Mobile Mobile antenna choice

[Highway Man]

I'd like to see that! skip off a dummy load.
however I do agree with your reasoning.
I've went down this road long ago and was reasonably confident in the conclusions I made and done the test with evening time ground waves which I preferred working the most. In no scientific way I came to the conclusion that my best DX antenna wasn't the my best ground wave antenna which I already mentioned here with some replies in disagreement. This subject has always been and always will be. There are so many variables with a mobile installation.

 

[530]

Using DX contacts as any indication of the worth of an antenna is wasting your time. Conditions can change from second to second, I'm sure even you have heard a DX station, watched your S meter and it has been rising and falling as they're talking.

As dledinger said, once you get to 5ft there's little difference between antennas, other than if you go the full 108". The only thing you may benefit from is having one with a loading coil in the middle or the top which raises the current maximum from the base of the antenna higher up and therefore sending out a slightly stronger signal more horizontally but the difference isn't likely to be enough to make or break a contact.

Wasn't DX. It was a base station and a mobile both about 5ish miles away. I do get skip from both antennas.

 

[530]

I'd like to see that! skip off a dummy load.
however I do agree with your reasoning.
I've went down this road long ago and was reasonably confident in the conclusions I made and done the test with evening time ground waves which I preferred working the most. In no scientific way I came to the conclusion that my best DX antenna wasn't the my best ground wave antenna which I already mentioned here with some replies in disagreement. This subject has always been and always will be. There are so many variables with a mobile installation.

Well from what Ive learned to believe is the predator is better for being up high "raining" down on people and the receive is great and an antenna like a Skipshooter top load has a different pattern more for distance and the receive is a little quieter. Myself I have used a Skipshooter way longer than a Predator and I like them both but from all my reading I do believe the above. Even though it is minute. Even thoug I get skip on both pretty good. I use my 102 or 108 inch whip with a riser/adjuster when stationary. I also like the Predator 10K Single 27 inch shaft and the 7ft Skipshooter the best. I use the 5ft Skipshooter and the Predator 17 inch shaft for driving. Out of the many, researched, questioned, and tried, and i have tried basically all and then some, I have learned what I won't use.

 

[Highway Man]

like you already come to realize, with a mobile installation I highly consider which antenna won't rip my roof off my truck which I've done before.
Any antenna that performs well, looks good with limited stress on the roof is an all around winner. That's why we buy a multitude of different antennas, for different circumstances. my 2 cents

 

[2NC995]

That’s exactly why I’m running a Wilson on mine.

Last truck I had the headliner out and reinforced the roof with fiberglass. I still imagined hitting something and seeing the truck opened like a sardine can.

Not gonna deal with that anymore, lol

 

[hotrod]

Well from what Ive learned to believe is the predator is better for being up high "raining" down on people and the receive is great and an antenna like a Skipshooter top load has a different pattern more for distance and the receive is a little quieter. Myself I have used a Skipshooter way longer than a Predator and I like them both but from all my reading I do believe the above. Even though it is minute. Even thoug I get skip on both pretty good. I use my 102 or 108 inch whip with a riser/adjuster when stationary. I also like the Predator 10K Single 27 inch shaft and the 7ft Skipshooter the best. I use the 5ft Skipshooter and the Predator 17 inch shaft for driving. Out of the many, researched, questioned, and tried, and i have tried basically all and then some, I have learned what I won't use.

so i must have missed ya results . thank you for all ya efforts. i too have done mobile antenna tests but been every bit of 20 years ago. . so whats ya favorite every day daily driving antenna based on performance , looks ,ect

 

[sunbulls]

Still not a valid test. You can DX on a dummy load when conditions are good and the only thing testing with DX does is tell you how well your antenna sends your signal up into the clouds to be bounced off the ionosphere which isn't really of much help if your main goal is to get a good antenna to talk to someone 10-20 miles down the road. Only valid test you can do without a proper antenna test range is with test gear so using a RF field strength meter and testing at multiple heights off the ground at a set distance so you not only get an idea of the maximum level of RF being thrown out but at the angle that maximum occurs.

Years ago I tuned my 35 watt CW transmitter with a 50 watt light bulb. I stopped using it and purchased a Heathkit Cantenna after some skip stations called me back. Those little light bulb dummy loads made for CB radios will also broadcast several blocks.

 

[530]

Still not a valid test. You can DX on a dummy load when conditions are good and the only thing testing with DX does is tell you how well your antenna sends your signal up into the clouds to be bounced off the ionosphere which isn't really of much help if your main goal is to get a good antenna to talk to someone 10-20 miles down the road. Only valid test you can do without a proper antenna test range is with test gear so using a RF field strength meter and testing at multiple heights off the ground at a set distance so you not only get an idea of the maximum level of RF being thrown out but at the angle that maximum occurs.

Totally forgot about the field strength testing. Haven't done one of those since I had that old Radio Shack meter with the antenna thing lol. Good idea though., thank you.

 

[530]

so i must have missed ya results . thank you for all ya efforts. i too have done mobile antenna tests but been every bit of 20 years ago. . so whats ya favorite every day daily driving antenna based on performance , looks ,ect

All my test results have come to be longer is more and less is less, lower coils for short distances higher coil for longer distances. stainless steel whip could be number one or number two compared to a Predator 10-K 27 inch shaft which on my vehicle on the roof beats out the whip with receive and transmit although albeit it by a hair. To me third place would be the 7-foot skipshooter. If I want short I would try for a predator with different size shaft and my second choice would be a top-loaded skipshooter as long as I could. Mind you my Mount is on my roof of a Jeep. If I was a truck driver using mirror mounts or the like I would probably start with a top load like the skip shooter or even the Predator single-coil if there are no obstructions, NO tilting.

 

[2NC995]

If I want short I would try for a predator with different size shaft

Isn’t the 10k the same overall length regardless of coil placement? Meaning, 27” shaft vs 17” shaft, the 17” would just have a stinger that’s 10” longer? Of course, I am ruling out the dual coil versions.

I agree that longer is always better, I just think that you get to a point of diminishing returns after a certain length, and then you’re dealing with height issues.

What I do find interesting is the potentially different angles of radiation between base, center and top loaded antennas. I have always done roof top mounts on every mobile I have ever set up, so this isn’t something I have put much thought into before.

 

[530]

Isn’t the 10k the same overall length regardless of coil placement? Meaning, 27” shaft vs 17” shaft, the 17” would just have a stinger that’s 10” longer? Of course, I am ruling out the dual coil versions.

I agree that longer is always better, I just think that you get to a point of diminishing returns after a certain length, and then you’re dealing with height issues.

What I do find interesting is the potentially different angles of radiation between base, center and top loaded antennas. I have always done roof top mounts on every mobile I have ever set up, so this isn’t something I have put much thought into before.

Different size shafts are different lengths but not by much. I read in one of many posts where the technician was saying that the 17 inch shaft on the predator is a better choice because of the length of the shaft compared to the top shaft above the coil and what the lengths of each should be.

 

[2NC995]

Interesting. The 17 is the only one I have used. Loved it, too.

 

[Scott62646]

I also have a question, what type of antenna set up should i buy for my new galaxy dx33hp converted to cb, for a brand new cat D6T bulldozer,? I am ew to good radios

 

[Scott62646]

The company bought me the radio because we get 500 or so trucks a day. And they walk all over the cheap little midland they first supplied, i have a lil will now

 

[Buckholla1450]

If you had a choice of the two which one would you choose? It will be mounted on top of a 2010 Jeep Renegade roof, on a puck mount. Both are the same length.
My reason for asking I have always read that longer is better and I have also read that metal is also better. Which I am getting confused on as from what I have read on the coil antennas like the predator it transmits and receives from the top of the coil not the top of the whip, but the skip shooter as being longer has a thinner winding wire AKA metal than the skip shooter.

Iv never used neither one , but have had great results with trucker 2000 and 5000.