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Solarcon A-108PM

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comoman

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Anyone had any experience with a Solarcon A-108PM antenna yet? It probably doesn't have much gain, as short as it is. I would like to put an antenna on my RAM 1500 but I've got to be able to park it under a carport. I'm just going to use it for local talking. It will handle up to 50 watts but I don't need that much power. 5 to 10 watts will work for me.

 

milkman21218

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As short as it is it won't even do a very good job talking local. A 1/4 wave CB antenna is 108". And all mobile CB antennas are this length. They are shorter because the wire was wrapped up to make it shorter. But at 8" it's the size of a Walkie Talkie antenna it just doesn't go very far. Maybe a mile at best. Longer is better. You would do better with a Lil Wil or K-30.
 

comoman

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As short as it is it won't even do a very good job talking local. A 1/4 wave CB antenna is 108". And all mobile CB antennas are this length. They are shorter because the wire was wrapped up to make it shorter. But at 8" it's the size of a Walkie Talkie antenna it just doesn't go very far. Maybe a mile at best. Longer is better. You would do better with a Lil Wil or K-30.

I've looked at 2' long 5/8 wave CB antenna but anything longer than that would be a problem parking under a carport.
 

milkman21218

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All I can say is with a short antenna you will not talk very far with 2'. Why not just remove an antenna when parking? Many of us do. Ask yourself this. Do I really want to talk around town or not? Like I said in my other post CB really needs a long antenna. And one too short just won't get the job done. You can use whatever you like. But you really won't like how it performs if you can't get the distance that you want.
 
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jonwienke

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Antennas that are a lot shorter than the wavelength work poorly on transmit and receive. You may be able to get SWR low, but you're still not going to get much range.

Your only choices are crappy reception or removal before parking. Or park outside the carport.
 

SCPD

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I think you would have much better range putting a 1/4 wave off the front or rear bumper, instead of using that antenna.
Even with a good 5/8ths on the roof, you may be able to slowly pull in and out of the carport without no damage to the antenna.
 
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