So what kind of performance can i expect?

I just noticed Circuit Master moved from the bosselman truck stop over to the Flying J and it appears the quality of their work has gone downhill if what you said was true about 45 Watts out of that radio.
If the guy in Hagerstown Maryland gave it his seal of approval I would definitely say there's something wrong with that radio because the guy in Hagerstown doesn't have a clue

 

lol...Swr/ground plane/the wave....Sounds like someone is tryin to give advice by repeating what some other driver said..

 

I take tons of advice and then do my research. Just like Rabbi's example of wave form and coax length with a rope in the tree. Also rf ground and what an antenna "sees" under it. My 379 talks and hears like crazy when it rains but is a total dud on dry road.

 

I read what many say and listen to only a few but no matter how good they may be,someone can say something to counter what you were told 1st and lay a foundation of doubt....Then you have to go try and still not find an accurate answer..

 

If ... If you have a change in preformance with rain, then there are a few things to keep in mind.

First is that the vehicle is part of the capacance with the earth ground, this has a very important part that is ignore and a change in capacitance because of the conductivity of water, it is a good indicator which brings up the second ....

The rf ground is different from the DC ground and because it is, many think that just because you have grounding straps, you have a rf ground. A good indicator is just what happens to you, when the truck is wet, the rf ground is improved a lot.

The last thing is how the antenna is tuned and how the ground is tuned, which for some is called a counterpoise/ground plane, it needs to be tuned.

 

Now thats a new one..Tuning the counterpoise...If its a dipole idea thats easy to tune(with an analyzer i assume)but if its straps,how the name of god does a fella tune strapes??? Is it by # of straps and length maybe??