Tuning duals is only really an option if they are at least 108" apart, which is not going to happen on either side of a truck bed. Consider duals a looks-only thing. You'll get much better performance with a single roof-mount. If you insist on using duals, only run signal to one. Duals that are less than 8'6" apart will degrade signal considerably.

Green Machine has it spot on in his pic. The only thing he could do better is to drill the roof and hard-mount it, but unless you're a hardcore skipshooter looking to squeeze the last little bit out of your setup, don't worry about it. I'm doing the same exact thing as Green Machine - magnet mount Wilson 1000 on the roof. It really talks.

It all boils down to if you want it to look good or sound good. A roof-mount magnet is almost as good as it gets, and it has zero drawbacks except paint abrasion. There is no reason not to do it just like Green Machine did, and it will provide an EXCELLENT ground plane which is great for both receiving and transmitting.

 

alrighty then. I just might put the duals up and run it only to one...for now. On his roof mount how tall is that whip? I wouldnt want it too tall where it hits trees and overpasses

 

It has no chance of hitting overpasses. Its about 4', so at most it could only be about 9-10' off the ground. The only time I find a problem with mine is in parking garages, and then I just un-magnet it and let it hang down in the bed.

 

Then that really makes it seem worth it. Im going to Fry's today (my gf owes me a birthday present) so I might pick up one. Thanks buddy.

 

well you could have a long whip if it was me i would get a bracket for the top of the tool box for a ball mount and a 18 foot coax will do pretty good. i have one of those on my hunting truck and can talk about 15-20 miles without a linear. but on my everyday truck i have two permant mount antenna one for two way and one for cb a two way shop can put a permant one on for about 70 including antenna and coax which they tune it and every thing and it will talk further than a long whip but if you dont want holes in your roof i would go with a long whip and if your gonna put a linear make sure it is a texas star or fat boy

 

my whip is 5 1/2 feet if i remember right. i hit the ocasional low-hanging tree or if i go through a drive-thru but it doesnt bother me at all. we dont have any parking garages in this town and i dont even come close to overpasses. if im wheeling and i need to go under something (situation hasnt even come up yet) it takes 2 seconds to jump out and pull it off. i went with the mag mount because i didnt want to drill holes in my truck. the whole antenna (base and whip) cost less than $80 plus $7 to have it tuned. i dont know what my exact range is but the guy at the cb store said with my radio (cobra 19 from wal-mart) i can expect about 7-10 miles.

 

what does tuning do? And how would you do it? I just got my 4ft whip from Frys.

 

I had a 8 or 10ft steel whip antenna in the same place that I have the one in the picture now... the one I have now is a 6ft fiberglass... but anyway the steel whip never hit anything on the road... and even if it is 8ft that puts it like 6ft above the cab... If you have it mounted on the bed or lower with a spring mount then you don't have to worry about trees or any thing because it just bends out of the way...

 

When you key the mic, the length of the antenna is partly responsible for how it generates the wave. The amount of signal reflected back is partly a function of how well the antenna makes the wave, so you put a thing called an SWR (standing wave ratio) meter on it to test. High SWRs are bad and cut down on transmitting distance big time, and in extreme situations can damage the amplifier in the radio. In most stock radios with little amps, you only really risk poor transmission.

Anyway, you put the meter on, test, then trim length off the antenna until you minimize the SWR. Huge benefits in transmitting distance and clarity.

 

idk about all the workings and stuff like every1 else but i have mine mounted in the steel thing that my tonno cover rolls down on. i just took out a bolt on each side of the thing and slipped the whips on and bolted it down.