Wilson Trucker Antenna/cell reception

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Ann P

Wilson Trucker Antenna/cell reception

Post by Ann P »

Has anyone installed one of these big trucker antennas on their BF in order to improve your cell phone reception? I looked at one in Quartzsite; the guy said to drill a hole in the cabover and run the wire down there into the coach. Well, that doesn't thrill me. There's also a little magnet mount gadget ,not nearly as powerful, but might be ok. But where would this sit in the coach to be helpful?

There's been more times than I expected that I was out of cell phone reception in AZ, often because the desert mountains blocked the signals.
Anyway, would like to hear some feedback, no pun intended.
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Mike Jean Bandfield
Posts: 513
Joined: Sun Aug 14, 2005 3:43 pm

Post by Mike Jean Bandfield »

The Wilson trucker works great! We've used one for about 7 or 8 years now and are rarely out of range. We do, however, continue to use an older tri-mode phone with analog capability. Many of the most rural sites are still analog.

With regard to mounting the antenna in our BF: I have not yet got around to a permanent mounting location. When I do it will likely be a bracket made from aluminum angle that I epoxy to the side or roof on the driver's side on the lower portion of the roof to avoid snags.

(We're still building a new house - 1st priority. A couple of weeks ago we moved into our Born Free full time at the ranch site.)

We've been using the antenna as it sits in it's storage space in the cabover tray just above the driver's seat which works just fine most of the time. A couple of times we've needed to temporarily clamp it to the awning or rear ladder.

It is hard to quantify signal improvement but my sense of it is where you might of had a 5 mile radial range around a cell tower with the phone alone you will get about a 15 mile radius with the Wilson trucker. Quite often you will get no bars or one bar but voice quality and signal lock remain quite strong just as long as you don't get the "No Service" message.

I highly recommend the Wilson Trucker antenna.

Mike
Mike & Jean
2005 26' RSS Diesel
jobrien

Post by jobrien »

LOng story here...

I have a SmoothTalker amplifier and antenna. I had a through the glass antenna mounted on my Allegro windshield at the very top and the antenna just cleared the roof. It worked great when we were out west and cell service was sporadic.

I called Wilson, and their antenna's are compatable with the SmoothTalker amplifier. Smoothtalker is located in Canada and shipping for the new antenna is too expensive. I was told the through the glass will not work on dual pane windows. but the tech said it will work if I apply it to the windshield under the overhang. If the tower is behind me it may not pick up, but otherwise it should work ok, and the fiberglass does not interfere.

So, if that is the case, then I would assume that just palcing the antenna in the overhead bed area ahould also work fine.

I removed the glass mount from the Allegro and will try mounting it on the BF windshield as suggested. I also bought a Wilson magnet mount today at a Pilot truck stop and will try that also. The problem is where I live we always have a strong cell signal so it will be hard to tell until we travel someplace.

I also have a Wilson magnetic mount on my Jeep that I can use both with and without the amplifier if needed.

While the antenna itself will help, the amplifier really gives it the extra clout both receiving and transmitting.

John
Ralph Strauch

Post by Ralph Strauch »

I have the Wilson magnetic mount antenna that doesn't have a built in ground plane and so needs to be mounted on a magnetic surface. I stick it on a metal plate about a foot across and that often works well with the plate and antenna sitting up in the cab-over. One advantage to this setup over a fixed mount is that I can also use it outside the BF and move around the campsite to get the best reception. Occasionally this is handy when we're parked in the radio shadow of a hill, but climbing to the ridgeline with a phone and antenna gives good reception.

Ralph
Guy Carter

Wilson Antenna

Post by Guy Carter »

I've just purchased a Wilson trucker Antenna to run my cell phone and lap top. It's not installed yet because I haven't taken possesion of the BFT. Should have it in a couple of months. I'm planning on a permanent mount, either through the roof or attached to the ladder. May have to get another longer cable to do that? Other than the hole in the roof does anyone have anyother pros or cons on this?
Ralph Strauch

Post by Ralph Strauch »

I'm planning on a permanent mount, either through the roof or attached to the ladder. May have to get another longer cable to do that? Other than the hole in the roof does anyone have anyother pros or cons on this?
A longer cable will introduce additional losses and negate somewhat the gains from the antenna. The Sprint Connectivity Tutorials in the Files section of the InternetByCellPhone group on yahoo, at

<http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Inte ... one/files/>

provide more information. You may have to subscribe to the group to access the file, though I'm not sure of that. I've found the group a useful source of information, though.

Ralph
Sab & Ann
Posts: 49
Joined: Tue Sep 13, 2005 7:12 pm

Wilson Trucker Antenna

Post by Sab & Ann »

Hi Guy,
If you are a little handy, you can mount your Wilson Cellular Antenna on the mirror arm. I purchased a stainless steel U-bolt (1/4" X 2" X 3-1/2" from Home Depot and sleeved it with 1/4" ID X 3/8" OD soft clear vinyl tubing to clamp the 1/4" aluminum angle to the mirror arm. I took an old Wilson Cellular Antenna Mount and replaced the aluminum angle with a larger 3" X 3" X 2" long angle and modified it to fit the mirror arm.
We have been using a Wilson Trucker Antenna for seven years and it has worked very well.
Sab & Ann
2000 RB, E450
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