something to ponder

[rfoverlord]

even though they are not new, i'm certian with all the upgrades in licensure about to happen there will be an influx of people wanting to get a new mobile antenna to go with the new freqs. available. here are a few, i like them becuase i live in a climate with lots of road salt and anything that moves up & down externaly will eventually see the seals fail.
http://www.hiqantennas.com/

 

[W5LZ]

They look like nice antennas. And at those prices they @#$ well ought to! Only problem (besides the $$) is that in most of the example pictures, the coil just isn't high enough.
- 'Doc

PS - If the guy with the 'glass' airplane will let me have it, I'll give him another antenna, and radio!

 

[rfoverlord]

i find the prices to be inline with what appears to be the "industy norm" and compared to the likes of ATAS 120, well worth it. i know they work better than a wet noodle. and i i have used them and the few people that i know with them perfer the fact that they don't have to deal with seal issues if you live in a climate that they use road salt and sand (not that there is not enough crap on the road surface to worry about) i like the tarheel antennas too but they do physically move (change height) which seems to accelerate pre mature failure in climates that sem to involve salts, sea and or human introduced.

 

[W5LZ]

Having sort of been in on the start of the screw driver type antennas (not too much of a 'stretch'), believe me, I know about their 'faults' - lol. I made one, then bought one, then decided to go back to the 'Texas BugCatcher'. I didn't move around from band/band, freq/freq all that much so didn't really need the motorized antenna. Most of the 'problems' I had with them were my own fault, just wasn't thinking, or fed them too much power (naw...not me!). If they serve your purpose, good. If they don't, then they're a waste. [And for that kind'a money, I can stop and change taps a whole lot!]
- 'Doc

 

[rfoverlord]

I hear ya on the stop and change bands, not to mention the things seem to "vanish" into thin rf air in parking lots. right now my wilson is serving it's purpose as it has for several years, but it doesn't go from 14mhz to 54mhz. so that is going to be my best option. hopefully without too much greif

 

[1200RI]

Don't be so sure your safe from road salt.A good friend of mine has a Hi Q screw driver antenna and a sgc amplifier running a icom-7000.Last winter the antenna arc down the side of the coil from the road salt and burned right into the coil housing!The good thing is Hi Q replaced the coil for free.So keep those antennas clean.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

So far I have been having really good luck with a simple 8 foot fibreglass whip and a Yaesu FC-40 auto tuner mounted inside the hatch door on my Ford escape.Covers 40m -6m and a perfect SWR at the push of a button on the radio's front panel.It's not as good as some bigger antennas but it works a lot better than some like the ATAS-120. Fun and convience is what I was looking for.

 

[W5LZ]

There's a reason antennas like the 'BugCatcher' are called a bug catcher. If you think a bug zapper gets lots of bugs you might be suprised at what this kind'a antenna can accumulate. I slid a plasti 'shield over the coil at one point. Found out that depending on the type of plastic used it can make a huge (not good) change in tuning. Finally gave up, removed it, and just hit a car wash sort of regular.
Not saying that the 'Hi-Q' or other brands of screwdriver antennas are junk! (Well, some of them are, but they aren't all that hard to figure out after a good look at them.) Being naturally 'cheap', I have a problem with their prices. Lots of other stuff I can waste money on besides an antenna I already have... sort of.
Oh well, since Henry Allen has gone out of 'bid-nez', you'll be lucky to find a 'BugCatcher' now...
- 'Doc