Best antenna

Best one I've ever had is the predator 10k double coil short whip on a kenworth t-800 and I have tried many over the last 28 yrs.

 

I talk all over the world on 10 meters using a Wilson 5000 trimmed down. I was talking to a ham in pueto rico a few evenings ago. I'm lucky that I still have old school mirror brackets for a good ground plane and match. No, I don't tilt it forward either lol

 

I stopped in Ray's in West Memphis a few weeks ago and bought a 7ft SkipShooter for the Cascadia, a top loaded fiberglass antenna. He told me he had SkipShooter make the 7 footer because that is the antenna he used to win the Keydown events in years gone by. Not fancy, but effective.

 

For the money it hard to beat a Francis. If money is not a issue then the Money Made, but it has a long steel whip, tunes easily because of its broadband design.

 

A Wilson 5000 is a really good antenna. I used to run a K40 Mag mount with my Cobra 29 and a Palomar Elite 250 which worked pretty well but recently I replaced the K40 with the Wilson 5000 Mag mount and was amazed at how much farther I was able to transmit and receive.

 

steel is best

 

Excellent typo...

 

For watt they charge, I guess it appropriate. Even using a spectrum analizer very little difference, the old rad shack 102 steel looks the best, I just dont care for them, noisy on rx, checking the rx with a sinad the francis hears very well

 

I used to think that and probably all around the 102" steel whip is the best. But,Ray told me he never got beat by anyone using a steel whip verses his top loaded 7ft glass whip in a key down competition.....there were technical reasons why, that escape my memory at the moment..............

 

Maybe, a top loaded whip radiates at a lower angle than a 1/4 wave whip. so in a close proximity the 7 would appear to be stronger. When I am testing and comparing antennas I use the dry lake just east of our town. I take signal strength measurements at aprox 1/2 to 3/4 mile , this is the normal distance or probable average for most users.

Antennas do not manufacture rf energy they only direct the energy. 1/4 wave steel whip is transmitting a ground wave at horizon and a skywave to the upper atmosphere (skip waves). Radiation pattern changes with each design of antenna.

Bottom, center and top loads all distribute the rf energy a little different. I found at 3/4 of a miles the best was a rad shack 102 steel whip, second was a 6 ft francis, third wilson 5000 also comparing was dollars spent.

High end the Monkey made was just slightly better than the stryker.

Keep in mind there is not a whole lot of difference over all. Most important is decent coax, good ground & ground plane (I was using a 2000 Chevy Suburban) antenna mount center of the roof. Better ground plane than most Tractors. The radio I used was a Galaxy 95. The monitor for recieving was a Ifr w. spectrum analyzer actually a scope and a digitial read out.

Practical experience dictates a good high quality install maybe the most important variably.