I have an A99 with the Firestik tip. I compared it head to head against a Workman Bandit, Radio Shack/Archer Crossbow 1/2 wave, a Shakespeare 176-1 marine "Big Stick", and an IMAX2000.
The Workman Bandit is a copy of the A99. It's performance was virtually identical to the A99.
For local communications, the 5/8 wave IMAX outperformed all of the others. That makes sense since it was the sole 5/8 in a field of half waves. Among the 1/2 waves, the A99 with the FS-99 outperformed all others for local work - coming in just a little stronger than the A99 with the stock tip.
For skip, the A99 with the FS-99 tip outperformed everything else. The stock A99 came in a close second. The Bandit performed just like the A99. For skip, the IMAX2000 came in behind the A99 & Bandit antennas. For both skip and local, the Crossbow and Big Stick - which I understand to be basically the same antenna - were the poorer performers.
I found the FS-99 to make a difference for the better, but it did not bring my A99 to work as well locally as a true 5/8 omni. For skip, the A99 performed best regardless of which top section was used - doing just a little better with the FS-99 tip.
