Wilson 1000 CB Antennae Review

Are you thinking about getting a new CB radio antennae? Sick of having poor radio performance? Well, we were too, so we picked up a Wilson 1000 for our Jeep. The Wilson 1000 is generally regarded as the best magnetic mount antennae on the market. Here’s what we think about it:

Build Quality

First things first. Plastic is used in nearly all magnet mount style antennas, and I’m sure you know what happens to plastic when its exposed to the elements for long periods of time. The plastic will deteriorate and fall apart.

Wilson has fixed this problem by using “Mobay’s Thermoplastic”. This kind of plastic is much more expensive, but much higher quality. This means if you live somewhere like Arizona like I do, the plastic parts of the antennae will actually last longer than a few seasons.

The whip itself is made out of 10 gauge copper and heavily plated with silver to keep the resistive loss to an absolute minimum.

The build quality is really solid, and I’m 100% positive it’ll outlive the spray paint job on our Jeep.

Performance

Wilson paired up with Lockheed Martin to test out the Wilson 1000. They found that when compared to the K40 antennae, the Wilson 1000 had 58% more power gain. This means you have 58% more power gain when transmitting and receiving, this ultimately gives you better range and better sound quality. How do they do this?

Most base loaded CB antennaes lose more than 50% of the power put into them. This power is lost through dielectric heat loss in the plastic that holds the coil, they solved this problem by suspending the coil in midair, supported only by 4 points. This results in 95% less plastic from the surface of the coil, which means way less dielectric heat loss.

Also read: Cobra 19 DX IV review

Real World Testing

Compared to my old set-up the Wilson 1000 is a HUGE step up. Depending on the location, most non-amplified CB radios have a range of 5-10 miles. My old 5″ firestik with my Cobra 19 got me about 5 miles of range.

My Wilson 1000 paired with my Cobra gets me 12+ miles pretty easily. 12 miles of range in the dead center of one of the largest cities in America is pretty impressive for not using a linear amplifier. Not only do I have a seriously improved range, but the clarity of the audio transmitted and received is much better.

A Cobra 29 radio will further improve the performace of the Wilson 1000. We’re using basically the cheapest radio on the market so our test results weren’t as good as they couldve been. But, the range and clarity of this radio is absolutely amazing compared to any other antennae.

Check out: How to Install a CB Radio

Summary

Overall I’m extremely pleased with this antennae, the simple installation really makes it a breeze, and the high-quality components that the Wilson 1000 is built out of will last me an extremely long time. Since its capable of handling 3000 watts that gives me plenty of room to purchase a linear amplifier one day.

With my current set up I have a range of 12+ miles which is more than enough for me currently. If you’re thinking about upgrading your antennae I would suggest picking up a Wilson 1000, you’ll be glad you did.