Frances 96" whip.

[Staybolt]

My cousin gave me his old Frances 96" whip today and i installed it with a perfect 1.1 swrs. Is this a decent antenna?

 

[davev8]

at 96 inch i am guessing its a fiberglass 1/4 wave with no coils etc ...you will not get a better mobile antenna despite the price of other antennas and what manufactures clame

 

[Mongoose]

Francis called that antenna the "Amazer" for good reason. That was the best back in the day and usually they were gray in color.

 

[AudioShockwav]

Yes, they are very good antennas, and you will be very hard pressed to find another one.
The company that used to make francis is no longer, and the 96" whips are no longer made.
The last ones I was able to buy, I had to have them shipped from North Carolina inside 1/2" pvc pipe.....cost more to ship than the antennas cost me.




73
Jeff

 

[Marconi]

Here is a patent on some of those Francis antennas and you will see they are more than just a wire inside some fiberglass.

Patent US3541567 - MULTIELEMENT RADIO-FREQUENCY ANTENNA STRUCTURE HAVING LINEARLY ARRANGED ELEMENTS - Google Patents

 

[Staybolt]

Hmm no wonder it matched in so well. I tried a 102" whip and i was hard pressed to get a 2 to 1. The Frances dropped right down to a 1.1-1!

 

[Shockwave]

Francis had better research and development than they had marketing. I noticed they always produced a better match than other unloaded 1/4 waves but how the marketing department failed to get the most advertising in this area stumps me. They had a major advantage and I don't recall ever seeing it explained as well as what is listed in that old patent.

 

[RatsoW8]

96" is a 1/4 wave at 29MHz. Does the linear loading make it resonant around 27 Mhz?

 

[Onthecoast]

Are francis really dependent on coax to make the 50 ohm match? I tried one of their 3' antennas and didn't have much luck.

 

[AudioShockwav]

Most 3' antennas suck, not much of a way to get around it, they are just too short at 27Mhz, you can try altering coax length, but the best thing is to get something at least 48" or longer if you can get it mounted.

RW8:
Fiberglass encapsulated antennas are shorter than there bare metal counterparts, even the old Fiberglass R/S antennas were 96"

73
Jeff

 

[RatsoW8]

RW8:
Fiberglass encapsulated antennas are shorter than there bare metal counterparts, even the old Fiberglass R/S antennas were 96"

73
Jeff

I'm pretty sure the linear loading used in the design of the radiators inside the Fiberglas is the reason for the shortened length. I've run wire into telescoping fiberglas fishing rods for dipoles and verticals and it didn't seem to affect the length of the wire at all.

I'll check into it a little more.

 

[Shockwave]

The effects of velocity factor become greater when the antenna element is completely encapsulated inside the insulation then it does when you simply run the wire through a fiberglass tube with an inside diameter much larger than the wire.

 

[Onthecoast]

Most 3' antennas suck, not much of a way to get around it, they are just too short at 27Mhz, you can try altering coax length, but the best thing is to get something at least 48" or longer if you can get it mounted.

RW8:
Fiberglass encapsulated antennas are shorter than there bare metal counterparts, even the old Fiberglass R/S antennas were 96"

73
Jeff

I don't disagree that they suck, but you should still be able to get SWR down. I just ended up going with a 4' firestik for the particular application. The tunable tip made SWR real easy.

 

[Staybolt]

I really like my 96" whip..

 

[Staybolt]

I never thought id replace my old reliable 5' Firestick with any other antenna. Well now its been replaced!!! LOL