Antenna?????

WOW..............

 

Antennas make the radio. However, not necessarily the most expensive antenna is the right one. She said it best above. The Francis 4.5' is about the best antenna for the money. But no antenna is worth a hoot if it is not tuned worth a darn.

Find a Radio Shop that uses a Ham Analyzer to tune the antenna. Not a cheap field strength meter. You will get the best performance out of any antenna, if it is tuned properly. SWR between 1.1/1 and 1.5/1. No higher. It is impossible to get a true 1/1 match. But you can get close.

Why over pay for an antenna that will handle 15,000 watts when your peaked radio will only due 28-80 watts. And for the price of one Monkey Made or Striker, you can buy 10-12 Francis 4.5'

The idea is to be practical with your money and not just try to dress up your truck unless going to a show. You will also fine that one of the more expensive antennas are much more likely to come up missing or stolen off your truck while inside the Truck Stop.

 

Thanks for that advice yogi..............J

 

remember that the francis is already tuned, so the swr is already set.

 

yeah.... thats one of those common mistakes people make when they tune an antenna they tune it to one car, (or they tune it to the correct band and say its "pre tuned") but an antenna needs to be tuned to each specific vehicle and each place on the vehicle its put. sometimes pretuned antennas work well, but if they dont they arnt always easy to tune either, so id never buy one and expect it not to need to be tuned

 

my first antenna was some cheap $10 one from walmart and i could never get that tuned! the second one was a lil wilson and its tuned for 1.5 upper and lower, tuned it myself

I cant even see anyone buying a pre-tuned antenna and expecting it to be tuned right

 

Well, if your just trying to replace the stock antenna, the Francis will be your best bet. Works right off the bat as long as the coax in the truck is good.

but if you get a proper piece of coax, then the francis is a good choice as long as you do not go over the 150 watt rating and are not using a 10 meter radio.

 

Agreed, but its not the "W" you need to be looking at but the quality.. And as you know you always "don't" get what you pay for, So research is important..

Not true, Sorry but its not.. So many things go into a good sounding radio. Mic, Proper tuned CB, ground, Coax, Antenna ext...
Adding a good antenna will not make "any" radio sound like a "big" radio.

Just as the myth goes with a mic can make a radio sound like a big radio.
Most buy power mics in order to make thier radios sound big (and most blast it all the way up sounding like crap)
If you know what you are listening for you can pick the big radio's and the ones trying to act like they have big radio's...

Well Wilson makes a good antenna far as the Wilson 2000 or the 5000... The rest are okay at best in my opinion

Well sorry but again this is true and not true. Any fiberglass antenna is subject to breaking off, some easier then others and the Frances although then would pretty much compare to any Wilson fiberglass.

Far as Wilson making quality and last a long time while works good the hole time.

Well there is an issue with antennas like the Wilson 2000-5000..
Now I agree they are great antenna's but they do have 1 issue. The plastic surrounding the coil is subject to cracking at the top. The whip blows back and forth and during cold weather stress cracks can develop. then water can enter the plastic causing corrosion on the coil. this will lower performance and in severer cases ruin a radio finals...

Just something Wilson owners need to keep an eye on.. does not happen to all but it does happen..

I agree, And if your going to do it might as well do it right.. You don't have to spend a bunch of money in doing so neither.

This is the Antenna's I run but I have broke one off.. The mounts I use are beyond stout and will not budge. The antenna itself did not break but the piece that screws into the bottom of the antenna snapped. A hard to find piece. Antenna is very well built though....

Well as mentioned this is not true. How you would tune a Francis is by the coax.. You can make it longer or shorter if you properly want a Francis tuned.. If attempted you should know what you are doing...




To the original poster... best antenna that I know of and have used all.. (yes I did use them all personally, just a hobby of mine)

Wilson 2000-5000

I have tried numerous fiberglass antennas and the best 2 I have came across are

Fiberglass

Francis

Firestick

Both are about the same but if the Francis is properly tuned it is better

Steel wip

Nothing differnt from the 2 except the wattage they can handle
2000- is about 1000W max
5000- is about 2500W max

K40 wip (looks just like the Wilson 2000)


Your going to get the same performance as the Wilson 2000-5000

Coil Antenna

Monkey Made
This is the antenna's I have been using for awile and have had good luck with them.. one thing about the monkey made is they will pick up a lot of noise do to the aluminum construction. A good Cb tuned right with good coax and a filter will let this antenna shine.. Aluminum is just more sensitive and takes longer to adjust and get right. But when you do get it right In my opinion it is just a little better..

Striker Antenna
Great antenna and every bit as good as a Monkey made. lower noise then the Monkey Made becuase it is stainless steel..


I also have tried a spin off coiled antenna like
Predator
Halo (been around awile not really a spin off)
ext...


My personal picks as of yet are Money Made and Striker


A few more I am going to try but they are not sold here in the US and only can get them online... (that I know off at least)


A good antenna with a good coax that are tuned will make a world of difference with you personal experience with your system...

 

Well....I'm using twin Francis 5.5's on mine....and it IS a big radio.... Galaxy 48T (10M) doing a legitimate 200W.....all I did was add a 15' coax to the original "Y" that came with the truck.....SWR's are # 1.0:1 - 1.1:1 all the time.

I had a Monkey Made on my last truck.....and yes it was a tough antenna.....tougher than the mount....the mount broke...and I ran over the MM-9 that I loved. Called Mike....and he said that running over one isn't covered in the warranty.... Can you believe it? MonkeyMade has their own website or you can just google it and you will get lots of online stores.....GI Joe's in Lexington, KY is where I got mine.

If it wasn't such a hassle.....I'd probably put twin MM-9's on this thing.....but, I just hate having to dial em' each in.....and you'll go through about 5 cutoff wheels in the process! That Stainless Steel stinger it TOUGH!

The good thing about the Francis is you just stick it on.....IF your mount is grounded.....and your coax is good....you will get low SWR's consistantly with it......and with the money you save.....you can buy 2 backups....and take momma out to dinner! LOL

 

I;m fairly new to this game as I have asked the same questions here and on other board's but I have learned something and agree with some of the others here.I have spent mucho dollars and have tried open coil's,wilson fiberglass and trucker series,firestik's,k40,..and the list goe's on but have found that using 18ft of coax and francis antenna has worked the best for ME.The francis was my last choice because I felt it would never be as good as any of the other's being so inexpensive...WRONG.I haven't had any luck with the adjustable antenna's and could never get as low swr's as I have with the francis.That being said my francis antenna's work better than any other I have tried because they tuned the lowest.The price tag had me fooled and a lesson learned for me.just my 2pennies.