So I have a cobra 200 for a base with a Wilson 5000 magnetic mounted on my window seal. I can hear people way out in the distance but no one can hear me. Do I need to ground my antenna? Or do I need to be higher I'm currently about 20-25 ft off the ground (2nd story)
Also I'm using a car battery with a battery charger for now till I can get a power supply.
What can I do to hear and talk locally?
Sent from your moms phone....
Assuming that the radio and antenna would otherwise function properly then what you need to do to get the Wilson antenna to work better where you now have it mounted is to add a 'counterpoise device.'
In this case the counterpoise device is just gonna be a wire about 8.5 feet long.
You are gonna attach it to the shield side or grounded part of the anennas magnet mount.
The wire is then gonna just hang down from the antenna to which it is electically attached.
I am including a link to a website that has a picture of the magnet mount in an exploded view and I will attempt to indicate a place of attachment to the magnet mount with the 8.5 foot long wire> (or maybe if someone else on the forum wants to get involved that is more familiar with the Wilson magnet mount then that would be appreciated)
Once you get this 8.5 foot long wire attached to the magnet mount in the proper place and let it hangdown along side the house the antenna then should start to function much better.
Here is the link to the picture of the exploded view of the magnet mount:
http://www.bellscb.com/products/antennas/wilson/images/parts/magmnt.gif
The following are possible points of attachment of the counterpoise wire:
Hexbolt: #900513
Eyelet: #500105
If anyone else on the forum that is more familiar with the mechanics of the magnet mount and is agreeable with this method and wants to off thier assistance then by all means please jump in.
RadiooMan