Better(?) mobile antenna

[Captain Kilowatt]

There seems to be something different in this thread................oh yeah, civility has been returned. See what happens when you have delusions of grandeur and nothing to back it up?

 

[jazzsinger]

gold , copper and silver are more conductive , but FWIU not enough to make any humanely detectable difference on a antenna . what radio are you using ? there might be something with better ears to get your RX up to your TX level .

He could always move to Glasgow, its that cold here, the mere mortal stainless steel 1/4 wave whip fast becomes a superconducter when it is exposed to the sub zero conditions in the west of Scotland.

 

[northern35s]

Booty, you've got the general idea. What I'm looking for is a better performing mobile antenna. I use a full 1/4 wave steel whip mounted approximately center of the roof of my s10 blazer. I've bonded everything on the vehicle; hood, doors, body, engine, trans, even the exhaust. I use a static drain at the rear of the vehicle. I don't want to run any more power, sitting with my head a couple feet from an antenna with a kw of power running to it is not my idea of a good time, besides I'm already "outalking my ears." I know any type of loaded antenna is going to be less efficient, I was just wondering if the theoretical improvement in radiation pattern could outweigh the loss in efficiency in the real world. Prehaps the answer lies in a full size whip made of a material that's a better conducter than stainless. Thank you all for your input

Want to make you're 1/4WL antenna a super antenna, well you're going to have to drive a long way to the sea, but if you ever find yourself by the coast, get as close to the sea as you can, it makes a monumental difference to radiation angle, if you imagine the classic donut shaped radiation pattern made by a vertical antenna in free space, well imagine that donut after its been stood on by a 350lb colossus of a man, that's what happens to the radiation pattern when next to the sea, most of my mobile DXing is by the sea, whether in my car or with my backpack kit. The downside of this of course is you'll lose a lot of higher angle radiation, but then talking to Europe isn't DX for me

Nice to see the thread return to civility

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

" ........ I don't want to run any more power, sitting with my head a couple feet from an antenna with a kw of power running to it is not my idea of a good time,besides I'm already outalking my ears ...... "

what radio are you using ? different radios have different quality receive and some are definitely better than others and sometimes mods can be done to make them better .