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[niceguy71]

I got my dates wrong about Tucson doctor appointment, it was today. After I got on the I-10 heading west towards Tucson, I was able to get a radio check from a truck driver. I was glad I was finally able to get a radio check on channel 19. Other some chatter box out of Atlanta, the radio is pretty quiet up on the big road.

well I guess you've got a great radio and a good antenna!! sad there is no one on AM in your area.... but I guess it's only going to get less and less...
I saw a bunch of 18 wheelers in Florida a couple weeks ago as my friend drove me around sightseeing in Orlando... I was shocked to see so many 18 wheelers had a 3 foot FireStik's mounted on the door mirror.... figuring they must be running one on each mirror I started to pay more attention... nope they only had ONE 3 foot antenna on the mirror I must have seen 20 of them!..... so they are probably getting 3 to 4 miles out of it, if their lucky!!!!

if more and more people keep using 3 foot LIL WIL's and 3 foot FireStik's than the average range of CB will be 3 miles...... seems like everyone that buys a CB...... buys the cheapest CB they can...... this Uniden 505 is $40.15 on Amazon .... Uniden PRO 505XL ... if you're wondering how a $40 dollar CB recieves ,..... it receives like a $40 dollar CB!!!! ( you get what you pay for) Amazons top rated CB antenna PICK!!! if you look at the UNIDEN 505 link, Amazon has 7000 reviews on it!!!! in the reviews most uses say it dead keys at 2.5 watts ( strangely most are highly rated??) but 7000 reviews so they have sold 7000 of them that the owners gave reviews ... meaning they sold triple that amount that didn't bother to review it!!!!

with so few people on CB anymore... and with the people that do have a CB having the cheapest CB and CHEAPEST antenna you can buy.... the odds of you being within 3 miles of someone else that has a CB and the both of you are on the same channel. and you both have the squelch down low enough to hear the other fellow and you just happen to ask for a radio test while you're in his 3 mile range???? well the odds of getting a radio check nowadays is pretty unlikely.

years ago I saw a lot of Wilson 1000's or Tram 3500's and K-40's ....Midland made some center loaded 5 plus foot tall antenna's.... and I used to see a lot of Cobra center loaded antenna's on car trunks......10 years ago you used to see CB antenna's on cars and trucks here and there..... and they were all 5 plus feet tall ... many times I would see 102 whips ... you saw a lot of truckers with a center loaded Wilson 5000 or K-40 and other big long CB antenna's...... but now the Lil Wil and 3 foot firestik have taken over....
I still see a few CB antenna's on cars/pick-ups in my area..... a few Stryker SAR-10's a few Cobra HGA 1500... and a LOT of fiberglass whips..... and sadly a lot of LiL WiL's and K-30's

as more and more people buy these junk 3 mile antenna's and $40 CB's......more and more CB's will be put out at the yard sales .... I see the end of AM CB's.... the SSB is very popular now and I think even growing... but so many buying these $40 CB's that they will wind up for sale at yard sales soon.

so DavidBT you beat the odds for finding a radio check! congrats.

 

[niceguy71]

From Casa Grande eastwards on IH-10 are those returning to the United States from exchanging loads with CA . (Henderson, NV for IH40 & 15).

Outside of dust storms there won’t be much chatter until nearer Las Cruces. No one lives in the desert, per se.

To hear more . . . speak up.

Takes awhile to become (or feel) practiced in getting conversation rolling. Most drivers do it re The Job. Locals might talk farming.

Weather & Work

.

your absolutely right! it's tuff to coax a conversation out of CBer's
I have run into friends standing outside the grocery store, post office where ever... they see my truck always all waxed up and notice the antenna... and they all say isn't CB dead??? mostly I show them how SSB works great right now and their pretty impressed..... but others ask if anyone is on AM 19??
I ask for a radio check.... and never get one........ so I say come on, one little radio check... then I say I know someone's got to be willing to say hello???.... don't be shy people.... then I say I promise one radio check and I'll go away..... that will usually get someone to come back with SHUT UP or GO AWAY.... but I normally get someone to respond!

 

[WSAC829]

but now the Lil Wil and 3 foot firestik have taken over....

Because they aren’t bad antennas. Also just 24 hours ago you said you’d stop bad mouthing firestiks, and yet, here you are doing it again. Liar.

 

[krokus]

I wonder how many people buying the 504, 505, or 510, are off road types, that hang out on channel 4?

 

[niceguy71]

I wonder how many people buying the 504, 505, or 510, are off road types, that hang out on channel 4?

those radio's would probably do well for off roading

 

[niceguy71]

Because they aren’t bad antennas. Also just 24 hours ago you said you’d stop bad mouthing firestiks, and yet, here you are doing it again. Liar.

just hard to stop voicing my opinion.... just like I will never change your opinion about the LiL WiL and you will never change mine. ... at least your opinion comes from owning one.... mine comes from testing friends and family members that bought a LIL WIL and I was never impressed.
before I did the RF bonding on my F150 I went out to see how far I could get talking to my neighbor's lil will and 15 watt ham radio in his car..... we barely got 3 miles... it could have been the conditions that day ...I will never know.... but I found that 3 miles to be typical when I talk to someone with the Lil Wil...... my friends that I talk into the Tram 3500 we generally get well over 5 or 6 miles with their 4 watt radios.

I was thinking about that youTube video I posted of a nice young couple playing with CB's and he loved that LiL WiL so much... and I was laughing at him getting 3.8 miles.... but after I thought about it...... 3.8 miles from 3 foot antenna to 3 foot antenna isn't bad at all! and he said he was in the middle of his densely populated neighborhood. so I understand why many people love them.... but to me a 5 foot tall antenna will always work better.
now as far as changing opinion goes..... I completely trust and respect PRCGUY he has always known his stuff, and has greatly helped me with my mobile install.... so when PRCGUY, Merlin, MKKENNA or Slow Mover tell me something I BELIEVE IT!
seeing PRCGUY say's the Firesticks work.... I will honestly believe him... I don't think he means the foolish 3 foot firestick's???
I'm pretty honest, if I tell you I tried EVERYTHING to get a Firestik to work... believe me I will throw tons of money and tons of time into something if I think I can make it work..... but I was never able to get one to work for me... I tried a 3 foot a 4 foot and a 5 foot FireStik ..then I tried a 4 foot FireStik II and a 5 foot Firestick II...... none of them ever worked for me. so FireStiks have always left a bad taste in my mouth.
I see people here all the time trying to get the most range they can and do a lot of playing with the FireStik.... and I don't recall anyone getting any range I would rave about... and I've never seen a YouTube video where someone truly gets great range with one.... I watch Mower Junkie take a 102 whip out 30 miles on SSB to show how well it works... I've seen the Far Point farms guy try out many antennas.... he did a video of his LIL Wil and LOVED IT... but then bought a better antenna and then a better antenna and then a Tram 3500 that blew it away and finally a Stryker SAR-10 that he tells me blows the Tram 3500 away... seen a few CBers on You-tube showing how far they can get... but I have yet to see someone actually do well with the Firestik....
if PRCGUY say's they can do great..... I will stop knocking them.... I'm still going to say I PERSONALLY have never gotten one to work.

as for the LIL WIL..... I'm planning on taking 5 antenna's on a range test soon... and will do one test from my Base station and one from a car parked in my yard ( Mobile to Mobile )... I hadn't planned to use the LIL Wil as I wanted to see what was the best out of all the 5 feet tall magnetic mount antennas I'm taking the Tram 3500... K-40 mag mount.... Stryker SAR-10 and the Sirio 5000 Performer )..... but I am going to see if I can borrow my neighbors LIL Wil and include it in the test..... and I'll find out for myself ..... soon.

 

[WSAC829]

my friends that I talk into the Tram 3500 we generally get well over 5 or 6 miles with their 4 watt radios

Great. Whatever works for you. Every install is different. Not everybody gets the same results. Here is a video i found with a range test of a 3’ firestik, 4’ francis, and a 6’ skip shooter. They all did pretty much the same at 7 miles. As i’ve said before, a bigger antenna doesn’t always mean it’s better than a shorter one.

 

[niceguy71]

Great. Whatever works for you. Every install is different. Not everybody gets the same results. Here is a video i found with a range test of a 3’ firestik, 4’ francis, and a 6’ skip shooter. They all did pretty much the same at 7 miles. As i’ve said before, a bigger antenna doesn’t always mean it’s better than a shorter one.

that's pretty amazing... and on the taillight bracket of a jeep too!

 

[WSAC829]

that's pretty amazing...

If you take some people’s advice that 5’ or taller is better, then yes. What's amazing is if that were true, the 6’ skip shooter should have outperformed that 3’ firestik at that distance, yet it didn’t. Not even a little. All 3 antennas received transmissions were damn near exactly the same.

 

[niceguy71]

If you take some people’s advice that 5’ or taller is better, then yes. What;s amazing is if that were true, the 6’ skip shooter should have outperformed that 3’ firestik at that distance, yet it didn’t. Not even a little. All 3 antennas received transmissions were damn near exactly the same.

I looked at the video description and comments and could not tell if he was going to a Base Station or a vehicle... if he was talking to a base station they will pull in ALL signals in a certain area.... say 7 miles..... so not really a good test....
I take my Tram out 10 to 13 miles with different CB's to see how different CB's work.....
I go to the Texas road house about 10 miles away and my old 10 watt Grant and Tram 3500 generally give me a S7 back at the base station.... most of the CB's I test seem to all be about the same as my base station really pulls in all the signals in a XX radius....
just last night I did a youtube video on a Midland 75-822...( not published yet ) I love the 75-822 for a handheld walkie talkie it can talk to my base station for 3.5 miles with a 51 inch telescoping antenna and comes in loud and clear... most of my handhelds are distant and staticky and not clear... that Midland 75-822 also plugs into the cigarette lighter and vehicle antenna.... so I was going to the road house so I took it for a test... I NEVER THOUGHT IT WOULD MAKE IT..... but it did!!! and gave my base station the same S7 as my Grant ( after giving a 10 count I swapped my Tram 3500 from 75-822 back to the Grant and gave a 10 count with the grant... S7 again.... when I got home and checked the video both were S7... my Grant had a booming loud voice.... but the 75-822 was readable
so a base station will pull in all the signals in a certain area no matter what antenna.
but I will still say I'm surprised a 3 foot firestick could be picked up 7 miles away even with a base station

 

[WSAC829]

Nice. Yeah, i will say the 5555n2’s have a very “hot” receiver. Great ears, as with most all the other AnyTone radios and their clones.

 

[slowmover]

If you take some people’s advice that 5’ or taller is better, then yes. What's amazing is if that were true, the 6’ skip shooter should have outperformed that 3’ firestik at that distance, yet it didn’t. Not even a little. All 3 antennas received transmissions were damn near exactly the same.

Stirring the pot, huh?

Stationary means little. Nor does good RX alone in limited favorable circumstances. Testing has to be realistic.

— Both radio rigs at speed and in different compass directions. RX & TX. Is where it matters.

No one would bother with taller if it didn't easily outperform shorter. I’d have saved quite a lot of money were that true.

— You’ve 15-20,000-hours of use at any clock time in every conceivable type of weather in any of the Lower 48 just this past decade? Have a deep well of what matters when things get hairy? Of course not.

Believe me that I’d like to see many of not most folks in automobiles use CB. Would be better for us all. But the fatally-short compromise antennas they want to run cause them to disappear from the air sometimes while still in view.

Last time I ran a Lil Wil as fly’n drive antenna to a known excellent radio down a route of 1,000 highly familiar miles from big truck dispatch routing (several times monthly) it was atop an SUV roof . . and the LW was pathetic.

No end of talk on that route if desired.

Have to get them high (closest to 14’) and they need to be 5’ minimum with 7’ the preference.

If you think the short ones are contenders when it matters . . they aren’t. Maybe you’ll hear, but there’ll come an early point you won’t be heard. (50W or not).

Hear, and Get Heard.

Work to overcome the deficiency of the other mens radio rigs so that information exchange when needed has a chance across a SHORT window of opportunity. That’s always associated with an antenna closest to quarter wave length.

Maybe you don’t have an automobile. But if you do it’s easy enough with a 3’ any brand and a 6’ Skipshooter on a mag-mount to understand what’s 2+2 equals.

The 3’ is okay for being parked and talking across the campground. The marina. The shippers yard. Waiting for the ferry. 5-MPH in jeeps across a stream valley.

But not when it matters.

WILSON, SIRIO, HUSTLER, COWTOWN and others all sell premium tall antennas. Which no one would buy given hard-heads would prove them not worth that premium.

DX-E and HRO wouldn’t have this past month allotted space for the $180 planar-coil “Perfect” COMPACTENNA in 10M and in 11M (5.75’).

You make this too easy.

.

 

[slowmover]

My most common experience in running antennas as tall as I can with DSP in the audio is that the men around me ask to whom is it I’m speaking as they can’t hear that other man.

Never let your radio run out of antenna is corollary to have DSP as I’ve also the experience of out-performing some base station 18’ antenna rigs at 0500 on the Great Plains, Tennessee and elsewhere.

You selling NIB COBRA 29s? NRC AM/SSB and the right mobile antenna can put a whupping on an A99 18’ off the ground with a C29 . . the base station between me and the guy I’m talking with (both of us headed opposite directions) and Mr Base with his C29 & T-Star 667 can’t pull both of us in.

Have fun with your shorty and C29!

.

 

[WSAC829]

Stirring the pot, huh?

I pointed no fingers, or tagged any names. If you feel i singled you out, then that’s on you. I stand by my statements above.