so this afternoon i was talkin to a co-worker after work and noticed that my cb antena wasnt there.... i then saw it laying in the bed of my truck . apon closer inspection i noticed that the screw part of the antena was broken in half . i would have guessed that the antena itself would have broken before that screw.



sorry for the poor pic quallity.

oh and can yall sujest a good replacement. im lookin for a 4-5 foot antena that is semi flexible.... not a whip i got one sitting in the garage.

 

Most people here use Firestik II antennas. A little bit more expensive but, a very well built product.

 

i like my firestick, wish i had a firestick 2 alot easier to tune

 

I've been very happy with my 6 foot Francis.

 

yea man lookin at a Firestik 2 myself actually... just another reason to mod your truck a little!

 

Firestick II here, love that thing.

 

yea thats what im endinf up with is a firestick. gona pick it up tomorrow. oh and some one in my neighborhood is gona get put in their place real soon

 

decided to go a different route. found on cheaper on ebay so i got that one instead.

 

Just be sure to put a spring on top of the antenna mount. If you did not run a spring before, it is likely the old one broke from metal fatigue.

 

wilson

 

the antena(s) where delivered yesterday morning. i was thinkin i only ordered one but when i opend the packageing i saw there was 2.

so here is a good question, would it just be better to just run? or would it be better to run duals?

 

yea it would be better just to run 1, and then sell one to someone next weekend for $10...

 

Duals only get you front to back excellent reception, not all around excellent reception.

 

IIRC, duals require a splitter (cophased harness) and different coax than a single ant. (i.e., resistance is different, you shouldn't just use your existing coax). i think it's something like 75 ohm vs. 50 ohm or something to that effect, you may want to double-check on that one.

duals can also be trickier to tune, and have a more directional radiation pattern.

spacing is also more critical with duals, i believe either 1/4 or 1/2 wave spacing is ideal. not many vehicles are 102" or 204" wide, if you're going to run them mirror-mounted. you could run them front-rear, but that type of a backdoor setup has inherent problems of it's own. maybe good for keydowns or other directional uses, but not the best for a daily driver or trail rig.

in *most* (but not all) cases, you may have better results with a single ant. mounted to the center of your roof, or even to your toolbox. plus, they're easier to install, easier to tune, not as flashy (not so tempting to theives).

if you mag mount it as some have done, it's easy to take down for parking garages, drive-thrus, etc...

just my .02. YMMV.

 

well i am doing sinlge firestik 2 mounted on a bed bar. mounting it this upcoming weekend. got it sitting on a hd spring mounted on a firestik brand stud mount.

 

i have had the mag mounted roof antena back when my truck was stock and it was good for the high way but not trails (imo) i could range from tifton, ga to macon, ga easily with that thing. but i got tired of havong to get out and reposition it on my roof every time it hit a branch.

so after that i mounted that black one on my tool box and that was a decent spot.

 

I have a 102" whip mounted on my toolbox and get real good reception w/ my Cobra 29.

I have heard a lot of positive reviews regarding the Firestick antennas and think you will be very pleased so long as you mount it as close to the center of the vehicle as possible. It's real important to get as much ground plane as possible in all directions. If you are limited in your choices on mounting spots, ground it to the frame of the truck. That will help to improve any directional bias.

 

grounding is usually a good idea - our friends that run whips mounted to their tool boxes in the beds usually run ground straps from the mount/box to the frame. they also run ground straps from the bed and cab to the frame as well. seems to help, as far as they can tell.

 

i ran one of them before. i liked it but i bent the living shiot out of it about 2 months. but it didnt work to well with my mini cobra, lol.

 

i need to ground the firestik? did not know that.