New with a question

[dryfly127]

Hey all obviously new here and new to the CB hobby, I had one in personal truck for a few years in the eighties but things have changed I am sure.
I bought a Uniden 590SSB radio and a 4' firestick-2 antenna on recommendation from a friend.
The question I have is on the antenna, did I get a good antenna or not, I have tried to do a search on here for their reviews but with no luck. I read on here about how good the Wilson antennas are but nothing on Firestick.
I understand that the antenna is paramount in the radio's performance and was wondering if I should cancel the order and go with A Wilson or other brand.
This is a mobile unit mounted on a Jeep with a great dedicated antenna mount on a tire carrier, base of antenna at the roof line and excellent metal contact all the way to jeep frame.
Thanks, Bruce.

 

[copperhd]

Wilson vs Firestck

A lot depends on your intentions/wallet. A firestick will talk local fairly well, but the swr is fussy. The firestick can be bought a lot cheaper than the Wilson though. Now, for the Wilson- It is by far the better antenna , but you have to pay for it. I had a Wilson on my pickup cab (magnet mount) and when skip was running I could talk anywhere the big boys on bases in my area were talking.

 

[dryfly127]

My intentions are to mostly listen to the radio as far away as possible in my mobile unit, I do about 200+ miles a day. Though I do not plan on doing all that much talking at first I am certain that will change as I am a bit of a talker, a least my wife says I talk too much.

I am blessed enough to make a good living and am able to buy an antenna that will perform well in the areas that I want. I want a screw on type of antenna not a magnetic type mostly because if it's easy to put it on the jeep then it's also easy for some punk to take it off.

Thanks, Bruce.

 

[k8krh]

As the other chap wrote firestick is OK but not for long distance. I have a WILSON 1000 on both vehicles, works like a charm, always 25 miles from the vehicle and no kicker on the radio, just a peak/tune..
DOCTOR/795

 

[freebird63]

Can you mount a 102" SS whip?? Kinda hard to beat a whip.

 

[jonwienke]

+1 for the Wilson. I thought about a 102" whip, but I have some low bridges in my area I'd always be scraping. The Wilson is just short enough to get under them, but still gets out well.

 

[jay_camaro1]

Wilson or sirio 4000/5000 way better than those firesticks,,, wilsons work great but are known for taking in water,,, the sirio quality is way better than the wilson

 

[jonwienke]

I sealed all the joints on mine--around the mount, and the coil/mast/whip joints, and it's handled some pretty heavy rain with no water intrusions.

 

[freebird63]

Yes Wilsons are nice antenna's.....a CB shop here local have a couple that didn't work from the get go, they cut the plastic from around the coil and parts of it were not even soldered. Ya my 102" whip hits stuff. But with them there is no tuning, mount them correctly and they work. With mine I can talk 10 meters, 11 meters and 12 meters, yes I have my ham ticket.

 

[jonwienke]

My Wilson works fine--has a SWR about 1.2:1 through most of the CB band.

 

[dryfly127]

Thanks to all for the advise.
It's difficult to respond for a new comer with the delay imposed on posting but I suppose it is necessary, the continuity in the conversation is lacking.

It was too late to cancel the fire stick antenna so I'll just send it back or maybe keep it for back up. I ordered the Wilson 5000 with their heavy duty mount and their cable with tinned soldered connections, I'm a little more confident that this will be the way to go.
It's going to drag into my garage every night but I don't think that will hurt the antenna too much, I did order a heavy duty spring so I may put that on if the antenna whip is too stiff and cause damage getting in and out of the garage.

 

[sdeeter19555]

Wilson or sirio 4000/5000 way better than those firesticks,,, wilsons work great but are known for taking in water,,, the sirio quality is way better than the wilson

Yeah, not so much...I have a Sirio 5000 sitting in the scrap pile that lasted just three months before it took on water and the SWR started acting up. That was lightly used on a personal pickup.

No response from either Sirio or H&Y about warranting it either.

 

[ChetsJug]

Holy Cow why is everyone baggin on the Firestick? It's one hell of a reliable antenna. I still have my original one I bought in 1979 for my '65 GTO. Yup, I had a Firestick on a ball mount on my mussel car!

Got news for y'all, Wilson sold to Barjan... Barjan sold to another parts company and is now dropping quality like the poor old RK-56 mic!

My rig has a Hustler, still made in TEXAS! I put a Wilson 2000 on it and the first tree in Arkansas that saw me coming around the corner took it off at the base! I'm sticking with stainless steel end to end.