| Author |
Message |
    
mikefromms
| | Posted on Saturday, December 06, 2003 - 7:18 am: | 
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Excluding the 9'whip, which of the three antennas would you suggest I buy: Wilson 1000, Firestick 7', or Anttron 1700. Your vote and reason for your vote is important. I want to make my selection this weekend. Let's get busy. You all have come through for me before, let's do it again.
Thanks,
mikefromms |
Ozzie
| | Posted on Saturday, December 06, 2003 - 9:12 am: |
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If you can mount it without problems the 9ft whip. A straight properly mounted and tuned quarter wave antenna is always better than a helical or any other shortened properly mounted and tuned.
After that anything else is to an extent a compromise so go for the tallest antenna that has the minimum loading added. |
Buck
| | Posted on Saturday, December 06, 2003 - 9:29 am: |
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Personally I would get the 7' firestick...Right behind the 102" whip. Cant beat a whip but you can come close to one....7' firestick
Buck |
Wolverine
| | Posted on Saturday, December 06, 2003 - 9:38 am: |
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I'd go for the A-1700, only because you get the best of both worlds. You have 24" of helical winding, a 48" steel whip, totaling 6'. All of this, on one antenna!
Wolverine. |
Sparkomatic
| | Posted on Saturday, December 06, 2003 - 10:07 am: |
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Without knowing what kind of vehicle you have it would be hard to say. From 1st hand experience the roof is by far the best location for an antenna as far as performance goes.
I had a 9' steel whip mounted on the tool box on my 96 F150 supercab p/u. I tried a Wilson 5000 roof mount and it not only outperformed the steel whip in the "Strongest" direction but in every direction.
I have a rule of thumb..........never drill holes in the body of a vehicle that you are making payments on.LOL |
mikefromms
| | Posted on Saturday, December 06, 2003 - 5:37 pm: |
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Ok. I'm driving a 1996 Chevrolet Cavaliar. It's a mid-size car. I'm running an NMO mount with a Larson bottom loaded antenna. It does a "decent" job but I want more. Thanks for all your help.
mikefrommms |
Karatebutcher
| | Posted on Saturday, December 06, 2003 - 5:53 pm: |
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I have the 4 foot Firestick, the 5 foot Fire stick, and the 103 steel whip, the 4 foot Firestick gets out better and shows it on the meter than the 5 foot Firestick, but the 103 steel whip mounted on the back of my Nissian Pathfinder bumper gets out better than both. |
Crafter
| | Posted on Saturday, December 06, 2003 - 6:38 pm: |
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Wilson 1000 mag mount. Keeps you from looking like a dork too! My kids used to hate to ride with me and my 102 inch whips. LOL. I use wilson 1000's on mirror mounts now. wife likes it better too. |
Bigbob
| | Posted on Saturday, December 06, 2003 - 6:45 pm: |
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A 6' Francis antenna is a good choice,the one I tried was continuously loaded,and 3 strands of 18 gauge wire for more power handling.Bigbob P.S. I didn't like orange color. |
Ca346
| | Posted on Saturday, December 06, 2003 - 8:51 pm: |
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Wilson 1000 Roof mount. 62" high. Goes on and off in 30 seconds or less. I have one on my little Toyota Tacoma Pickup and I have talked with Australia from California mibile! |
Marlboro_Man
| | Posted on Saturday, December 06, 2003 - 9:03 pm: |
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I have no personal experience with an A 1700 but I have run both the Firestick and the Wilson. Right now I run a Wilson 5000 mag mount but best bang for the buck... I'd have to go with the Firestick!!
Marlboro_Man |
Wolverine
| | Posted on Sunday, December 07, 2003 - 5:49 pm: |
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Wilson 1000 and 5000 ants are 1/4 wave. Anttron A-1700 antenna is a 1/2 wave. Firesticks are usually a 5/8 wave radiation pattern.
Wolverine. |
mikefromms
| | Posted on Monday, December 08, 2003 - 7:13 am: |
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Well I made my choice and order. I ordered the Anttron 1700 and a pa horn.--Why the pa horn? Well, if it's really noisy I can still talk to the car in front of me by using my radio. LOL! Actually, the pa horn is going on the house so I can surprise guest who drive up or tell my wive's attention if I forget to tell her something.
mikefromms |
Tallman
| | Posted on Monday, December 08, 2003 - 10:55 am: |
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Hi there,
My vote is The "Wilson 1000" all the way!Good tx & rx for the money..
T-man |
Bullet
| | Posted on Monday, December 08, 2003 - 12:26 pm: |
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of the 3 id get the 7 foot firestick its 5/8th wave, dual wound, and does a great job on tx/rx.
it's one of the best mobile antennas out thier as far as performance goes. |
mikefromms
| | Posted on Monday, December 08, 2003 - 10:09 pm: |
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If I decide I don't like the A-1700 I might have to try a Wilson or 7' firestick. But the A-1700 seems to get thumbs up from the Techs and other antenna dealers and it's the broadest banded; so, I'm going with it. Thanks for all the help everyone. I value your opinions.
mikefromms |
Foxracing
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 09, 2003 - 1:02 pm: |
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Go for the WILSON I telling you it is the best. Money wise, durability and strenght good TX and RX It also depends on how much watts are going to put through it so get the 5000 and move on with your life. It is also good with the twist off center makes it easy for me to take off before im in the woods and easy to twist on when I come out. Hope it helps.
Fox |
mikefromms
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 09, 2003 - 3:28 pm: |
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Thx Foxracing, I almost got the Wilson but elected to go with the A-1700 because of the comments from the Techs and antenna salesmen who frequent here. No doubt, the Wilsons are top of the line. I'll let you and everyone else know what I think about my A-1700. I will try it first with a 5" magnet mount. The good performance with good broad band coverage really helped sell me on this product. Hopefull, I can get the cb band with a good portion of the 10 meter band. They say it will broad band about 1.8 Mhz. We'll see how it works with my Lincoln radio. Thanks for your input.
mikefromms |
mikefromms
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 10, 2003 - 6:58 pm: |
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Got the Anttron 1700 on the car today with a mag mount. Haven't had a good chance to check out the performance but man this thing is broad banded! I literally have usable swr on every part of the bands on my Lincoln except for may the last part of 10 meters. I mean the swr is 1:1 for broad bands and then comes up. I just shoved the antenna top down as far as it will go into the bottom section and it's working it's magic. Now I can talk 10 meters without worrying about swr.
mikefromms |
Hubcap320
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 10, 2003 - 8:28 pm: |
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I HAVE A 94 CHEVY S10 I DRILLED A HOLE IN THE ROOF
PUT A SOLARCON HM1 MOUNT WITH A STRIKER ANTENNA
RECEIVE AND TRNSMITT EXCELLENT. SWR UNDE A 1:5:1 FROM 25.975 TO 28.000 |
Tech833
| | Posted on Friday, December 12, 2003 - 10:49 pm: |
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Out of those 3 choices, I would install the 7 foot Firestik.
As far as looks, the Wilson 1000. The Cavalier is a smallish car, so the big Firestik might be a little ... Ugly. |
mikefromms
| | Posted on Saturday, December 13, 2003 - 11:25 am: |
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Yeah, the A-1700 is borderline ugly on the trunk but it will pass. I don't see how any antenna could outperform this antenna in any way on a car. I am sold on this dude.
mikefromms |
Jtc
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 31, 2003 - 10:46 am: |
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I recently got a triple-magnet mount from Copper with the A-1700. My buddy and I did an unscientific test then. We got in our jeeps and drove in opposite directions until we could barely hear each other on SSB. We then tried the A-1700, a 102" whip, and the Wilson 5000. The Wilson blew away the A-1700 by a big margin, and was actually slightly better than the 102" whip. I saw a similar test on another forum recently, I think it was PacificCB, and they had similat results with the Wilson 5000 beating the K40, a Firestick, and others. |
Kiwikid
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 31, 2003 - 11:58 am: |
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Hi Team,
HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all
And what a beautifull day to start to 2004
Even though both antennas are unavailable of the shelf in my country for a wide frequency coverage and high power applications the 102' whip.For in band operation the Wilson 1000.
73
Kiwi Kid
CEF195
New Zealand
South Pacific |
Moderator558
| | Posted on Friday, January 02, 2004 - 9:17 am: |
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FYI the 7 foot firestik is 3/4 wave according to the firestik web page
http://www.firestik.com/Catalog/KW2-KW7.htm |
mikefromms
| | Posted on Friday, January 02, 2004 - 10:29 am: |
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I might have to buy a wilson just to try it myself!
Mikefromms |
Climber
| | Posted on Friday, January 02, 2004 - 11:39 am: |
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7 ft fire stick, Easy choice! |
Cm3885
| | Posted on Friday, January 02, 2004 - 11:05 pm: |
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I run a old wilson 1000 mag mount that ive had since 1993 or so on the roof of my pontiac and i get out great! Can talk for miles and miles and shoot skip with little problems.. I also changed the RG 58 coax to RG mini 8 because it can handle power better than the RG 58. I also own a wilson silverload 6' that id like to try someday when i get a tri mag mount and stick that bad boy on the roof of my car! I used to run the silverload on a trunk mount but had problems with the mount working loose and id loose ground when id go down the road...
As a sidenote does anyone else run a wilson silverload and if you do how well do you like it? Would it talk better and hear better than the wilson 1000 i have now???? |
Mikefromms
Intermediate Member
Username: Mikefromms
Post Number: 103
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - 2:02 pm: |
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Well. instead of drilling a hole as I'd planned to get a better ground for the A-1700, I just ordered a Wilson 1000 trunk mount. I'll let you know what I think about it. However, I can say the A-1700 is a good and very broad banded antenna. I don't really need it that broadbanded just cb and early portions of 28 mhz.
mikefromms |
Poppathree
New member
Username: Poppathree
Post Number: 6
Registered: 2-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - 7:38 pm: |
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Hi Mike, if it's not too late, why not get the Wilson mag mount? It will give you the flexibility of placing it on the trunk or on top of the roof, and no bracket to have to screw on. I have one and I noticed different radiation patterns depending where it was on the car. Just a thought......73's-Lee |
Bulldog369
Junior Member
Username: Bulldog369
Post Number: 18
Registered: 2-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - 11:00 pm: |
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i run the wilson 1000.. an i love it.. i have no problems with it, the best match i have ever gotten with a magnet mount whip.... thats what i would go with.. but thats my opioin |
Cbblackbeard
Junior Member
Username: Cbblackbeard
Post Number: 28
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, February 26, 2004 - 12:55 am: |
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PREDATOR 10K !!!!! |
Mdiver
Junior Member
Username: Mdiver
Post Number: 46
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, February 26, 2004 - 1:15 am: |
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wilson....................... |
Freebird
Intermediate Member
Username: Freebird
Post Number: 118
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, February 26, 2004 - 2:13 am: |
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i tryed a 102" steal whip and a 5 foot firestick in my truck.i was about 15 miles from the guy i was talking to and i had a switch and tryed them both and guess what.i gave him the same signal on the meter.so i would go with the firestick also.funny you think with a big 102" whip you would get out better but you dont. |
Skunkweed
New member
Username: Skunkweed
Post Number: 4
Registered: 1-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, February 26, 2004 - 3:22 am: |
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Imo best antenna is with as long as possible whip. I`m using Santiago1200 by Sirtel.
Mike |
Tech808
Moderator
Username: Tech808
Post Number: 1634
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Friday, February 27, 2004 - 2:12 am: |
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Wilson 1000  |
Highlander
Intermediate Member
Username: Highlander
Post Number: 426
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Friday, February 27, 2004 - 7:59 am: |
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You can't go wrong with the Wilson 1000, for sure. Very high quality, great performance, and they look nice, too. |
Pp1616
Junior Member
Username: Pp1616
Post Number: 11
Registered: 2-2004
| | Posted on Friday, February 27, 2004 - 11:08 am: |
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id say wilson 1000 or 5000 i have run the 5000 mag mount for about 2 years now and i love it. i just got a new truck and im puting a new roof mount wilson 5000 on it. also alot of my buddys have 1000's and we talk to each other jast as good as most of the base setups around are erea |
Lazylizard
Junior Member
Username: Lazylizard
Post Number: 12
Registered: 2-2004
| | Posted on Friday, February 27, 2004 - 8:08 pm: |
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I love my Wilson 1000 |
Snowfire
Junior Member
Username: Snowfire
Post Number: 26
Registered: 2-2004
| | Posted on Friday, February 27, 2004 - 9:05 pm: |
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my first choice would be a 102" steel wip second would be a predator 10k. like them both very well |
Mikefromms
Intermediate Member
Username: Mikefromms
Post Number: 104
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Friday, February 27, 2004 - 9:18 pm: |
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It will look better on my car for sure. Hopefully I can get a good ground and it will work as good as the antenna it is replacing. Make no doubt about it, the A-1700 is a very good antenna. Never thought I'd run into the mounting problems I've encountered and disappointment with the magnet mount. Actually, it works fine unless I put fire in the wire.--that's when I have problems.
Looking forward to seeing what all the hype is about the Wilson 1000.
mikefromms |
Bigbob
Senior Member
Username: Bigbob
Post Number: 1650
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, February 28, 2004 - 8:57 pm: |
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All of this annecdotal evidence of antenna performance is irritating,what of terrain,I know of guys who have done the dx test with diff antennas and if they're on hilltops there is very little diff in antenna performance,but in the valleys the wilson brand of antennas take the cake,they have a higher take off angle than fullsize whips,center loads and top loads,the wilsons are much better for hilly or mountainous terrain and are better for local talking and are less affected by long distance skip,that being said my wilson silver load will out talk a wilson 5000 at 60 to 70 miles because it has a lower take off angle,but within 30 to 50 miles of my home the 5000 surpasses it because of the hilly terrain,distance isn't the only factor you have to figure in terrain and mineral content of the soil and bedrock,I'm told that in the detroit area that there is a high consentration of iron in the bedrock which makes it hard for local communication north by more than 20 miles,so before anyone starts comparing antenna performance list a few more parameters,as far as magnet mounts and amps go,use as many mags as you can I got a palomar 250 and the wilson is attached with a mega-magnet mount(4) from copper,1.43 swr barefoot 1.67 with the amp on not much diff,have the same diff with my boomer 400 on my pdl-2 and if I had a problem with swr stainless steel tech screws solve it.Oh one more thing on terrain,a friend went on one of those 4-wheeling excursions out in the canadian rockies,he used a wilson 5000 mounted to his rollbar cut for ten meters and made some dx contacts at an elevation of 5000 feet,he was in competition,and his station was unique,he was suspended by a cable 1500 feet below a cliff presipice,it was the only way up and out of the gorge,I thought it was very interesting,he took first place for the most original station location,so he said. Bigbob |
