S10 antenna loc. suggestions

[barefoothank]

I have an '03 S10, 4 door and looking for ideas where to put antenna. I'm interested in the 102, the Sirio 5000 and the 10k.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thank you
hank

[silvereagle1]

Sirio 5000 through the roof. Unibit provides A very tight fit. 5/8 hole saw too large for the rubber seal to seat. I know from experience. Unibit cost about $40.00 but worth the cost. Just my personal preference. It also folds down Or you can unscrew the base and use a weather cap.

[southwind]

Sirio 5000 through the roof. Unibit provides A very tight fit. 5/8 hole saw too large for the rubber seal to seat. I know from experience. Unibit cost about $40.00 but worth the cost. Just my personal preference. It also folds down Or you can unscrew the base and use a weather cap.

Great suggestion, nothing I can add, unless your wanting best location? I would shoot for the very CENTER for best radiation, JMHO. Good luck and good evening.

[MDYoungblood]

I'm a fan of a 102" whip. The center of the roof is good for loaded antennas like the Sirio Performer (longest of the base loaded antennas) or Wilson 1000/5000 (both are 62" long). I lean toward the 102 because it is the most rugged antenna, Baltimore has a lot of tree lined streets, the weak link is the mount. This is mine, been on the truck since 2006,
cllck the pic to enlarge
Yes it is a little directional to the right front, (point and shoot skip), but not that noticeable and in using a 3/8 24 thread mount you can have your choice of antennas. The center pic is a 7ft Skipshooter (Antron model) antenna.

3's

Greg

[MDYoungblood]

I forgot to mention that you will hear less banging and clanging in that rearward location compared to the roof.

3's

Greg

[WK2]

I went through 3 different antennas on my '08 H3 before I came to the conclusion that I should have started out with my current set up of the HD mount, 6" GP Riser and 102 whip. I could have saved myself a lot of heartache, pain and money. Anyway I hope that you find what you are looking for in a antenna.

[1206FL]

Get a sirio 5000 and a Breedlove mount. They work well together and on that truck the near the rear of the roof at about 1ft from the back end place antenna. This is where a mag mount can come in handy to get the sweet spot found. Most of the time I have seen it be a bit forward or back of dead center. Use good coax and connectors as well.

[Buzzweiser]

I have to agree with MD on this one, go with the 102" whip. Nothing else compares. If it were me though I'd mount it on the passenger side of the truck instead of drivers side just because of drive-thru windows and such as many just have an overhang instead of a car-port style, at least that's how they are in Ohio, Arby's being the exception. ATM's here also usually have a height limit much the same way as the fast food places. On the passenger side they don't hit near as much. Those whip risers are nice as well, makes matching a cinch and they make the antenna slightly wider in bandwidth. All the antenna's you mentioned are good antenna's and will serve you well.

[MDYoungblood]

I have to agree with MD on this one, go with the 102" whip. Nothing else compares. If it were me though I'd mount it on the passenger side of the truck instead of drivers side just because of drive-thru windows and such as many just have an overhang instead of a car-port style, at least that's how they are in Ohio, Arby's being the exception. ATM's here also usually have a height limit much the same way as the fast food places. On the passenger side they don't hit near as much. Those whip risers are nice as well, makes matching a cinch and they make the antenna slightly wider in bandwidth. All the antenna's you mentioned are good antenna's and will serve you well.

LOL, I don't have that problem, if the cab fits under it I don't care what the antenna takes out. You alto hear me in parking garages, haven't broke one off yet but bent quite a few. Lost a couple of the little corona ball but you can get them in any junk yard.

3's

Greg

[Deleted User 14541]

Are you ok with a hard roof mount? You'll have to pull the headliner and drill a hole but if you want max performance the roof is the place for it. Not having coax exposed to the elements is a plus too. You'll have to do some testing to find the best location on the roof before you drill. Dead center usually don't tune that we'll unless you fashion some kind of matching device at the feed point.

The 102 is a great antenna and you can buy a whip adjuster to make it tunable. The Predator 10k is a good performer on the roof but if you are mounting the antenna to the bed use something else. If mounting to the bed rail the 102 or something top loaded gets my vote. The base loaded sirio will not work too hot anywhere but the roof. I may be wrong but I don't think the sirio mount will accept other antennas with a 3/8-24 thread so you might look into that if you ever want to experiment with different antennas.

[Buzzweiser]

I remember the first time I went thru the beer cave with my 102" whip back in 1980. Took out 3 banks of lights and a bud banner........lol. They banned me from the beer cave in my truck.

[southwind]

I'm seeing first hand history repeating it'self. Correct me if I'm wrong, my first radio was a Heathkit(forgot model) I believe it had 3 plug in crystals on the front, and guess what choice I had for antenna, you guessed it, the old famous 102" stainless whip.To much happened since 1961 or 1962, my memorys fading, but the 102" is here to stay. Just my plug, Good evening.

[barefoothank]

Ok I want to Thank everyone for your input! The 102 looks like the way to go I just need to bone up on mounts, I've already read somewhere that ball mounts aren't made well these days.
Thank you
hank

[MDYoungblood]

Look at the "Hustler" ball, that's what mine is.

3's

Greg

[WK2]

We all always saying the Antenna, Mount, Connectors and Cable are the most important part of your set up so this is just my opinion and mine alone. I would use the G. P. Full mount kit that comes with the Heavy Duty Bracket, Heavy Duty Mount, 6" Riser and add your choice of 102" Stainless Whip from a different Vendor. I hope that helps.

[Buzzweiser]

I used a ball mount 1 time and 1 time only. I switched to a heavy duty mirror mount and a large HD puck and mounted mine inside the stake hole on my truck. Never ever had an issue with the mount or antenna. As a matter of fact 30+ years later I still use that same exact original mount on my van. Had the 102" on there mounted to the tire carrier on the back till the local law told me to take it off (the 102, they saw it hit a traffic light) and now have ran several different antennas on it since then. Although I moved it to the solid rail luggage rack on top and mounted it. Broke off a couple Firestiks on that mount from tree limbs so I went to a K40plus trucker and also the Sirio 5000 trucker I currently have on there due to the smaller more flexible whips but they hit stuff just as much. That mount has never broken. Not a twist or bend in it what-so-ever. I have changed the insulators a few times from weather wear but that's it. BTW the firestiks broke off at the 3/8 -24 mounting point so I know the mount took some shock.

[barefoothank]

Oakie doakie finally got something rigged up, I wanted to get going on this so for now a rat shack mirror mount was used. Eventually it will be replaced. Decided on the 102 since I'm running barefoot but it's going to need a little tweaking as the swr's are about 1.4 on 1 and 1.7 on 40. Maybe I'll add grounding to the whole mount and not just the shack part of it.
ANy way Thank you to all that helped out
hank
http://postimg.org/gallery/1q80qhazo/

[Tioga23p]

I really like that. I'm going to look at my Tacoma and see how I can implement something like what you've done.

Is that silicone caulking along the edge of the square tubing? To prevent water ingress?

Great job!

-- Sunday, 23 August 2015, 18:33 PM --

Oh, and nice looking truck! You really keep it up. I love pride in ownership.

[barefoothank]

Thank you Dave! I was concerned drilling through the body and there was a slight bump at the top that pushed the tubing out a little so yes I caulked it up to try and help with the moisture. Now another way to go is like this guy did here http://www.cbradiotalk.com/vi ... 20&t=46968 and that way you could run a lot better SWR"S hopefully. My truck is a 2003 S10 Z5 I bought last year with 50K, it does great on the ice and snow but has a bad miss to it so one of these days I'll swap the spark plug wires and see if that helps. Anyway Thank you
hank

[Tioga23p]

Parenthetically speaking, regarding the dead miss, in the mean time, you might try running a bottle of Chevron Techron Concentrate Plus or Gumout Regane through a tank of gas and see if that helps. If the prior owner had been using cheap gas, then it might have a carbon buildup in one or more combustion chambers, and both of these products have polyetheramines (PAE) as their active ingredient. PAE will actively remove carbon and other debris from the combustion chambers and fuel injectors.

Alternatively, if it's a stuck lifter or piston ring that isn't sealing, BG109 or Justice Brothers Engine Tune-up will clean those areas.

Just some other ideas, FWIW.

Dave

End parentheses!