Firestik antenna SWR in the 3 +

Discussion in 'CB Radio Forum' started by _33, Dec 7, 2018.

  1. skellr

    skellr Road Train Member

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    The one without the tunable tip is better for a standard 40 channel radio. Not a big deal, just a small percentage you can/could add to the whole.
     
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  3. Jazz1

    Jazz1 Road Train Member

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    I use Firesticks. Never had to trim and always under 2 on my meter. Might just be the stick itself. Why change the factory antennas if they are working and low reading on meter?
     
  4. craig_sez

    craig_sez Road Train Member

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    Antennas can still be off but have a good swr..
    Had good swr with an antenna behind the cab but i was lucky to get 10 mi..Resonance and reflect and resistances were all off..
    So many out there (as i have said a billion n one times now)still think swr is a good or bad performance marker..Its not......To many exames of what swr really does and doesnt me out there,been proved a million and 8 times..

    There i go beatin a dead horse again..O well i can see the replys now..
     
  5. _33

    _33 Light Load Member

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    Atlanta, Ga
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    I most definitely agree. I didn't mean for the statement to imply the same length from one truck to another. I had the same thoughts on the subject that's why I figured I could get an antenna close to the same size and wouldn't have much adjusting to do. So you think it could have been a faulty antenna?
     
  6. craig_sez

    craig_sez Road Train Member

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    Its possible..I had an issue with a 7ft skip shooter..Tuned fine in the yard then right at 57 it would shoot my swr up and my radios swr protect would kick in and shut me down..Took me a few to figure it out but sitting still onthe analyzer it was fine but when i used a bungie cord to pull it back FOUND IT...Brought it back and shop tested it and it was at the base of ant..
    So yeah its possible seeing it was a 3plus on all 40..

    If you have the room height wise,go taller till your close to 13'6" ..
     
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  7. Meteorgray

    Meteorgray Heavy Load Member

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    I agree. All I said was that everything else being equal, which would include the ground plane and the relative mounting positions etc, it's the length of a resonant antenna that generally determines its performance vs other antennas.
     
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  8. craig_sez

    craig_sez Road Train Member

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    A firestick @ 5ft long vs 7ft long will have same performance when they are at the optimal mounting height so the fireberglass length part dont matter..
    Now i wouldnt put a 5 ft on a low mount point but i would put a 6ft on a high mount point and you will get a difference in performance.....Now if a 7ft goes on a low mount point and a 5 on a high the oerformance will be about the same when all else is equaled..
    The windings are of same length in a 5ft vs say a 6 or 7ft just that its apreaded a lil more on a taller ant..
    I played around with my 7ft skip shooter and a predator 10k with a long shaft(forgot its length 28" i think)and got slightly better results with akip shooter..Im not sayin the ss is a better ant but in the case of a low mount point it is....The 10k has a broader freq range than my ss..
    I got a few vids on youtube..Did one today showing my results while sitting in the trk stop parkin lot in kenly nc..
    I go by same name as here..Lol finally learned not long ago how to do this youtube vid thing..
     
  9. craig_sez

    craig_sez Road Train Member

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    If anyone buys the ant without tuneable tip and they mess up with the cut,what then????
    Better off with tuneable tip style..
     
  10. _33

    _33 Light Load Member

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  11. _33

    _33 Light Load Member

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    Yeah, like I said I thought I was buying the tunable tip they were side by side and I was in a hurry so I just grabbed it.
     
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