antennas

[rustyc]

anybody had any experince with a wilson silver load antenna. looking for one that will with either a texas star d 500v ot tnt 350 hd.

 

[Robb]

I'll just bet ya that if you spend more time and attention on the antenna choice - rather than the amplifier choice - then you will get out better, spend less money, and be happier with the final results.

A 4 ft antenna just isn't a decent choice no matter who makes it - IMO. How is it that I can talk all over the US with just 35 watts? ANS: because when skip conditions are present, the 6 1/2 ft Sirio Z-180 antenna is really pulling the load. Fairly wide banded too. Short antennas generally have very narrow bandwidths. The SilverLoad isn't the worst 4 ft antenna out there; but you could do so much better than that choice - to say the least.

Howabout a Predator 10k, a Sirio5000, or a 1/4 wave/108 inch steel whip and just a 350 watt amp? Where and how you mount that antenna will also make quite a difference - too. Even a Wilson 5000 mag mount antenna on the center of the roof is doable, cost effective, and will work quite fine with a 350 watt amp. Now; that is clearly a better option. The best results are found in the details; not necessarily the amount of money you spend or how much power you run - IMO . . .

 

[dave69]

with regards to rob the wilson 5000 will do everything you want it to do in a mobile set up. in most cases nothing on the market today will touch it without large cash output so you have to deside what you want to spend on your set up!!

 

[N8YX]

I used a quarter-wave whip and an HR-2510 as my 10M mobile setup for a number of years. Worked a lot of DX with the arrangement, and with just 25w to it the antenna did most of the heavy lifting.

 

[binrat]

Silver load is good for a HP radio barefoot. Go with Wilson 5000 or the others that Robb stated above. I have done dxto Germany with my 5000 and a 257 (non-hp) with ease.

 

[2RT307]

I have run a 4' and a 5' Silverload on my pickup, both with a TS500. No problems, but I did have to run the ground wire to get the SWR's in line. I have since switched to a 5' Firestick, and have no issues. It doesn't seem to pick up as much noise as the Silverload, but that's just my subjective ears.

It is just not practical for me to run a roof mounted antenna like a Sirio or Wilson 5000.

73,
RT307