Installing Connex 3300hp in pickup truck....?

[dieselpaws]

I am putting my Connex 3300 in my pickup truck. I had it installed in a Freightliner so I have a Wilson 5000 trucker and 18' coax sitting at the house but I probably want to save that stuff for another big truck install in the near future.

I am choosing between:
buying another Wilson 5000 (what model??) and putting it opposite my AM/FM radio antenna using one of those mounts that go between the hood and fender.
OR
getting a 102/108" steel whip and I am not sure about placement or anything.

If I get the wilson 5000 what model do I want? I have read the coil has to reach above cab which would be hard with where i want to put it. Also would i have to run the stock whip or could I put in a long whip? Do I want a model with the stainless shaft before the loading coil, or the kind where the loading coil attaches straight to the mount?

If I get a 108" steel whip what brand and placement is best?

I want to put the radio on the cab ceiling between sun visors. Should I buy a length of coax that is "just long enough" or is there a set length that is optimal (like 18' length for a big truck) and just hide the excess coax?

Should I worry about grounding out the truck? (cab/bed to frame, fenders to motor, adding ground from antenna mount?)

Finally, can someone recommend an online cb shop that will sell me the whole setup? (Antenna, mount, and coax)

Thanks!!

I am new here sorry if this is in the wrong section.

[linx]

If it were me, I would find a way to mount the antenna as high as possible, preferably above the cab. Wilson 1000 and 5000's are good magnet mount antennas and you can put them on top of the cab for great performance. Another option, which may be cheaper for you, is to get a tri-mag mount and put your existing Wilson 5000 trucker on that mag mount...run some coax and you are good to go. The 108" whip is great, but again, you want it as high as possible, and this is where the dilemma is, as most folks don't want 9 ft of antenna above their vehicle.

As far as grounding, I would just try to install the radio first, and if there's no issues with noise (ie, fuel pump) then I wouldn't worry about additional grounding. The additional grounding really helps out more when running higher amounts of RF power.

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Lastly, welcome to the forum!

[dieselpaws]

Thanks a lot. I have seen quite a few trucks with antennas mounted opposite the am/fm radio antenna. I guess this is a bad spot for performance because it would be so hard to get the loading coil of a wilson antenna above the cab. I have read the only good spots are on top of the cab or far away from the cab. If I went a little farther up along the hood toward the front of the truck would this be far enough from the cab? I don't know anything about the 108" whips but does the base of these have to be above the cab as well? I know for the Wilsons you can get the Trucker-style stainless shafts for between the mount and the loading coil (the black part that says Wilson 5000 right? I am using the right word?)...but how would you accomplish this same thing with the 108" whips without mounting on or above cab?
So you are saying I shouldn't have to worry about grounding the truck out or adding a ground from the antenna mount because I am not installing a big enough radio? It is just a regular old 3300hp, "peaked and tuned".
Thanks for the help.

[dieselpaws]

I have heard 108" whip will out perform wilson 5000..... what is best placement on pickup truck? On top of headache rack would be great but then it will be taller than a tractor trailer... Do i have to have base of whip above truck?? What is best 108" whip setup?

['Doc]

The loading coil above the surrounding metal is a good idea, but it isn't an absolute requirement. It deals with how any close things, especially metal ones, affect the electrical field that coil produces when it's working correctly. Too much 'stuff' too close can change the characteristics of that loading coil, make it seem the wrong 'size' to work right. Most times, if you move that loading coil in one direction or another, you change how it's being affected which may or may not help things. Some of that can be adjusted for when the antenna is tuned (that's part of what tuning is about, right?).
So what does all that mean? It means that mounting that antenna like the truck's radio antenna is mounted on a fender, can certainly work, and work well. It may not be absolutely 'perfect', but so what, it'll work. Try it, see what happens.
{The next part is the 'same old story' you've probably heard before, skip it if you want.}
Feed line lengths, that's a 'wormy' subject.
To simplify it as much as possible, if the antenna is resonant and correctly impedance matched (low SWR), then the length of feed line makes no difference at all. It's really that simple. Then, getting that antenna tuned correctly (resonant and correctly impedance matched) isn't always that simple.
There isn't any "plug-n-play" antennas except with lot's and lot's of luck. There ain't no "one size fit's all" antennas just like there ain't no "one size fit's all" shoes. The too little, just right, too big thingy always comes in to play. It only amounts to just how 'picky' you are about something 'fitting' right. The best way of doing it is to correctly tune the antenna then use whatever length of feed line it takes to connect that antenna to the radio. Not doing it that way means that there's a compromise being made, and that means some sort of losses. The 'easiest' way is seldom the 'best' way.
- 'Doc

[radiokahoona]

a 108 whip will out perform all other mobile antenna's period. if you have a back rack mount one on there, i had one mounted on a toolbox in the back of my truck, any mobile antenna with a loading coil is a compromise to the 1/4 wave 108 whip.
mfj sells a 108 whip that is 108 long with out a spring and still flexable enough when hitting overhead objects, be sure to ground the body to frame well, all 4 corners of bed to frame, tool box or back rack to body e.t.c, google mobile grounding, there is plenty of information out there. if you decide on the 108 you wont be sorry, kick butt transmit and receive