Newbie Antenna Question

Not sure what yo mean by a Wilson short load......but I do know the Wilson 1000 mag mount is hard to beat for a good mag mount antenna.

I see you currently have a Lil Wil which is an ok antenna, but there's an old saying on CB antennas...."Height Is Might". Meaning a taller antenna will yield you better results all else being equal.

In fact, a step up from a Lil Wil to a Wilson 1000 mag mount should help that 520 transmit and receive a little better.

Yes a Connex typically does more than what an average CB does straight out of the box. However it also has the ability to also put you on the 10 meter ham radio band....which if you unknowingly transmit there (as most new CB operators with a radio that has that "band" selector [Connex, General Lee, General Longstreet, Stryker, etc.] sometimes do) you can receive a warning from the FCC followed by a very hefty fine. Not trying to scare you, just trying to warn you now.

Also, I don't know how far you want to get out, but a typical CB radio can do 3-4 miles reliably, sometimes 7-8....all depends on the antenna, coax, SWRs, terrain, weather....and if the moon, stars and the planets are lined up right.

One other thing....I see you say you have a small car...so I don't know where you were planning to mount it, but a Connex is a lot bigger in physical size than your 520.

 

The usual CB install actually requires a 102" antenna (approximately 9 feet). Unfortunately, folks either can't use this OR don't want this long whip up there. Thus the shorter versions of CB antennas that appease the user's sensibilities. Anytime you 'scrunch up" an antenna by making them shorter IT IS A COMPROMISE! It will NOT perform as well as a full-size whip. "Stick" antennas do this with heli-winding transformer-style (thin) wires up the length of the "stick", varying the length of this "coil" for the length, or desired height, of the antenna. Coils produce "resistance" which can, to the untrained user, equate to taking a garden hose and letting it drain. Place your thumb over the end of the hose and "restrict" the flow. This produces a resistance in the hose. Or put a potato in an exhaust pipe. Listen to it "hiss". Again, a resistance. Now, this is not always a bad thing, but is an elementary way of explaining things. The tighter, smaller, and longer the coil, the more the resistance in the antenna system. This is also the reason for those HUGE coily-type antennas because they DO work better than the shorty antennas and, to the hard-core CBer, look "way cool". There are other factors, but this generally how it works. If a "shorty" antenna works well for YOU, fits your situation, then it is the best solution for you. If you are a die-hard, can't-stand-for-somebody-else-to-out-do-me type, then the huge coil (for looks and "threat of mud-duck stompin'") is best!

So, longer is generally better. If it suits you, the shorty antenna will do just fine.

GF

 

As Gadfly stated, "taller/longer" is better and vice versa is not.

If you tried using a shorter stinger (whip) in the Wilson 1000, the SWR's will go up, which not only will really limit you in how far you get out, but also would/could cause damage to the radio.

Remember, there really is no substitute for antenna height. Height is might.

 

Since this was brought up, i was wondering something...

I have considered getting a wilson whip but aren't they bottom loaded? i have a pickup truck, no tool box and i have a bed cover covering up any metal from the bed of my truck... so, a whip wouldn't be a good idea would it? or would it? lol

I don't want to put it on my roof either. haha

 

I ran the short load whip on a mirror mount Wilson 2000 for a while when I had a regular run that involved backing into a 11'6 door every day. I got the SWR down to about 1.2 on channel 20, and 1.3 on 1 and 40. So it's not very broad-banded, but I guess that's to be expected with a shorter antenna. It performed just fine, and I would guess the antenna setup you're suggesting would be one of the best for your situation, with the parking garages and all. I wold suggest looking at a Cobra 25 for a small car, they have a smaller chassis than the Connex, and would be easier to hide from a thief.

Clantonman, where were you going to mount the antenna on your pickup? I have a top loaded fiberglass antenna (Everhartt SOTT 5') on the driver's side mirror of my OBS F350, and it seems to work well. I have a fold-over stud on it, so I can park in the garage without taking the antenna off. The trucker's series Wilson's are center loaded, the magnet and roof mount ones are bottom loaded. I think any of these mounted anywhere other than the roof would reflect off of the cab (mirror mounted) or bed (bumper mounted) too much, unless you have west coast mirrors like the ones on a big truck. So to answer your question, I don't think a Wilson, with or without the short load whip, would be a good solution for you, unless you mount it on the roof.

 

The first paragraph of my first response was addressed directly to you. I had no complaints about the short load whip, for what it is, it works well. If you get one, you definitely need to tune the SWR before you transmit, I had to trim off several inches (about four, I think) to get it to tune right. Wilson's instructions tell you they make them longer than necessary on purpose, I'm guessing so that hams could use one on 10m if they chose to. I do also have a Wilson 1000 mag mount that worked well for me when I was switching trucks a bunch. I never used the short load whip and the 1000 together, but I think they would work well together.

 

here is a video explaining the wilson 1000 magnet


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mh0wu96gREU