 

On the magnet mount, JMHO, but go on and take the plunge and have a Wilson 1000 or 5000 hole-mounted on the roof.

I hear so many folks say they don't want to drill a hole in that new car or truck, but that magnet will mar your paint job in short order. A hole mount will not stress your cable the way a door opening and closing on it will. I've always paid a pro to drill my holes and do the installs on my POV's but found the lack of cable drama well worth the money. A lot of Motorola shops will do this for you and route the cables around air bags, etc, for $200, sometimes much less. If the shop has a no-CB install policy, you might be able to get a tech to do it off-duty for you. At trade-in time, just leave the old mount and cable in place. Never had a ration of stuff from the dealer and sometimes being "radio ready" is a selling point for that old vehicle.

 

I agree. It is not that hard to do really. Just need the right kind of drill bit. You can take the trim off without disturbing the airbags. Just take your time. I'm going to do my new 2015 Crew Cab. I put a rubber plug in the hole that's made for that application when I trade them off. It might hurt your Beemer's trade in value to have a plug in the roof, but it won't hurt a PK at all. Oh yeah, be sure and "shiny up" the underside of the roof real good before you put the headliner back up. It isn't painted but it does have some kind of coating on it.

 

This is the proper bit to use for drilling through sheet metal for mounting antenna

 

Can mostly confirm. If Orlando, the head tech, does your radio, it'll be pretty dang nice. The rest of them are hit or miss. The Galaxy 939 I mail-ordered from them (back when I lived in north AL) had the AMC jacked wide open and the coils spread. Seem to recall the write-up sheet that came with the order said the tech who did it was Dan... or maybe Dave? Don't remember, that was 5 years ago.

I live 20 minutes away from there these days, and any time I need something CB-related, it's my go-to but not for radio work. Bob's CB is of similar status, don't let them take the screws out of your radio, but if you need to buy stuff they're great.

 

That is what I always have used but the "experts" don't recommend it. I've got four Wilson 1000s which take a 3/4 inch hole if I remember correctly. Read last night where the Sireo takes a 1/2 inch. I had planned to try a Sireo at some point and was bummed out to find they take a different size hole.....guess I could have two holes....might as well huh?

 

For 3/4-inch holes (I pretty much use only NMO-style mounts), I've bought a couple of specific hole saws from places like Maxrad and Larsen (Larsen is now Laird; Maxrad is part of PCTel). They've got a short pilot bit, a precise 3/4" shallow hole saw, and a thick shoulder that both limits the depth of the cut AND, if you leave the bit in place for another few seconds, polishes off paint so the ground shell of the NMO mount gets a nice RF ground.

They're around $24-48 each, but they also have replacement pilot bits and hole saw inserts. I've never had them to through a headliner, and they make a professional, perfect hole ready for dropping in an NMO mount with the coax already attached. Back when I got mine, they were less than $20 each, but then I *have* been in the industry for >40 years.

Huge time saver. Here's one:
http://www.neobits.com/laird_techno...xSlxho2M5v-BptaBEGE65fz6tDTzJ8oJfsaApWI8P8HAQ

I got two stepper bits at Hazard Fraught (Harbor Freight) for under $20, and I use them for making holes in chassis on boatanchors I'm refurbing. But for customers' roofs, I make sure not to make any extra holes in fancy leather headliners....especially the wife's fancy ride.

73

 

I may try and see what a radio shop would charge to drill a hole for me. This should be my last set up. Hate to spend that much for a drill bit I'd probably only use once.

 

I've used hole saws before cutting through Sheetmetal. The pilot bit has a tendency to wobble which causes the outer blade to wiggle a little bit which makes a less than concentric hole. The edge of the hole generally would be thinner than the rest of the sheet metal because the blade was wiggling around and grinding on the outer surface of the metal causing it to get thinner near the edge of the hole. I've never tried the Antennex bit though. I know if you stick a micrometer or a dial Caliper and measure across my holes that I cut with the step bit that they are perfectly concentric and the thickness of the metal all the way around the hole is perfectly the same thickness all the way around the hole with no Jagged edges which means the hole itself is perfect and cannot be made better. Even a three-quarter inch punch doesn't make a hole quite as nice as my step bit.

 

I don't know about your setup but my Greeley punches have no problem making a round hole.

leon
kc0iv