Hi allRecently purchased a like-new 3G Wilson booster at a great price and I'm very happy with its operation. MY question revolves around signal loss. At the moment, I can raise the antenna so that it's approx 6-7 feet above the MH(its on a painters pole), while I'd like to go higher for those really bad cell area's, it would involve purchasing an extension cable. So my question is, would, let's say 10' more height cancel out the loss I would have for adding an extension cable. Would I gain anything or just stick with my 7' height? As to the 3G....I'm behind the curb cell wise and have no plans for upgrading to 4G.Thanks

This is tricky. The big problem with antenna's is cable loss. Adding an add on cable will guarantee you about 1db loss for the connector itself. I believe the Wilson use LMR100 which is just under 4db loss per 10 feet of length. So if you have the stock little stubby antenna which claims about 3-4db gain, adding a 10 foot extension will add 4 db loss plus 1db loss for the connector, thus giving you less that what you started with before adding the extension.I would recommend one of a few options to maximize signal:1) get a higher gain antenna like the Wilson 311125 antenna, it will get you up to 6db gain, you can also get directional antennas that if you want to point it, can get you much higher gain. A Yagi antenna can deliver up to 25db real world gain, but only has about a 15 degree margin for aiming it right.2) having a custom cable made with RG-58 or LMR195, it is under 2db loss per 10 Ft but is double the thickness.3) cut your cable length as opposed to lengthen it, as long as you clear the roof of your rig with absolutely minimal length.

Not knowing which type of antenna you have, the clamp on like thisTrucker mount or the magnetic type like this Mag mount might make some difference. I use the magnetic one and mount it on an 8" diameter piece of steel laying on top of the RV. I'm sure "height is might" but you may loose more than you can gain through a longer cable. Sometimes just moving the antenna a couple feet makes a difference. If I was really hard up I'd go with a Yagi like this Yagi directional Only drawback is you need a clear line of sight and know where the cell tower is.Ha, looks like someone else was typing faster than me..:B

You are unlikely to gain any appreciable signal level due to the issues mentioned. A Yagi is a pain and may not actually help much. You really need a clear line of site for a yagi to help much. Based on 40 yrs in the two way radio field I have found that a good Omni gain will often outperform a yagi when in real difficult terrain or foliage issues. As an avid Rver and telecommunications technician I have experimented with many variations of antennas and amplifier. I was the first to make telephone calls in some extremely difficult places in California. Spending more hours than I can remember with different antennas, painters poles included, yagis, amps, etc., my opinion is you are going to spend some money on coax and antennas that just will not give you much improvement over a good Omni antenna with a Wilson Sleek.

Guess I should have mentioned the antenna, it is one of the "trucker" type antenna's with the radial arms. So in my limited knowledge, that's a half way decent one. I kinda figured it would not be beneficial but thought it was worth a question anyways. Thank You all.

Interestingly enough, I used the Sleek before getting the great deal on the Wilson amp/antenna(100.00) and still in original packaging...looks brand new. Anyways, I was pretty happy with the Sleek operation but couldn't pass on the Wilson.

Cell Phone Booster with a twist | Good Sam Community

wcjeep
Explorer
Feb 22, 2015
The Sleek tops out at 2 watts. Probably closer to 1.9 watts.
rwbradley
Explorer
Feb 21, 2015
jhilley wrote:
Use LMR400 cable. 6.4dB/100ft. If you run LMR400 the whole way you will be way ahead.

Or LMR-600 at 1.16db/100ft... but it is 3/4" thick
jhilley
Explorer
Feb 21, 2015
Use LMR400 cable. 6.4dB/100ft. If you run LMR400 the whole way you will be way ahead.
wa8yxm
Explorer III
Feb 21, 2015
There is a point of diminishing return what it is depends on the extension cable you buy. (This is the point where more cable/height will not be beneficial, or the point where the improved signal from hight is lost in teh cable)

Generally 10 feet of quality proper impedance coax (make sure you get the right impedance) with proper low loss connectors will give you better performance 100 feet and Id start checking the charts to figure it out, but at 10 feet it will improve more than likely.

By the way, while typing this I got an idea,, thanks.
rwbradley
Explorer
Feb 21, 2015
To address a few comments:
1) there should be no real difference between units, the wattage of the units are controlled by FCC and I believe all the ones I have seen run at the max allowable, so there should be no real difference. Antenna and location are really the only factor in signal strength difference on these units.
2) as pointed out by Fisherman about my comments (that I failed to mention), any improvement would be minimal or even neagative by adding only 10 feet. You are going to loose gain by adding cable length in most cases. It would require an extremely unique situation to gain back 5db of loss just by raising it 10 feet. Nine times out of 10 you will likely be worse off. If increasing the height is a serious consideration, do as I mentioned and get a single continuous custom cable using rg-58 at double the length of the current one. If you go to RG-58 and only double the current length, the better cable will almost equally offset the gain lost by doubling of the length. But keep in mind that in almost all situations the cost will not be worth the benefit.

BTW the Wilson trucker antenna mentioned is about as good an option as you are going to find, it is Omni directional, the spokes are supposed to act as a ground plane (which the regular magnetic ones do not have as they rely on your roof to be a ground plane and the gain is about as high (real world) as you can get without heroic efforts.
crcr
Explorer
Feb 21, 2015
The correct Wilson higher gain antenna for your Sleek, which is approx. 16-18" tall, will give you much much better results than the 4" stubby that came with the Sleek. That will be by far your least expensive change in equipment that will give you the most bang for the buck.

I called Wilson once about adding an extension to the cable, and they warned me about the loss of signal by adding distance to the cable. The Wilson tech folks, are very helpful.
Dick_A
Explorer
Feb 21, 2015
Moved from Tech Issues forum.
time2roll
Nomad
Feb 21, 2015
Even if the extension kills some signal there might be no signal to catch until you are 10' higher.
Acampingwewillg
Explorer II
Feb 21, 2015
Difficult for me to give a good answer to that so far. One CG where I've had trouble getting a signal has worked fairly well with both. I can't think of any one place where one was better than the other but I will say, not having to cradle the phone is convenient, at least for me while sitting in or out of the MH.
bukzin
Explorer
Feb 21, 2015
How much better is the used Wilson over the Sleek you tried?