mobile Antenna (FireStik II or Old Francis )

[Simbalage22]

Ok here in michigan I was chatting with some people and this cd was showing the difference between her K40 and a regular stainless steel whip.. The whip was bad ass.. I got a firestik 2 and and old francis and wanna know what is better till I get a stainless steel? I have the pictured mount and I plan on drilling a hole center of my roof for either, but I want to know what is better? hopefully it wont leak... Any info would be appreciated

Francis is longer, but the firestick has coils ect...

 

[Marconi]

What name is on the side of the francis?

 

[Simbalage22]

What name is on the side of the francis?

There isnt one.. Just sats Francis made in usa
8j pat no 3.596.273.. No coils on it

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

well , you have both antennas so youre in the position to tell us which is better for you .
typically the longer the fiberglass rod the antenna is wrapped around the better since its taller and the larger the wire that wraps around it the more power it will handle .

 

[Simbalage22]

well , you have both antennas so youre in the position to tell us which is better for you .
typically the longer the fiberglass rod the antenna is wrapped around the better since its taller and the larger the wire that wraps around it the more power it will handle .

You know I didnt take that into consideration (Power) Right now the 510 Uniden is barefoot with about 12 watt swing, but I didnt think to ask how much that Francis will take.. I got it free from an older fella (1Way) on channel 19, And I told him I had that firestik.. So I dunno. I am going to put that mount in and well see. I got a lil 2 inch mag mount (Cheap) and it reaches a good 5 miles no problem so i'd like to see a little better on the transmit to my base

 

[Chop]

love the old francis antennas.

 

[Marconi]

There isnt one.. Just sats Francis made in usa
8j pat no 3.596.273.. No coils on it

All of the original Francis antennas I've ever seen were colored Grey or Red and maybe some other colors. They also had names like 3/4 Amazer, Amazer etc., printed on the fiberglass. The picture is not the best, but the antenna in your picture does not look like an original Francis. I do not remember a slip on tip on any of the Francis antennas. These antennas were recently produced unsuccessfully by someone other than the creator, so maybe you have one of those. I never say one made in the last few years.

You will see in the patent link below, that the antenna is a coil of at least two wires, one small and one larger. This allows this shortened antenna to be resonant in the CB band and have some bandwidth. Another of their antennas was made similar, but it had 3 wires and was call the 3/4 something. This antenna is not tunable and should not be trimmed. The two wire are different lengths due to being wound together thus there is a difference in length that is part of the design. If you trim you may cut the longest wire and leave the other and then the antenna will loose its design advantage. This is the magic of this antenna and they are great antennas if taken care of. They will not stand up to hitting stuff like trees etc., without spliting the fiberglass.

http://www.google.com/patents?id=te1dAAAAEBAJ&pg=PA2&dq=3596273&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=2#v=onepage&q=3596273&f=false

 

[Simbalage22]

SNAP goes the antenna in the garage door!

Well I got her going today.. the FireStik won in a test from meijers to base, as well as to the people on channel 19 that were at different locations.. The FireStick II Also had better receive.. The pretty little (15.00) Quick disconnnect Destroyed in 1.5 Seconds, as I am so used to the little antenna, Was pulling in the garage and you guessed it.. SNAP.... i thought the mount was gonna break. Guess that was the weakest link.. I am not sure even if a spring would have saved me there. Only good is when I get another one, I still have the top so I can exchange 2 antennas very easliy. Will probably get a small, small, small antenna for the norm, and carry the big one for when I need the extended range.. But that leaves for more to forget the big one is on there and pop there it goes LOL... Maybe a stainless steel whip would have took that bend going into the garage LOL