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Can I use a center loaded antenna whip with a lil will magnet base?
- Thread starter undecidedcallsign
- Start date
well, you can use any whip that will fit in the little hole in the base, but there is no point in changing it because Wilson already did all the math necessary to figure out what the right length whip would be.
so unless you lost the whip from your lil wil, there is nothing to be gained by changing it.
most likely the whip from a center loaded antenna would be too short.
there is nothing that you are going to do to that lil wil antenna to make it better.
only buying a better antenna will do that.
LC
so unless you lost the whip from your lil wil, there is nothing to be gained by changing it.
most likely the whip from a center loaded antenna would be too short.
there is nothing that you are going to do to that lil wil antenna to make it better.
only buying a better antenna will do that.
LC
undecidedcallsign: Two questions. Are you asking about using the whip alone, or using the whip AND the center loading coil and whip together on the Little Wil? If you are asking about both coil and whip, why do you intend on using a center loaded whip with this antenna?
If you damaged your whip and need a replacement and plan on using the whip ONLY, then yes you can (as long as its physical length of it is correct). Also, you can buy any solid whip that fits the mast and simply cut it to the proper length. Replacement whips should only run about $8 to $10.
Now for your question about "if its possible?"
On the magnet base of the little Wil there is already a loading coil. Adding a second loading coil will change the match of the antenna. Theoretically you could compensate for it by trimming the whip, but I doubt there'd be much left of it by the time you're done. You could also take apart the base coil and re work the tuning mechanism in the base. Either of those two options wouldn't work well and you'd be better off not attempting it. Making a good reading on an SWR meter doesn't = good performance. I'm just saying it is possible to make it match. I'm not saying you should do it.
You could dismantle the loading coil in the magnetic base and remove it. This would work. The center load will keep the antenna matched to it's original desired frequency range.
If you damaged your whip and need a replacement and plan on using the whip ONLY, then yes you can (as long as its physical length of it is correct). Also, you can buy any solid whip that fits the mast and simply cut it to the proper length. Replacement whips should only run about $8 to $10.
Now for your question about "if its possible?"
On the magnet base of the little Wil there is already a loading coil. Adding a second loading coil will change the match of the antenna. Theoretically you could compensate for it by trimming the whip, but I doubt there'd be much left of it by the time you're done. You could also take apart the base coil and re work the tuning mechanism in the base. Either of those two options wouldn't work well and you'd be better off not attempting it. Making a good reading on an SWR meter doesn't = good performance. I'm just saying it is possible to make it match. I'm not saying you should do it.
You could dismantle the loading coil in the magnetic base and remove it. This would work. The center load will keep the antenna matched to it's original desired frequency range.
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If the stock whip was broken, buy another Lil Wil. they are cheap enough.
If you want to put a center loaded whip on there, just THINK for a second. The Lil Wil base has a loading coil in it already and you put a whip with a loading coil on it.......THINK and it should be clear.
And something to keep in mind with loading coils, as opposed to impedance matching coils, is that a loading coil only affects resonance. It has very little, or nothing to do with impedance matching. The only purpose of a loading coil is to shorten a 'too long' antenna, that's it. In almost every case, a loading coil reduces the efficiency of an antenna. May not be much, but it's less efficient.
An impedance matching coil only does one thing, it changes some impedance to one closer to 50 ohms. A resonant antenna doesn't have to have an input impedance close to 50 ohms, they almost never do. SWR and resonance are NOT the same things at all.
- 'Doc
An impedance matching coil only does one thing, it changes some impedance to one closer to 50 ohms. A resonant antenna doesn't have to have an input impedance close to 50 ohms, they almost never do. SWR and resonance are NOT the same things at all.
- 'Doc
Ok thanks all I know it sounded crazy. Just didn't want to run a super long antenna. Not getting any decent reception in my area with my little wil.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
Like I said, it is possible to get a match, but you would see a drop in performance.
You could upgrade to a slightly longer antenna. There are several antennas out there of varying length. Determine what is the longest antenna you can run for your particular application. You can expect some gains but I wouldn't expect leaps and bounds in a signal increase.
You could upgrade to a slightly longer antenna. There are several antennas out there of varying length. Determine what is the longest antenna you can run for your particular application. You can expect some gains but I wouldn't expect leaps and bounds in a signal increase.
Actually its yes...
Wilson sells and/or sold center-loaded whips to shorten the whip on the Wilsons. I have one in the garage right now that I've never used.
I'm not saying they work well, just that they sell/sold them for this very purpose...
The little wil is a compromise antenna. It's not the best, but it works, and sometimes works good. I have had two of them. Mount it in the middle of the roof and tune for best swr. My first one had a 1.6:1 swr on channels 1 and 40 and was flat in the middle of the band. I made a lot of contacts with that antenna using a stock radio and it was great for road trips. If you expect it to perform like a 1000, you'll be disappointed, but if you understand that it has it's applications and performs well in those applications, you'll like it.
As a side note though, I tried using one on a truck with a ladder rack and although it tuned great (1.4:1 swr on the ends of the band and flat in the middle) that was not a good application for that antenna. When an antenna is shortened, the majority of the radiated field exits the antenna at the coil. The whole antenna radiates, yes, but the majority leaves the coil. I know of 4 different configurations: base loaded, center loaded, top loaded, and continuously loaded.
In my circumstance, the coil was down in a metal hole of sorts, with the ladder rack all around it, which would block out part of the signal. I would be talking and hearing great for about a mile, then nothing. When I figured out what was going on, I switched to a 3' top loaded fiberglass antenna, and my transmit/receive range was greatly extended. Was it the little wil's fault? No, I had put it in a place that, because of it being base loaded, doomed it from the get-go. I would expect any base loaded antenna to have that same issue in that spot. So, if you aren't getting responses, consider everything before you junk the antenna, because I've had two of them, and they both worked good for me as long as I didn't expect it to perform like a 102" whip and as long as I installed it in the right place.
Longest local contact with it was 15 miles to a friend on his base station with a stock radio. Now, given that his antenna is high, and given that it was a quite night, I wouldn't expect this on a consistent basis, but it worked. We talked for about 15 minutes and could understand each other no problem. This also happens to be my go to antenna for road trips when we take my wife's truck. Easy set up and take down, decent communication range on the road.
As a side note though, I tried using one on a truck with a ladder rack and although it tuned great (1.4:1 swr on the ends of the band and flat in the middle) that was not a good application for that antenna. When an antenna is shortened, the majority of the radiated field exits the antenna at the coil. The whole antenna radiates, yes, but the majority leaves the coil. I know of 4 different configurations: base loaded, center loaded, top loaded, and continuously loaded.
In my circumstance, the coil was down in a metal hole of sorts, with the ladder rack all around it, which would block out part of the signal. I would be talking and hearing great for about a mile, then nothing. When I figured out what was going on, I switched to a 3' top loaded fiberglass antenna, and my transmit/receive range was greatly extended. Was it the little wil's fault? No, I had put it in a place that, because of it being base loaded, doomed it from the get-go. I would expect any base loaded antenna to have that same issue in that spot. So, if you aren't getting responses, consider everything before you junk the antenna, because I've had two of them, and they both worked good for me as long as I didn't expect it to perform like a 102" whip and as long as I installed it in the right place.
Longest local contact with it was 15 miles to a friend on his base station with a stock radio. Now, given that his antenna is high, and given that it was a quite night, I wouldn't expect this on a consistent basis, but it worked. We talked for about 15 minutes and could understand each other no problem. This also happens to be my go to antenna for road trips when we take my wife's truck. Easy set up and take down, decent communication range on the road.
