Quick question Quick answer re CB
 

I intend on buying the Cobra 75 WX ST.

Will I gain anything by purchasing a Firestick adjustable end 5ft vs 4ft antenna?

I'm thinking longer means greater transmission/reception distances :dunno:

Thanks,
Mark

PS does anyone use a 7ft antenna with flag off the roof of their truck? - great for use in dune areas - maybe not so good for tree-lined trails.

Generally speaking higher the antenna the better off you are. But then things like tree limbs ect. ect. ect. come into play. Best to go as high as you can safley get away with.

i think its just a heck of a lot easier to tune...

:good: But alot of people don't have a meter or know how to tune.

you can buy the meter for $20 @ radio shack or jcwhitney and it comes with instructions....

if your cb isnt tuned properly, it might lead to failure... i never tuned my old setup and i had a 5 mile range in the city.... but i cant gurantee yours wont blow up...

Which is easier to tune?

the firestick II it has the little turn screw in the top, under the red rubber cover

serious? if you dont tune...it blows up? never heard of this

bob

The adjustable ones like the Firestik II that I have, and there are some Wilsons out now that have the adjustable tip too that make tuning easy.

Makes it really easy to adjust your SWR.
My Cobra has a built in SWR meter, so it is a snap to get it done.

I am just a hair over 1 on all 40 channels.

Here is an example of a 4' antenna.

You sure you wanna go higher?

I would imagine it could happen but I don't think anyone not running a modified CB or extra power would EVER have to worry about it. Technically speaking it could happen, with high SWR's but I personally have never had it happen or know anyone who has. I had a pretty big radio and run it forever before I got it tuned. Also it wasn't off very much either.

not physically blows up, but i have read in technical bulletins that if your cb isnt tuned and the antenna isn't setup properly that it can do something internally and it wont work at all....

Doesent the 75 have a SWR meter built into it?

good point didnt think of that... some cbs kinda have a swr meter built into them... this cb that i got that hasnt been installd yet has a dyna-mike knob on it, and it says its supposed to help with clarity and power

Thanks for the replies.

Years ago (25+) when I fooled around with cb in cars, we used to make a metal plate to mount the antenna on and then use some U bolts to mount it onto the roof racks (luggage rails).

Does the antenna have to be grounded (bolted in) to the roof to get the benefit of the roof plane or by simply being within the proximity of the roof does this still allow the roof to act as a plane? - No...I am not intending to mount my antenna on the roof but would consider the roof rack if that worked. Otherwise I'll experiment with the traditional fender or rear bumper placement.

Thanks
Mark

I may be wrong but it would not matter whether or not it was grounded DIRECTLY to the roof. Once it was grounded the whole vehicle would be the plane. I may be wrong just my .02.

I was under the impression that the ground plane was also directional. In other words placing the antenna in the centre of the roof would give the best multi-directional reception as opposed to having it one end which would be more one dimensional.

Any ideas on this?

Thanks
Mark

There seems to be some cross posting so rather than jumping backwards and forwards I will differ to this post...

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f97/wilson-firestik-ii-53735/


which seems to answer some of my questions I just posted anyway.

Interesting link provided about the relative dB gain comparison between the Firestick and the Wilson.

this should answer most of your basic CB needs... http://www.firestik.com/Tech_Docs.htm