102" vs Wilson 1000

[johnboy]

What do you all think of mounting a 102" on the back pumper of a dodge dually pickup truck? I am running a wilson 1000 mag mount now. I was thinking of going With a predator10k or a 102 but i cant Mount that 102 on top of the truck.

[cowboyfan]

What do you all think of mounting a 102" on the back pumper of a dodge dually pickup truck? I am running a wilson 1000 mag mount now. I was thinking of going With a predator10k or a 102 but i cant Mount that 102 on top of the truck.

I run my 102 off the bedrail behind the rear glass and it tunes great, I could not get the 10k to tune in the same location you would probably need to make a riser to get the 10k a little higher if you want to run it in that location, the 102 would probably be ok off the rear bumper but not the 10k.

[johnboy]

I was thinking of the 10k with a mag mount off the roof of make a mount to mount it across the bed rails behind the cab. Or the 102 behind the cab or rear bumper. I dont care about smacking things unless it is a mag mount on the roof....I just am nervous it will rip off......

[cowboyfan]

I was thinking of the 10k with a mag mount off the roof of make a mount to mount it across the bed rails behind the cab. Or the 102 behind the cab or rear bumper. I dont care about smacking things unless it is a mag mount on the roof....I just am nervous it will rip off......

my 10k was great on a mag mount, but for me I liked to be able to hide the coax and ran a mount for my antenna behind the cab, on the mag mount just make sure and clean under them often, I ended up with a little rust on 2 vehicles.

[MSG Robin-Sage]

Well here are some serious problems when you put that 102 inch whip on your vehicle.
#1 You can no longer drive through the banks drive thru ATM machine.
#2 You can no longer use McDonald's ,Hardees, Taco Bell or Burger King drive thru you have to go to Wendy's where they have no canopy
#3 They hit all the low tree branches

#1 is 100% true, lol.
#2 if you mag mount in the center of the car, you can hang to the right in the drive thru's, lol. or you an put it on your right back bumper...always a good option.
#3 no doubt about that.

I drive a F250, and have a full 27" single coil pred 10k on top of the truck. Overall height is like 16 ft. I have it in the center of the truck. No problems with drive thrus, and you learn to adapt to the branches. I can look from 200 yards away and tell if I am going to hit a branch, and there's lots of trees in TN. Bottom line, is you learn to adapt. Performance is #1 in my book. Practicality is #2

Linx, I drive an F350 and use a Pred 10K 27" but my antenna alone is well over 6 feet closer to 8, now I have to measure it....... Any way I never have trouble at the drive thrus I knock out lights some times ..... well all the time but no no problems at the drive thru......... LOL

[white devil]

I have the W1000 mag mount sitting on top of my Dodge. Using the bumper for the 102" seems like a good location (gets overall height down) until you start opening and closing the tailgate. I have a Ranch Hand bumper on the rear so I can drill and mount anything into it to last forever. I need some help with this picture. Ideas? Thanks.

[copyguy]

What do you all think of mounting a 102" on the back pumper of a dodge dually pickup truck? I am running a wilson 1000 mag mount now. I was thinking of going With a predator10k or a 102 but i cant Mount that 102 on top of the truck.

I ran my 102" for a while off the back bumper of my Colorado, and found it worked well for close range, but someone out 10 miles would get lost if I turned a corner. It was very directional. I have been much happier with it closer to the center of the vehicle.

[linx]

Well here are some serious problems when you put that 102 inch whip on your vehicle.
#1 You can no longer drive through the banks drive thru ATM machine.
#2 You can no longer use McDonald's ,Hardees, Taco Bell or Burger King drive thru you have to go to Wendy's where they have no canopy
#3 They hit all the low tree branches

#1 is 100% true, lol.
#2 if you mag mount in the center of the car, you can hang to the right in the drive thru's, lol. or you an put it on your right back bumper...always a good option.
#3 no doubt about that.

I drive a F250, and have a full 27" single coil pred 10k on top of the truck. Overall height is like 16 ft. I have it in the center of the truck. No problems with drive thrus, and you learn to adapt to the branches. I can look from 200 yards away and tell if I am going to hit a branch, and there's lots of trees in TN. Bottom line, is you learn to adapt. Performance is #1 in my book. Practicality is #2

Linx, I drive an F350 and use a Pred 10K 27" but my antenna alone is well over 6 feet closer to 8, now I have to measure it....... Any way I never have trouble at the drive thrus I knock out lights some times ..... well all the time but no no problems at the drive thru......... LOL

MSG, Mine's 8 ft too. 16 ft was overall height mag mounted on the top of my truck, lol. I was afraid to hit stuff at first, but this thing has taken a beating and still looks new. I just go with it now.

[Roper]

What do you all think of mounting a 102" on the back pumper of a dodge dually pickup truck? I am running a wilson 1000 mag mount now. I was thinking of going With a predator10k or a 102 but i cant Mount that 102 on top of the truck.

On my 08 Silverado dually I have mine mounted in the center of my toolbox but the back bumper probably won't be bad either you might be a little directional though

[Mentor3006]

Threadumus resurectumus! Let this thread rise from the dead!

I still have the 102 that was on my F150, that specific one is in my shed waiting for the same truck to have the engine swap completed, I am working at a glacial pace though...

My other 102 is fender mounted drivers front corner on my 93 Econoline 250 camper van. I have the typical 6" barrel spring, No real adjustment to SWR except the corona ball popped off the end of this one years ago. This was the 102 that was on my Jeep back in the mid 90s, and on my Baja Bug back in the late 80s... So it is older than sin...

I have a Wilson 1000 on my SUV, and I have matching radio rigs, President McKinley II FCC with President DigiMike in both rigs. I have parked both on my street in front of my house, after my neighbors trimmed back their obnoxious trees and tested.

Even with the directionality of the 102 configuration folks in my radio club on the WEAK side of the RF bubble say I am louder and clearer with the 102.

And don't get me wrong, the WIlson 1000 is no slouch of an antenna, but it is super hard to beat performance wise, the big stainless steel whip.

Someone early in this thread reposted what I had noted with my 102. Travelling down the interstate in my pickup at 75MPH, at the time I had a tool box mount that was ground strapped to the truck chassis, my passenger ran SWR on channels 1, 20, and 40 for me as I drove, and while there was a change in SWR, it was insignificant, like going from a 1.0 or well imperceptible nudge off of 1.0 to 1.2... Not even worth mentioning...

That was with my old Radio Shack SWR / Power meter.

We repeated this same test with that passengers Daiwa meter, same results.

There are problems with a 102, or any tall antenna for that matter, and that is of course overhead obstacles. The 102 does flex a LOT and the noise it makes when it contacts overhead obstacles like tree braches is attention getting! There is not a drive through near me that doesn't cringe as I come through, Sonic in particular hates me...

Yes, from time to time I have considered antennas such as the Predator 10K, and other twisty corkscrew looking gizmos, but from my experience anyway, there seems to be zero advantage to them VS a 102. They are still too tall for a drive through, they are a LOT easier to damage, and performance isn't any better at any power level I am willing to do. Maybe if you are running Kilowatts of power it might stand up better, I don't see how though...

[De_Wildfire]

I remember way back in the day there were many running the 102 inch whip. They were the best. I settled for the Wilson 1000 mag mount on the trunk and threw it in the trunk when we were at shopping centers. Theft was big back then with CB radios.

[Stoneman]

I used the 102'' WHIP FOR AWHILE BACK IN THE 90'S, always hated going in the bank drive thru, also they went high on swr's on me, Loved the Wilson 1000..Still use one today..

[Windwalker]

The Wilson 1000 will burn out raising the swr so look out.
A 102 whip is tried and true. The whip is high power and flexible.
I currently run a magnet mount that I changed the coax wire to some quality high power coax.
Works like a charm with a great swr !

[De_Wildfire]

Which magnet mount do you use? The Wilson mount?

[443 Arizona]

i have a roof mounted whip on a lifted truck,
yes i hit branches and low wires, bridges, etc. but the difference in radio and signal performance is worth it.
output signal is strong and 360*, receive is exceptional,
i have a short string with a hook to tie it back when needed, yes the SWR's come up but it still works fine.
the overhead lines from the tramway train downtown has caused me to stop , jump out and tie it back. takes all of about 10 seconds. i have used various ant's and i believe the 102 is the best. second best would be a base-loaded wilson on your roof. the roof is the best position for any ant.

[MDYoungblood]

As with any antenna, location dictates the length.

3's

Greg

[Lost Ram]

Old post but I will bite!!! I have had many big mag mounts and bolted on base loaded antennas. They have their uses and fulfill a need when you cannot run a 102" whip. I have never had a shorter antenna out perform a 102" whip unless it was just off the dead side if corner mounted on the vehicle but once turned that was not the case. Years ago I bought a used 1993(?) Chrysler New Yorker 4DR for a gas sipper option when the fuel prices when up in the later 2000's or so. I got it for cheap as the owners did pay the bill at the shop I worked at. So, I paid the $300 repair bill and the fees for the shop owners to get the title in their name to let me buy it. I drilled a hole dead center of the roof and backed it up with an old skill saw blade as the roof metal was thin. That was one heck of a talker!!!!! Likely just as good a my truck with dual 102's off the mirrors. (yes, properly grounded and bonded). The RCI 2970N4 was loving that set up and so was I, even ran LMR400 just for giggles, LOL.

[Monk]

I ran a 102 on the mirror of my Kenworth T600.
It made a big WANG noise when hitting the overpasses.
Had a permanent bend in it about 1 1/2 foot from the top.

[De_Wildfire]

I remember back in the day, a long time ago when there wasn't any internet, people were running around with 102 inch whips and some of them were bent over. The top part of the whip hooked to a little bracket on the drivers side door. I guess they weren't using them at the time. I thought that was a little strange unless that was their "low profile" while not in use at the time.

[TheCBDoctor]

102" of stainless steel is a true 1/4 wave antenna. The better the ground the better the performance. Drive up to the ocean and put a chain on the Malibu and toss the other end in the water. You'll get a directional antenna, but the increase in gain is incredible in one direction.

Any base loaded antenna is a compromise between performance and practicality. Out of all the base loaded antennas Wilson is the best. If you performed the same test, you would not see the same gain as the 102" whip.

Watch out for overpasses,