good antenna

[texaslandmusic]

i have a cobra 148gtl and i am in the market for a new antenna. i am looking for something that i can get good reception out of and talk to people more than 2 miles up the road. btw i have the radio in my personal vehicle.

 

[TheJerk]

Depends on what you want...I'd get a wilson 1000 or Wilson 5000 magnetic if it were me...

 

[gewecke]

i have a cobra 148gtl and i am in the market for a new antenna. i am looking for something that i can get good reception out of and talk to people more than 2 miles up the road. btw i have the radio in my personal vehicle.

For a cb...two miles is all that's needed!
n9zas

 

[DX949]

i have a cobra 148gtl and i am in the market for a new antenna. i am looking for something that i can get good reception out of and talk to people more than 2 miles up the road. btw i have the radio in my personal vehicle.

A Wilson 1000 Antenna will do the trick for You.

 

[Allan_Love_Jr]

I use the K40 Antenna. I get about 10 Miles distance on a good day.

 

[texaslandmusic]

about how far will a wilson 1000 reach on a good day

 

[TheJerk]

about how far will a wilson 1000 reach on a good day

Receive has more to do with the radio's receiver sensitivity, the strength of the transmitted signal, and weather/topographic conditions than the antenna. If you've never had the radio touched, I would consider having it peaked and tuned by someone who knows what they are doing...you will likely see a big improvement in that alone.

The Wilson 1000 is fairly sensitive as far as antennas are concerned...I have ran them quite a bit, I have talked barefoot (with a tuned Cobra 29) to another driver over 30 miles out (in flat country) when airwaves were quiet (just one of many examples). I found the Wilson 5000 to be just a tad more sensitive than the Wilson 1000, but that could be debated.

I don't think you could go wrong with either a Wilson 1000 or 5000 antenna.

 

[texaslandmusic]

i live in the houston area right now i am running barefoot with a cheap fiberglass antenna but i really want to be able to talk further. is there anything out on the internet how to tune a 148 gtl the philipiens model?

 

[TheJerk]

Chances are, if that's a typical fiberglass antenna; trading up to a 1000/5000 will make a pretty good difference. Have you checked the SWR on your current antenna??

Look on cbtricks and see if there are any instructions for adjust your radio...they sometimes have written directions.

 

[texaslandmusic]

i have my swr set at 1:1 and i only get about 2 to 3 miles up the road i need to get a farther reach

 

[TheJerk]

That 148 should talk further than that...its more/less a Cobra 29 with sidebands.

Where do you have the antenna mounted? Is it above the body, or on a mirror?

 

[texaslandmusic]

it is a mag mount i got from radio shack so idk what is going on here. i have it mounted on top of my 2000 nissan xterra

 

[TheJerk]

Have you checked the power output of the radio?

 

[texaslandmusic]

not yet how do i check that

 

[TheJerk]

You would need a power meter...radio shack sells a combination SWR/power meter that works well for the money. Or you could find a local shop and have the radio checked out...should be a couple shops near Houston...

Almost sounds like the radio isn't operating optimally...even with a simple fiberglass antenna, you should be doing better than two miles with a 148gtl.

 

[texaslandmusic]

what is it suppose to put out?

 

[TheJerk]

Realistically, probably a dead key of 5 to 8 watts and a swing of probably around 15 to 20 when modulated (mic is talked into)...it should have a 1969 final in it. Most shops will tell you they are getting a lot more than that, but they have loose meters that report "feel good" watts!

If you want to mail it to a good shop, PM me...there's a guy in Carlilse, PA you can call (and check out on the web as well) that has done good work and is highly regarded. You could quiz him and see what he has to say...

 

[TheJerk]

I should qualify my one statement, that antenna you have, mounted in the center of the roof with a 1:1 SWR, should perform fairly well. A Wilson 1000/5000 could probably do better as they tend to be more efficient...but that's hard to say without being able to do a before and after (which would mean buying the antenna to test).