Mag mount recommendation?

[Cruiseomatic]

Looking for a new mag mount antenna that has a stinger or total length of 40" and below. I know theres wilson, K40, couple cheap knock offs, Etc... But what is a good one? I don't want the cheapest but I don't want the most expensive either. Looking to run a little extra later on so it should be able to handle at 500. Not looking to do more than 2-ish.
Thanks. I gave rebuilding my two little wills some thought and I came to the conclusion it would be best to retire them for now and get something that might be better and keep at least the good one as a backup.

And ALOT of these antennas look like Wilson knock offs. Stryker, Tram, Etc... And one thing I've also noticed is, NONE of them list the coax shielding percentage.

And no hams with their .3 cents worth of getting a ticket and all that please. If I wanted to get it, Its a matter of making a phone call and paying $15.
Thanks.

 

[sdeeter19555]

The only one that short would be a Little Wil.

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[cmdrwill]

The Comtelco A1801AH-27, or Larsen NMO-27.

 

[swen_out_west]

For your limit the little wil' is the way to go.

Honestly, the hassle of the extra stinger length is worth the Wilson 1000, IMO. My buddy has a little wil' and although it is probably, IMO, the best small mag mount you can get. That extra length makes a big difference.

Which BTW, I got talked into a Wilson 5000 for my second truck. Not worth the extra money, IMO. I should have trusted the write up by Wilson themselves saying that the only real difference between the 1000 and 5000 is power handling.

But of course, I fell for everyone around here having to have the best. The whole 'Mine is bigger than yours'. I see no noticeable difference in performance and I never, ever plan on running more than 15 watts, yet alone 1000.

 

[Cruiseomatic]

Come to find out, The little will coax is a single solid core center conductor. how is the 1000? I would assume its RG8X at minimum. My working little will does GREAT for only having 12-15 watts pushed through it. Kinda don't know what to do at this point.
While EVERYONE loves the 1000, I can't really find any coax specs on it and once barjan bought them, The quality got left behind. Like cobra. Back in the day, A cobra radio with a willson antenna was a kickin' combo. Not now.

 

[swen_out_west]

Yes, sad to say the 1000 out of the box is not rg-8, but it is rg-58 A/U which is stranded center core. That's really the only difference of the 5000 using rg-8x to the 1000 which allows for different power handling requirements.

The difference of .11 db is really insignificant. Properly tuned and a super tuned receiver has more bearing than that . The fact that my truck is a 12+ mile truck is fine with me. Get up on a hill during skip and I can reach coast to coast. albeit I am a mud duck since I don't run an amp. Funny how back in the day we were happy with 5 miles and now we keep digging for an extra 1/4 mile.

However, I was fortunate in that my girlfriends son pinched the cable pretty bad in the window while using it on his car and I just replaced it with some rg-8 I had. Real easy fix.

 

[Cruiseomatic]

Thats what I'm thinking of doing with both my little wills. The one performs great and exceeds my expectations pretty much so far with the crappy coax it has and only about 12 watts. Actually, I have one now I'm about to break down and inspect. The working one is still on my truck now but its pouring so I'm not about to go get it, Lol. The 1000 may be the greatest but at twice the length and has the same coax basically as the little will does, I think since I've got the next two days off and some good 18' RG8X mini on hand, I'll put some better stuff on them. What I REALLY want to do is, Put a firestik on a mag mount with a short spring for give when contacting overhead items and I know it will. But, Those "universal" mag mounts have some of the crappiest coax I have ever seen. Actually a waste of copper.
Still running ideas around. Hell, I just dropped $400 on radios this past week. and that was on about 5.

 

[swen_out_west]

Still running ideas around. Hell, I just dropped $400 on radios this past week. and that was on about 5.

It's addictive lol. My girlfriends son can't understand how I spend so much on what he calls a dead technology. I have a bank account specifically set aside for my next CB system which is more than what you paid for 5.

The problem nowadays with it being Die-Hards and enthusiasts is that going to Walmart and buying that cheap $30 radio with the 18" $20 antenna that can't get below 2.1 VSWR will get you laughed of the air, lol.

 

[swen_out_west]

If the little wil' is working for you, that's great. It's definitely a heck a performer for being little. Hey, it's all about your needs. I just need that extra length of stinger.

Problem I have is that there are only 4 CB'rs within 5 miles of me, whereas there are 30+ in the city over 10 miles away. Plus, that town is the commercial center for the valley so I drive between the two everyday.

 

[Cruiseomatic]

It would. Because you wasted $20. The little cobra is fine for what it is. Its that crap antenna they have.... They DO work, to a point. I ran one for a AM/FM RX antenna on my truck for a long time. Either it worked or the factory coax had very high loss shielding. Its not "dead" technology. Its what paved the way for what they have now. I have the same problem. I have to go to work to talk to others on the radio. About 15 road miles away. While it currently works for me, I'm afraid if I put 200 into it, it'll do it in. At 63", I would HOPE it works "better" but its not always about physical length. Its about electrical length that counts.

 

[swen_out_west]

Yes and no.

The wilson 1000 will work better, just for the fact that it has 20" more of exposed stinger. Of course this is just secondhand info. Is it worth it for the little extra, I don't know. The guy that runs it stays in town so it's hard to tell and he's hardly ever on air. I've never done a firsthand comparison. Ie: run it for a week and see how it performs compared to the 1000.

On the other side of the page, altogether, I have a Firestick installed on my prospecting truck. When I get off the highway I put the 7 foot on there, versus the 4 foot for highway That thing is a performer.

It's almost like having a 102" + spring whip. Even though that too is secondhand info, since I have never run a 102" whip. Seldom you even see anybody with one nowadays. My next antenna is actually going to be a mr. coily punisher. Not to be used where there is any chance of hitting an overhead.

 

[Cruiseomatic]

I wish I got the 7 foot. But, I wanted ones with tunable tips, Not cut to length. I think longest they make the FS2 is 5. And all I could get was 4. Working on my dead little will now. The nut contacting the coil to mast stud was loose..... And the white gunk had failed.... Still disassembling.

 

[Cruiseomatic]

Everything is covered in a white powder....

 

[Cruiseomatic]

Its sad when the loading coil is thicker than the coax feeding it. It seriously is. Nice coil, 18, Maybe 22 ga center coax.....Not sure it could even handle 300..... Going to see if it'll work for now. If not, Then I'll put something heavier on.

 

[Cruiseomatic]

Well, After EVERYTHING has been cleaned, Electric greased, Torque tightened, Re-soldered the small matching network, and re-assembled, It works! Well, So far. My original from '08 is next sometime tomorrow maybe. It has NEVER been opened. It will be interesting. Would still rather find a way to hard mount a firestik to momma bears car instead of this thing but the search continues.

 

[sdeeter19555]

For your limit the little wil' is the way to go.

Honestly, the hassle of the extra stinger length is worth the Wilson 1000, IMO. My buddy has a little wil' and although it is probably, IMO, the best small mag mount you can get. That extra length makes a big difference.

Which BTW, I got talked into a Wilson 5000 for my second truck. Not worth the extra money, IMO. I should have trusted the write up by Wilson themselves saying that the only real difference between the 1000 and 5000 is power handling.

But of course, I fell for everyone around here having to have the best. The whole 'Mine is bigger than yours'. I see no noticeable difference in performance and I never, ever plan on running more than 15 watts, yet alone 1000.

My 5000 was an improvement over my 1000. It was quieter, slightly better receive, and even transmit seemed better. Was it worth the extra cost? For me it was as I used it for travel.

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[sdeeter19555]

My 5000 was an improvement over my 1000. It was quieter, slightly better receive, and even transmit seemed better. Was it worth the extra cost? For me it was as I used it for travel.

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I should add this was a through-roof mount, simply changing the load and whip for load and whip, same mount and coax. There was a marked improvement with the 5000.

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[FiveFilter]

On the topic of shorty antennas, I've been really pleased with the performance of a 35-inch K30 when I'm in smaller cars. I only use CB for long road trips, so I use only mag-mount antennas and remove them when I'm not on the big roads. The K30 has saved me many times from being stuck in traffic that I was able to avoid by listening to the truckers giving each other advice about wrecks, etc. I've got longer mag-mount antennas for bigger vehicles, but the K30 fits the bill in the small cars with tiny trunks for storage.

 

[Cruiseomatic]

I'd be thrilled with my little will's if the coax was a little better. I have one that works great still but needs re-built after 9 years of service and the other I just did saw hardly any service life, for some reason, Is VERY narrow. Thinking its missing a washer under the coil end that the star washer bites down on when you tighten the top nut. Not getting a good connection. When I tear the other one down I'll look. Funny thing is, 14 gauge coil, But some THIN coax feeding it. Want to replace it on both actually. Not sure if RG8X mini would be to big or not.

 

[jonwienke]

Get the high-power base with the heavier coax, and then the standard power coil. It's stupid to have a 14-gauge coil fed by 20-gauge coax.