Bad Mic?

[Bray D]

Like I said, I'll see how flexible it is when I get it.

Putting a spring on a flexible antenna kind of defeats the purpose. I need to run it without a spring for the sake of R&D anyways.

Have you guys run a 3' Firefly? Break one? How high was the antenna above the roofline? Where was the mount located? What type of mount did you have?

These are all questions I'll be able to answer.

If you need a spring on both rigid and flexible antennas, then a rigid antenna is the way to go. The rigid antenna should last longer since the antenna wire isn't under continuous bending. It would provide more consistent performance cause it wouldn't sway in the wind/etc.

I'm just gonna see if the flexible antennas live up to their reputation. Consider it taking one for the team

 

[02RangerXLT]

Just because an antenna is marketed as "flexible" doesn't mean it should be flexed... The antenna still "bends" with a spring, but the spring removes a TON of the stress on the antenna, especially at highway speeds, and the spring also makes the antenna bend further if you hit a tree...

A spring also takes stress off of the mounting bolts, there are lots of brackets that bend just because the antenna puts stress on it.

"Putting a spring on a flexible antenna kind of defeats the purpose."

Wrong, it doesn't defeat the purpose, as I said above, the antenna is still under stress when you hit something, even though it is said to be "flexible".

Also to add, the wire in a "rigid" antenna is ALWAYS under continuous bending except for when you're parked. That antenna always bounces and gets blown back by the wind going down the highway, and before I put my springs on, my antennas were under even more stress, now the springs take quite a bit of it, and help relieve some stress on the antennas.


But whatever, its your choice...

 

[JohnnyU]

Bray, I always run a spring on fiberglass antennas. For $10 it's cheap insurance. I'ce been running fiberglass antennas since highschool and have broken about 2-3 of them before I started using springs. Both 3' and 4' whips.

 

[Bray D]

Just because an antenna is marketed as "flexible" doesn't mean it should be flexed... The antenna still "bends" with a spring, but the spring removes a TON of the stress on the antenna, especially at highway speeds, and the spring also makes the antenna bend further if you hit a tree...

A spring also takes stress off of the mounting bolts, there are lots of brackets that bend just because the antenna puts stress on it.

"Putting a spring on a flexible antenna kind of defeats the purpose."

Wrong, it doesn't defeat the purpose, as I said above, the antenna is still under stress when you hit something, even though it is said to be "flexible".

Also to add, the wire in a "rigid" antenna is ALWAYS under continuous bending except for when you're parked. That antenna always bounces and gets blown back by the wind going down the highway, and before I put my springs on, my antennas were under even more stress, now the springs take quite a bit of it, and help relieve some stress on the antennas.


But whatever, its your choice...

I think I've got a pretty good grasp on the forces involved, as well as their effects on the antenna. I won't go into my education, nor my line of work, but we'll just say I'm relatively educated in the subject.

I also know I've got a 6' flag that I've wheeled with for ~5 years that I've yet to break.

If the antenna's "structural" material is flexible enough, it won't break. Like I said before, I understand that the actual antenna wire itself may break inside the antenna, making the antenna worthless. That's not what we're discussing though.

That being said, the Firefly came in today, and I believe there's some false advertisement going on here cause its a pretty stiff mother .

I'm wheelin this weekend and doubt I get a spring before then. We'll see if it survives. JohnnyU will be there too, so he can make fun of me when it does

 

[89PBR96]

Right on man have you tried to talk on it yet?

 

[JohnnyU]

I'm wheelin this weekend and doubt I get a spring before then. We'll see if it survives. JohnnyU will be there too, so he can make fun of me when it does

Luckily, I have a spare one of those too.... It might be a bit rusty, but it's still "springy".

 

[Bray D]

No talk yet D - haven't had a chance to tune it yet. I did a quick check here in town, and both channel 1 and 40 are under 3:1. I'm gonna tune around channel 10, and should be able to get channel 1 and 20 under 2.0:1. I'll essentially have a 20 channel radio, but it seems wheelers use the lower end of the frequency band anyways.

JU - Will the spring increase the electrical length? Possible tuning issues after adding a spring?

Here's what I ended up with. The antenna is in line 'horizontally' with the stake pocket, and mounted inside the bed with an angle iron style mount. I'd say it's ~6" above my roof line. Here's a couple awesome camera phone pics:

 

[02RangerXLT]

WTF... that is TERRIBLE SWR... 3:1 can hurt your radio, and 2:1 is also not that great... Wonder what would be causing that... That antenna is cut to tune ain't it?

 

[JohnnyU]

The spring would add length, but you need to measure SWR on a high channel and a low channel to determine if you are too long or too short. Ideally, you want to be as close to 1:1 as possible.

 

[feellnfroggy]

WOw did I hit your antenna height right on the money or what? LOL sorry jus a lil self braggin, but it actually looks good, alot better than mine at the moment. Mine kinda angles out like a feeler antenna on a roach lol. in the same spot.

 

[4x4junkie]

Agreed, that SWR is much too high. I bet it's because the antenna is too close to the cab. Move it back a couple feet (or to the rear stakehole, or up on the roof).

 

[89PBR96]

Holy moly man your bed is looking better lol when you get it figured out man I could use a little help with my Cb when I upgrade

 

[Bray D]

Yeah the truck is gettin some character . I could definitely help you out when you decided to upgrade or what not, though, reading this thread shows you what I know about CB's haha.

Well my original 'creative' mounting location has proven to be a failure, now I gotta find a way to make the thing work, even if the antenna will be higher than what I had originally intended. The radio is worthless if it doesn't work.

I stopped by a radio shop today and got a stainless spring. Tossed it on the antenna in the original mounting location. SWR still too high. Swapped my 9' coax for my 18' coax. Still too high.

The guy at the radio shop suggested I move it up so the angle mount bolts right to the side of my stake pocket, that would put the antenna mounting location in line with the stake pocket, and ~1-2" lower than the top of my bed rail.

I went ahead and did that, and attached the antenna with the spring. I'd say it's 1-1.5' over the top of my cab. Guaranteed it will get smoked by some branches. The spring should take care of it though, hopefully.

I've got a 1.9:1 tune at both 1 and 40 with the current setup. I tuned it in between storms as well, so the weather wasn't the greatest. Dunno if it'll drop lower when the weather clears up. I'll check again tomorrow if its clear out.

A 2' antenna would be the perfect height at this mounting location. Dunno if I could tune it though.

 

[JohnnyU]

If you have class at Bradley tomorrow, run over to Stan's radios in east Peoria. He might be able to tune and peak it for you. That's my plan f I ever make it over there.

 

[Bray D]

Class doesn't start till Aug 25 woo hoo

Never heard of Stan's. You mean Stewert? That's where I went yesterday to get the spring.