Good base antenna??

[Tokin]

Im not a big fan of the fiberglass stick antennas. I prefer metal.

 

[bob85]

Homer you must mean the no radial not much signal 3ft sticks that come with half a dozen different names on them,

weather plays a big part in what's the best for anyones situation,

where i live there are no shop bought cb antennas that i could put up and forget about for 15 years or more,
the odd person has had a sirio 827 up for 10years+ with some servicing, a few a99's have lasted that long too,

i don't consider here to be anywhere near as bad as some parts of the USA with tornados & ice loading

if you live in a fair weather area the shop bought antennas will do the job, some will do it for years,

if you have bad weather & need a put it up & forget it antenna then you are looking at something like the i-10k, coily excalibur, shockwave 5/8, vortex antennas.

 

[HomerBB]

Bob, I mostly was try to be a little funny.
Nevertheless, I agree with you.
If possible to do, I think a wire antenna that costs pennies to make and can be replaced when necessary for a few more pennies is likely the most logical choice in most cases, but we all like our sleek high dollar beauties.
Oh, wait, I don't have any of those...
You know me, make it with junk, make it for fun.

 

[scarboroughwa]

All of the production base antennas are good. Everyone of them will do the job. Install them at the same tip height and they will all give virtually equal performance. All of them are good , except ONE. ONE of them is no good. It is just lousy. Worthless. One of them. And I ain't gonna give you a single clue which one it is.

np. I was after someone who knows what they’re talking about anyway.

 

[HomerBB]

Sometimes I do.
I have tried a lot of different antennas. I love making them, and get a big kick out of successfully using something I have made.
To name a few, Vector 4000, Sigma 4, Astroplane, monoband and multiband EFHW, 5/8^, Ringo, dipole, sleeved dipole, Jpole, Merlin, and more. Mobiles, yagis, Quad loops and beams, EDZ, Moxons, random wire end fed, chicken wire ground plane, 1/4^ GP, fan dipole and more un-named experimental types and not tired of doing it, yet. So... all of them work. Most of them about the same as the others in their types/classes. There are reasons to choose one over another sometimes, and other times it doesn't really matter.
I have had tons of fun, and learned along the way, and still learning. One of the things I've learned is one person's experience may differ from the others using exactly the same equipment but in a different place.
For instance, Marconi has the luxury of some of the most conductive soil on earth short of being on the ocean. I have soil about 1/6 as conductive as he does, not to mention I live in the Ozarks and he on the coastal plains of Texas. We don't get the same mileage from the same antenna.
All of that said, it boils down to which antenna I like the most, which one makes me smile the most, and what factors into building that smile.

 

[scarboroughwa]

Sometimes I do.
I have tried a lot of different antennas. I love making them, and get a big kick out of successfully using something I have made.
To name a few, Vector 4000, Sigma 4, Astroplane, monoband and multiband EFHW, 5/8^, Ringo, dipole, sleeved dipole, Jpole, Merlin, and more. Mobiles, yagis, Quad loops and beams, EDZ, Moxons, random wire end fed, chicken wire ground plane, 1/4^ GP, fan dipole and more un-named experimental types and not tired of doing it, yet. So... all of them work. Most of them about the same as the others in their types/classes. There are reasons to choose one over another sometimes, and other times it doesn't really matter.
I have had tons of fun, and learned along the way, and still learning. One of the things I've learned is one person's experience may differ from the others using exactly the same equipment but in a different place.
For instance, Marconi has the luxury of some of the most conductive soil on earth short of being on the ocean. I have soil about 1/6 as conductive as he does, not to mention I live in the Ozarks and he on the coastal plains of Texas. We don't get the same mileage from the same antenna.
All of that said, it boils down to which antenna I like the most, which one makes me smile the most, and what factors into building that smile.

There, that wasn't too hard, was it.

 

[DJboutit]

http://www.dnjradio.com//product_info.php?cPath=27_59&products_id=224

http://www.dnjradio.com//product_info.php?cPath=27_59&products_id=223

 

[scarboroughwa]

http://www.dnjradio.com//product_info.php?cPath=27_59&products_id=224

http://www.dnjradio.com//product_info.php?cPath=27_59&products_id=223

Yes, This mob are the one that keep popping up. Cheers