Wlison Trucker Antenna

[bill mudd]

well the company replaced (under warranty) my antenna and it works like new....am I the ONLY soul thats had one fail?
bill
ps - the bars would actually drop when I plugged it in before

 

[Rob_Davis]

Re: Wison Trucker Antenna

the bars would actually drop when I plugged it in before

What bars?

In what way did the antenna fail?

Did Wilson give you any hassle about it, or did they handle it well?

Did you have to pay for shipping, or did they, or were you allowed to simply trade it in at a local dealer?

I was planning on getting a Wilson antenna, so I am interested in hearing how well they live up to their guarantee.

 

[bill mudd]

Should have elaborated - the bars on my cell indicating an improved signal would GO DOWN when I plugged it in - contrary to how it was working originally.
They didnt ask any questions, sent me a new one free of shipping - and when I plugged it in today the reception was back up and working....I thought an antenna was bulletproof, was I wrong.
What fooled me was that perhaps it was ruined from lightening, thats all I could figure on.
BY the way Wilson suggests running a ground wire from one of the antennas' little metal sprears to a metal base, grounding it can prevent a failure....hmmmm any thoughts on this?

 

[Rob_Davis]

I take it you are using the magnetic model?

 

[Steve Miller]

I have had one physically fail...
I was placing Justin Teague's mag mount Wilson on the chase jeep and decided to reposition it. I grabbed the load located right above the base and gave it a slight tilt to release it from the top of the car. The whip came off and where the antenna would normally screw together, the threaded male end of the whip sheared off in the female load-side.
I have the same antenna, only mine is a year older, and have never had a problem with it.
Sorry Justin!

 

[Rob_Davis]

What kind of signal improvements are you guys seeing with the Wilson?

I plan to hole mount mine for better ground plane performance. Of course that means it won't be manipulated as much as a mag mount. But likewise, it also makes it a bigger disaster if it breaks!

 

[John Erwin]

What kind of signal improvements are you guys seeing with the Wilson?

I plan to hole mount mine for better ground plane performance. Of course that means it won't be manipulated as much as a mag mount. But likewise, it also makes it a bigger disaster if it breaks!

I'm using the NMO mount model and have found a vast improvement over no external antenna at all - estimated to be around 50% increase in signal in some cases.

 

[John Diel]

I've got the shorter version of the trucker antenna. So far, I haven't had any issues with it and have seen much improved performance opposed to no antenna or a cheap 5dbi mag mount.

Areas where I wasn't getting signal, I now get strong to medium signal. Next on my list is the extended trucker (or similar) antenna and a 3 watt amplifier. With that set up I should be able to hit just about any tower within 30 to 40 miles.

 

[Steve Miller]

I'm using mine with the T-mobile service.
A general rule I use is that if I am about 30 miles on either side of any road with a line down the middle and shoulders, I'll have a decent signal. With the stinger antenna that came with the PCcard (attached to the card), I can get about 10 miles off the main roads... So yes, there is a big difference.
I am also using a TX/RX amp with the set-up that does three watts on the TX and 8db gain on the RX.
T-mobile is not the best coverage in the world but it certainly ranks up there pretty high on the speeds. I generally download at around 86kbps. My understanding is that they will be offering up to 1mbps by storm season next year.

 

[Justin Teague]

My understanding is that they will be offering up to 1mbps by storm season next year.

Sweet! I need to go and get a new antenna now. I still have that broken one sitting in my storm chasing room, LOL, it's a prop now.

The antenna coupled with the TX/RX amp is just great, I would recommend that set-up to anyone with an air card.

 

[bill mudd]

made my own mag mount from an old cb antenna magnet - works good -