New Radio, Need New Antenna

[Rockytherotty]

Hello all! This is my first post and I have a question. I am just getting back into this and have bought myself a new radio and now I need a antenna. I just bought a General Lee from Radioactive and am having it all tuned up by them. I am going to put this one in my Jeep Cherokee and I'm trying to figure out what to use for a antenna. I was tryinmg to decide between a Wilson 5000 magnetic mount or a 102" whip mounted to the side of the body. I am kinda leaning towards the Wilson due to the size of the whip. Is this a good choice? Any other recommendations? Thanks!

 

[LadyHambone]

First off welcome to the forum,

Second don't know if it will help out with your your question but my husband and me run a wilson 1000 magmount on our car and it performs great. think you will like the wilson better than the 102' whip mounted on the side.

I think it is all how you feel about mounting your antenna. Myself I didn'y like the idea of mounting it to the side. Hope it help's.

 

[Rockytherotty]

Thanks, I am open to all info, experience or suggestions. I do take my Jeep off-road ocassional so I think a magnetic mount would be the best way. I was looking at the Wilson 1000's but was thinking about the Wilson 5000 because I may run a amp somewhere in the future. The 102" whip just seems like it would be big, bulky and in the way all the time.

Does anyone know if the Wilson 5000 is a quick detach? Kinda like the K40's are?

 

[2at124]

antenna

The Wilson 5000 unscrews like the 1000 and it come swith a cap to keep the weather out when the coil /wip is not on the magnet. If u plan to run a amp in the future besure to replace the coax with rg-8 or better becuse stock coax on the wilson will not hold more than 300w (this is what i was told at local radio shop) IT is not har dto put the new coax on the magnet of the wilson but, if u prefer any radio shop can do it

 

[AudioShockwav]

If you are running off-road, and in trees,or high brush like we have here I recomend that you change antennas when wheeling. I use and have set-up a few rigs with a antenna that is sold under brand names radio shack and valor as "half-breed" antennas.
it is a 4 foot( also come in 3 and 5) whip that is base loaded with a short section of wraped fiberglass whip, and a SS stinger on top.
They are very flexable, very rugged and and work well when wheeling.
Some off road clubs will NOT let you use a 102" whip when wheeling during club events because of injurys that have occured due to 102'`s getting caught in trees/brush and whipping back and striking spotters (OUCH!!!) during the runs. I recommend a hustler Stainless steel set of quick disconnects, and run whatever you want as a daily driver, and when you get to the trail, it is easy and fast to switch antennas....or just pull the 10K off and switch to the half-breed for the poker run, if you do not want to carry a exrta antenna.
These can be had from places like H&Y for about $10 bucks, RadioShack used to have them for $20 and make great trail antennas.

73
Jeff

 

[CDX197]

i dont have the mobile set up yet. But if your looking for preformance wise i would go with the 10K. I have heard many good things about this antenna. Or even a Mr. Coily antenna. Just my 2 cents!

 

[NC420]

If you are running off-road, and in trees,or high brush like we have here I recomend that you change antennas when wheeling. I use and have set-up a few rigs with a antenna that is sold under brand names radio shack and valor as "half-breed" antennas.
it is a 4 foot( also come in 3 and 5) whip that is base loaded with a short section of wraped fiberglass whip, and a SS stinger on top.
They are very flexable, very rugged and and work well when wheeling.
Some off road clubs will NOT let you use a 102" whip when wheeling during club events because of injurys that have occured due to 102'`s getting caught in trees/brush and whipping back and striking spotters (OUCH!!!) during the runs. I recommend a hustler Stainless steel set of quick disconnects, and run whatever you want as a daily driver, and when you get to the trail, it is easy and fast to switch antennas....or just pull the 10K off and switch to the half-breed for the poker run, if you do not want to carry a exrta antenna.
These can be had from places like H&Y for about $10 bucks, RadioShack used to have them for $20 and make great trail antennas.

73
Jeff

The Wilson 1000 will survive trail abuse, but as ausio said, its not a bad idea to switch ants out for the trail. I ran a 102 on my trail rig for about 2 weeks and decided it wasn't safe to use on the trail as it whips all over the place and could hurt someone. A wilson 100 or 5000 mounted on top of your vehicle would be a good choise and you wouldn't have to worry about swithing it out if you are running in the trees.

 

[Rockytherotty]

Wow! Thanks for all the replies. I see alot of stuff around here about the 10K. Maybe I'll do a 10K for daily duty and keep a small back-up antenna for 'wheelin? :naughty

 

[cbshack]

I would stay away from their Wack Pack. Just pay for an alignment, you will be much happier and the radio will sound better. For receive I have had good luck with the Lou Franklin filters. Get the receive and transmit aligned. The PLL probably does not have to be aligned if the radio is new.

I would go with the Wilson 5000 for what you are describing.

 

[NorthStar]

The Wack Pack is a hack job. One of the Export Radio companies are getting them in for warranty repair. Except its not the radios fault it is the wack pack hack job the clown is doing on the radios. I also know another shop who has witnessed the work. He said it is worst he has seen. I highly recommend to stay away from these peoples work.

 

[cbshack]

By an alignment I mean the shop will have the service manual for the radio and go step by step with a scope, multimeter, rf generator, frequency counter, and accurate power meter and actually align the radio to specs. This may take about an hour to do.

Dave from DTB radio I believe has an article on his website about leaving limiting transistors or resistors in the radio and just aligning the audio with a scope.

Also I believe Fire Communications may have something about this also.

Forget the Wack Pack, find a real technician who isn't going to butcher your radio.

 

[Rockytherotty]

I have'nt really heard anything bad about RadioActive's wackpacked or super wackpacked radios until now :?

Who has had a bad experience with them?

 

[cbshack]

Go to DTB radios website or Fire Communiations website and look for the blacklist. I have not seen one personally but have heard complaints from others who have.

 

[Rockytherotty]

Well, I ended up ordering the Wilson 5000 magnetic mount. That should do the trick for me. I appreciate all your input!

 

[Mr Clean]

You will love it! Change the coax conector to a regular one or have it done. The stock one screws on and is ok but I alway change mine so it don't come loose.