[WrenchMonkey]

Okay, you've convinced me that it's time I get something together. I don't want or need fancy, just functional.

So in my amazon shopping cart, I've got:
- That Uniden pro520xl radio that Mark recommended as "the upper end of cheap." That's me.
- A three foot, tip-adjustable Firestik, FS-3BK, per the "choosing the best antenna" link.
- 18' coax, a Firestik HD stainless spring, and both their K4 and K4A mounting studs.

Anything I should change before I pull the trigger? I may soften to the medium spring, it won't be on there day-to-day to be a problem on the highway.

Once I pull my fender off, I can see what kind of bracket I'll want to rig up to reuse the factory antenna hole. My goal there is to protect the mount and base from damage, and just have the spring and antenna exposed. I may need to (may go ahead and) add a grounding wire, rather than trust the stud-bracket-fender-body connections. I guess since the coax ends at the stud, the spring itself is "live" and needs to not ground out on the fender. That'll take some attention.

That radio will support an external speaker, but that's easy enough to add later that I'll try it as-is first.

If I make it to Rich's could I get some help tuning it before Rush?