CB antenna qustion

[bkrell]

Don't get me wrong, if I had a truck, I wouldn't care, either. Lol, maybe I'll get a second CB for the wife's CR-V.

FWIW, I put an order in for a Firestik DS-14FG. It'll go on the roof in the old OnStar mount so maybe it'll have 55 yards of reception.

[Stealth Stalker]

I'm thinking it should perform fine. It may need a little tuning for peak performance and SWRs, because that ground plane is going to be presenting a factor that it was not designed to deal with. But I don't think it should be a major problem.

I e-mailed Firestik asking them the question about using the FG with a groundplane, as well as asking them the status of the regular DS14, which nobody seems to carry anymore. Hopefully they'll either tell me where to get it, or that it has been discontinued. Let's just hope they are better at responding to e-mail than Valentine One is.

[bkrell]

Well, I emailed them about two weeks ago to ask them what the most discrete antenna was that they made and they never responded....

[AirMoore]

Ok here is my input on this matter:


1) The Wilson Little Wil is the smallest antenna you can get (IMO) that honestly performs. I have one and I will get pictures within the next few days (*most likely early next week) of it and I will post them for people to see what it looks like on my Civic (On the 'trunk')... its a coupe. That way people can make up their own mind about what it looks like/how it looks.

Also note that its small enough to simply 'pop-off' my trunk, and slide it in (within 10seconds) to keep it completely out of site... after-all its only ~3Feet long, it easily will stow-away in a trunk when not in use.



2)Its not money well spent to get that Firestick on the highway/thruway if you are going to try and use it for Smokey-spotting.

Granted TX will suffer more then your RX, but both wouldn't be acceptable IMO. (RX is a bit more about what the other person has)... and since most truckers have *at least* a 'hot' 'peaked/tuned' CB, let alone many have afterburners (linear amplifiers) you will pick them up much more then you can put out... but I would say that with such an antenna, even the RX would be severely handicapped. I wouldn't think much more then a 'few' (~2 actually) Miles TX under IDEAL conditions with a stock radio. Maybe ~3 under ideal conditions with that 'antenna' and a peaked/tuned radio. Under most conditions I would say ~1Mile, probably a bit over... and you will most likely get stepped on rather often (that would be my main concern for any long-distance convos), you will be under the squelch threshold that many truckers maintain on highways/thruways because how much radio-traffic there is..


3) Why not by a Lil Wil for road-trips (instead of using that Firestick)? Again, it pops-off and tucks away so easily when you get to-your destination... there is no reason note to buy one for ~$35? Then after the road-trip simply take-it out completely and put it back in in another 2 or 3 months for your next trip. (Lets face it... stow it away in a closet corner... it will be fine).


Personally I have no problem using my Wilson 1000 (With extended antenna-not stock-) That is ~6Foot tall on my car for the ~350Mile round-trip NYState Thruway excursion when I go to see my GF. Yeah it may look funny when I go to leave and all my friends BS me about it... but i just reply "Yeah, well it looks a lot funnier and is more embarrassing when you are pulled over with Christmas lights behind you!" Then I tell them how I have been told of speed-traps 5, 10, 20+ Miles in advance, and they normally shush. I sure take it down once I get to the girls place at Campus though. With the 1000, I have personally talked 25+Miles (Non-skip with it) in numerous instances, and the needle was being pushed a few pounds... enough to break-over the squelch settings on most in that area.


I have had solid continuous convos on the Thruway with truckers 10+ miles ahead of me (telling me whats coming up ahead) You wont be getting anywhere near that with such a 'antenna'.


The biggie why I stress a good antenna: Not to mention not EVERY trucker calls out where the smokeys are everytime one sees one, so if you are only TX/RX at a few miles, you will most likely miss many reports, since truckers often have great set-ups (not to mention whips that are IDEALLY placed at such a high-level) they all hear those reports miles away, so in that 15-20Mile radius its normally silent for a good amount of time until another trucker comes through a fair amount of time later (who was outside the first call-out) and says it again. Normally it goes in spurts: You hear something like this:

Trucker A: "Westbound, watch out at MM 395, you got a Smokey looking for a customer."

Trucker B: "Yeah eastbound at MM 380 you have a bear taking pictures of you, so get off the hammer and smile."


Then its silent because all the truckers (for miles with good set-ups will hear that)... sometimes you get a few repeats or a 'Copy' that repeats the location.



IMO having that antenna would be like having a Cobra for an RD... yeah its better then nothing (Maybe with CO-K Band), but its really not going to help you, and will give you over confidence if anything. So its just not worth it. Pay the price! (whether it be looks in this case [or money in the analogy], and get a good unit).

Ok done.

[bkrell]

Lol, this cost more than a Little Wil. I know what you're saying but the thing is, I commute on interstate every day. 30 miles of interstate and 18 miles of 2 lane road. I don't want an antenna for ocassional use. If I got the Wilson, I'd have to use it every day. So, I am going to try the Firestik, then go for the Little Wil ONLY if I find it completely inaqeduete. I know my route pretty well already.... The CB is really overkill for me. Next time I plan to make a cross country trip into unfamiliar territiory, I will go with a Little Wil if necessary. Until then, I'm at least gonne give this a try. If it doesn't work, to craigslist it goes.