"The Great Antenna Test of 2025"

[slowmover]

Speaker Location

Forgot to add:

Speaker can be higher than shown.

Speaker can be slightly behind headrest (barely).

Set it back out of the way, but keep it above left shoulder in some fashion.

Left Ear Dominance

The naturalness of sound from this position is a significant aid to quickly intuiting meaning.

Given the amount of noise to wade thru with HF — even “best” radio rig as one has worked at it — this location is at least as important as the radio spec.

Audiophiles go to a great deal of trouble orienting stereo speakers. Some rebuild the room or add on to the house. The minute details change one’s perceptions. An inch here or there can be revelatory.

Given how fast things happen with 125-MPH closing speeds . . . the speaker design & location is crucial. Trying to get brain up to speed doesn’t work.

Lowered volume against extraneous noises is significant as an aid. Open windows and panicky passenger aren't to be obstacles to understanding RX.

It’s FAR easier to monitor all day.

For a truck driver it can over time become automatic to respond and appropriately react. Second instinct. For automobile owners that’s a groove that’s hit maybe on a long summer vacation trip, or, for the motivated, anticipated with tools at hand.

— One doesn’t need to get up to speed when he’s already aware of the event stream.

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[niceguy71]

Speaker Location

Forgot to add:

Speaker can be higher than shown.

Speaker can be slightly behind headrest (barely).

Set it back out of the way, but keep it above left shoulder in some fashion.

Left Ear Dominance

The naturalness of sound from this position is a significant aid to quickly intuiting meaning.

Given the amount of noise to wade thru with HF — even “best” radio rig as one has worked at it — this location is at least as important as the radio spec.

Audiophiles go to a great deal of trouble orienting stereo speakers. Some rebuild the room or add on to the house. The minute details change one’s perceptions. An inch here or there can be revelatory.

Given how fast things happen with 125-MPH closing speeds . . . the speaker design & location is crucial. Trying to get brain up to speed doesn’t work.

Lowered volume against extraneous noises is significant as an aid. Open windows and panicky passenger aren't to be obstacles to understanding RX.

It’s FAR easier to monitor all day.

For a truck driver it can over time become automatic to respond and appropriately react. Second instinct. For automobile owners that’s a groove that’s hit maybe on a long summer vacation trip, or, for the motivated, anticipated with tools at hand.

— One doesn’t need to get up to speed when he’s already aware of the event stream.

.

my plan is to install the speaker behind the seats... it's a regular cab pick-up so behind the seats is just storage..... there is a plastic molding on the side of the truck with a storage pocket... but I think I'll screw it into the plastic molding behind the seat.. on the left side..... but I'm very hard of hearing in my left ear.... so I may see if I put it behind the seat head height maybe directly behind the headrest.....
just getting it off the floor will be a huge help.
I bought the speaker from E=bay... $69.99 from Rooster's Radio Connection with free shipping

 

[slowmover]

my plan is to install the speaker behind the seats... it's a regular cab pick-up so behind the seats is just storage..... there is a plastic molding on the side of the truck with a storage pocket... but I think I'll screw it into the plastic molding behind the seat.. on the left side..... but I'm very hard of hearing in my left ear.... so I may see if I put it behind the seat head height maybe directly behind the headrest.....
just getting it off the floor will be a huge help.
I bought the speaker from E=bay... $69.99 from Rooster's Radio Connection with free shipping

Experiment.

With windows opened and closed.

NOAA broadcast ain’t the same, but it’d do for gross correction of hearing abnormalities. Then use on AM to fine tune position. There’ll be a sweet spot.

Moving, as one needs visual attention at work as well.

High up and aimed downwards was big truck position. Couldn’t have reached it easily while seated.

No other sound source comes from same area.

Stereo system uses whole of cab . . this we want from the area designated as possible.

Etc.

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[slowmover]

“. . I bought the speaker from E=bay... $69.99 from Rooster's Radio Connection with free shipping”.

Having passed thru those hands you may have to call @jcrmadden for translation of eastern Tennessee into English due to “speaker coloration”.

Kain-tuck is the harder dialect, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to get you some phonemic clues.

Being down home is a whiz for him after much broader professional experience:



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[niceguy71]

terrible update

I wrote this letter to WX2Watch..... but people may be waiting for me to post the finished antenna test.... so I'll post the letter here too.

a few weeks ago some of my YouTube viewers noticed my SWR was way off??? I told them it was because I was on side band.... you can't do SWR on Side Band.

but I started to notice it in all of my videos on the GAT ( "Great Antenna Test") ??? WX2's radio was fine.... but my radio showed a SWR of 10????
if you look at the 3 or 4 videos I posted in this thread you will see my display

so I looked at my system and when I took out my old Grant the day of the test... a 2 foot coax didn't seem to firmly connect ( I'm guessing)... my little SWR meter showed the SWR was fine on all the antennas???? and my Rig Expert was fine on all the antennas....

the 2 foot long coax went from the radio to a Palomar filter... then another coax went from the Palomar filter to the little SWR meter.... so the little SWR meter was seeing the SWR on the antenna... but the problem was from the back of the radio to the Palomar filter... so the little SWR meter was right as it can't test backwards and from that meter to the antenna the SWR was ok.

anyway I notice it got better a couple times ... I NEVER look at my radio when I'm driving... my old Grant radio didn't show the SWR ...hence the separate SWR meter.....

so on almost every transmission I did, the SWR was bad... on maybe two or three times the SWR showed good ( I may have hit a bump and it got back to normal... when the QT-60's SWR is good... WX2 would say you're booming in now!.... or this is telephone quality..... those were about the only two times the SWR was good.... HUGE difference

I kept making the video the last few weeks... figuring well every antenna had the same hurtle to jump over so it still should tell us how all the antennas did....

but I have come to the conclusion the test was bad from start to finish.... it really needs to be done again and next time I'll keep checking the radio display for the SWR... after burning that damn coax cable.... hopefully it's not in the Palomar filter.. I wiggle things and the SWR has been fine for the last week...... so I don't even know which two foot coax cable it was... I may replace them both and the elbow

I probably have 150 hours of my time into editing...... but I hate to put something out there on YouTube that thousands of people will see and judge antennas on when none of them were working correctly.

I don't have the heart to ask WX2 to do the test again he came 70 miles each way to help and it took over 8 hours... but I think that's what needs to be done.

I've been dragging my feet for 10 days knowing in the back of my mind I just can't show this video to the world.

at least I still have all the antenna's and that last test was a good trial run.... I also screwed up a couple google measurements... so in the next video I can correct that

I'm really lost as what to do.

so the "Great Antenna Test of 2025" will be delayed.

 

[slowmover]

I don’t yet have NANO-VNA and Signal Analyzer, but I do have the wireless PRESIDENT Liberty speaker/mic ready to go in with the Lincoln in my pickup.

Range is said to be 100M. I’ve seen videos where clear line-of-sight exceeds that.

I’ve assumed this will be adequate (not having yet researched “reasonable distance”) to distinguish signal strength changes from one antenna to another.

IOW, can I set a test stand 125M from pickup at a location free from surrounding interference; where operation of both doesn’t screw the S-A (is my hope; relative readings good enough).

If the assumption is correct then almost any Uniden or Pres can be used (adapted) to utilize the Bearcat 906W still available (Liberty discontinued).

The blessing-in-disguise to your dilemma is that (as noted by others) that a test with an SA will provide data not just anecdote. If it can be accomplished with the 906 then you’re ahead in the future with experience, tools . . .

. . and the prankster quality afforded by a hidden 906.

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[slowmover]

On another forum joked about parking at a major truckstop on a Monday night (no one’s feeling beat, yet) with Randy and using also the 906W to have an on-air argument with one’s self across two radios adjusted to sound quite different.

Since you’re from Boston . . the other guy is your newly-found cousin Delmer from Rutland aka “Rock Quarry Brain”.

While away from one’s truck. Amp engaged while APU running.

To the pleasure of a few other hands standing around in the open doorway of another big truck parked across AM-19 while seated on a chair near the back of his trailer LOS to mine.

Gonna light up the Interstate.

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[slowmover]

Or, get some homeboy so riled up he’s driving the lot lookin’ fer ye.

But my big truck shows clearly that the mic is on the GearKeeper easily visible thru the windshield, sleeper curtains closed (that driver sound asleep).

906 has possibilities.

I’m hoping I can use it also to self-test. Its value is straightforward already in leaving the vehicle to stay in touch during a walk-around. Nature call.

The Etc is some fun.

The payback would be the self-test of one’s antenna closet inhabitants.

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[niceguy71]

looking and listening to the radios when my SWR was good is a huge difference

( look on my display SWR is on the bottom..... for a minute or so I had a good SWR and the bottom meter barely showed a SWR... meaning 1.4 or so )

all 7 antenna tests were nothing but static???? I never knew my SWR was bad that day

I use my Tram 3500 and do a lot of tests ( bet I have over 20 tests over the last couple years)
and they are always crystal clear, even out to 12 miles

but this day my SWR was off and if you watch the video ... it's a major difference..

I'm not a happy camper

this was our Stryker SR-A10 to the Stryker SR-A10 mobile to mobile antenna test..... started out with a good SWR.... I didn't notice it was off until weeks after the test.

 

[niceguy71]

I know me SWR was way off and the test is going to be useless....

I like doing these tests and videos.... so seeing I got the complete Stryker part of the video done.... we went out 9.13 miles... I thought I would share it..... I like to watch this stuff as it's always interesting to me... even with a bad swr

only one more video to go.... the Sirio 5000... it does sound very sweet... working on that one right now

only watch it if your completely board.

 

[niceguy71]

I'm working on my video...

I'm doing the Sirio 5000 portion of it now

.... I'm enjoying watching that video... SlowMover was right on the money.... that sucker works!!!!!

I didn't really want to buy it... it was pretty pricey... and it was so tall I thought I'd never use it again... but for the test it needed to be in there, as SlowMover really is so taken with it that I should listen to him and show it to the world.....
SlowMover has never steered me wrong.....so I bought it.

after I got it, I stood there looking at it, like I just brought a 40 foot tree into my garage??? that thing is ridiculously tall
I went to put it on my roof and the 6 inch magnet was so wide it would not fit in between the F-150's five & 1/2 inch roof channels.... I did the best I could and got it a 1/4 inch overhang on both sides... that greatly effected the SWR....
1.7 SWR on all channels... meaning it was not giving a good SWR or a true reading
... if I touched the roof it would drop to 1.2 to 1.4....taking my arm off the roof it showed 1.7 on all channels.... I thought it would still work good enough for our test and it did.... as there was no way to stretch my roof panel.... even with my bad SWR it did a great job... it was extremely quiet... it could be the conditions as WX2 thought it was quiet on his radio using his Stryker SR-A10

on my way to the highway I knocked down several branches .. leaves everywhere....... many bird nests... many angry birds flying around....
the Sirio has a heavy metal bulb on the end of the antenna... I hit a lot of cable TV and telephone wires going to peoples homes....no one in my neighborhood was going to be able to watch the Patriots that weekend.
when the test was over I went back to the parking lot that I had swapped antennas at... two guys from the FAA were there? I guess a lot of planes trying to land at Logan international airport reported scraping something while landing.

Sorry

I guess I could have just left this post saying....that this thing is ridiculously too tall....

but I was trying to make a point..... it will never be an everyday antenna for me.... as I go down deep wooded roads all day long... I don't know how Jcrmadden can drive in the woods with his skip shooter

if I ever need a mobile base antenna I can set on a car... I have one!

but on performance... I won't joke about that.. it did an amazing job and I'm enjoying listening to me an WX2Watch having a conversation back and forth at over 9 miles.

video to come soon

 

[slowmover]

Base Load Advantage

I’ve had several hundred strikes of the upper third of the flex whip of the base load PRESIDENT Texas 1800 atop my Dodge 1T since installation.



The similar height SIRIO 5000 Performer would be the same.

Stationary whip clearance @ 13’.

Permanent mount is the way to go with one (shown on an SO-239 BREEDLOVE).

Align fold-over for direction of travel.
Tilt back no more than 15-degrees.



If it’s “the best” for a given height, then, IMO, it’s the one to run. (It’s been awhile since I’ve heard tip strikes).

These strikes are expected.


Going to Ft Worth a few days back (my 100-mile errands run) had a rock hauler come up behind me the last six miles traveling north to Interstate 20. He called out on the CB as he gained and we had a brief exchange.

I forgot to ask him what channel the locals use besides AM-19.

But I’d have been able to overcome the deficiencies of that typically poor rig even as I turned west on a non-truck route to the big road.

— One can quickly lose the other by taking a new direction where the other continues on.

Fair Weather Performance isn’t the mark. It’s maximum range signal capture under trying conditions.

If I’m getting out “well” with a sorted NRC rig then it’s not uncommon a third party helps us come to a finish. Shorty antennas need not apply.

Total Height + Total Length is therefore the game. They aren’t separate. There’s not an advantage to roof mount 102” against our two antennas while on-road.

One can now turn to other rig details.

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[slowmover]

5’ Minimum
7’ Maximum

Within this is “the magic”.
Give that radio room to roam.

I have a Road Trip Only antenna. Still 7’ tall.
But a mid-coil design with a shorter whip. Stays vertical even at 65-MPH. (With a tuner, needs least change of capacitance/inductance to keep SWR “perfect”).

“Best Mobile 2025” thread argues for an NMO antenna as best suited to Joe Average: Radio Always Ready.

For someone like the OP maybe it’s a matter where versatility is paramount. As he’s made himself a leader amongst his local crowd and for us who follow. VG experience in local Mobile, Base, and Handheld (where he’s king). Knows what SSB is like with all of these.

“Versatility” is thereby being able to run nearly any antenna as a way of being of service (as this thread demonstrates). It was my choice for that as well as for personal reasons.


Someday maybe we’ll get him out on the road. Finally get his Ferd pickemup broke-in after he crosses Big Muddy.

One fast learns the Great Plains demands best gear.


(Canadian, Texas, near the old wagon bridge).

Whackin’ some branches is par. Like the throttle work he has to do to keep that BB SS Chevelle from loading the cylinders too much while easing out of the Dog’n Suds.

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[slowmover]

Predator 10K



Not town-friendly.

More typical, but still not suited for city the same way as a base load.



“Antenna Test”, mag-mount, roof-top, is a subset among choices.

There's some other very impressive set-ups given ones willing to run some HP with an NRC.

What’s shown talks almost all of Dallas County plus surrounding during the day. Nice & Clean, no a-wipe operation.

I’m thinking again about mounting the KL703 in the pickup. Run at 50%, max, and less in general. Alternator, etc, needs upgrade, first.


— Keep the vids coming. After you’ve acquired Signal Analyzer you could edit to show numbers.


Leave room for the SS BB Chevelle that comes along:

Post in thread 'GoldenRod 45 A+ antenna'
GoldenRod 45 A+ antenna

“ . . the GR 45 was doing just about the same as my single coil Predator 10K...No better, and not worse...Just about the same signal on both from what my locals were telling me 25+ miles away...” (despite being over 1.5’ shorter).
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[niceguy71]

video editing is a royal pain
I have now done all 7 antenna videos ...the intro video... the antenna height video... going into and out of the garage door video and the exit video.... been a long 6 weeks.

I will share the Sirio 5000 part of the test here

I am still trying to figure out if I should redo the whole test where my SWR was off... it was an SWR of 10 on my radio... not the antenna... the antenna was a 1.7 ...

I would hate to ask WX2Watch to make a 140 mile round trip again to do the test again and find the distances were the same.... in one minute of one of the videos I must have hit a bump and the bad coax must have moved as the SWR was perfect... and the test for that one minute was night and day different.....

so I'm still thinking about what to do.
if I get the chance tomorrow, I'm going to put a Stryker on my car and park it outside where WX2Watch was parked for our test... and I'll run one or two of the antenna's up the highway and see if I get better range and better sound...

but for now you're welcome to watch the last antenna test of my series.

get some popcorn

 

[slowmover]

video editing is a royal pain
I have now done all 7 antenna videos ...the intro video... the antenna height video... going into and out of the garage door video and the exit video.... been a long 6 weeks.

I will share the Sirio 5000 part of the test here

I am still trying to figure out if I should redo the whole test where my SWR was off... it was an SWR of 10 on my radio... not the antenna... the antenna was a 1.7 ...

I would hate to ask WX2Watch to make a 140 mile round trip again to do the test again and find the distances were the same.... in one minute of one of the videos I must have hit a bump and the bad coax must have moved as the SWR was perfect... and the test for that one minute was night and day different.....

so I'm still thinking about what to do.
if I get the chance tomorrow, I'm going to put a Stryker on my car and park it outside where WX2Watch was parked for our test... and I'll run one or two of the antenna's up the highway and see if I get better range and better sound...

but for now you're welcome to watch the last antenna test of my series.

get some popcorn

Post in thread 'NMO34 with the W640 (64" whip) vs NMO-27 vs CWB-27'
NMO34 with the W640 (64" whip) vs NMO-27 vs CWB-27



Ought to be able — with flexi copper sheet and Hobby Lobby refrigerator magnet sheet — to build one fits your steel roof seams.

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[slowmover]

In watching the video Id say you both ran out of juice at about seven miles.

Again, in, “Best Mobile 2025”, it’s assumed that a 5’ NMO and 40-70W radio (PEP) are a pretty good match.

To get past that on a more regular basis the goal jumps to, IMO, 120-150W PEP to make the most of a 7’ antenna. It also assumes permanent mount.

Past seven miles given typical eastern USA topography becomes a challenge also due to “civilization” and its discontents.

I ran the QT60 big truck rig with twin antennas and 265W PEP KL7505 for the most part. 7-8W in got me just over 200W out (max). 100W per antenna.

A KL203 is inexpensive and a handy tool in some cases. This antenna range test with the 5K Performer would have been one of them.

Why do I want an amp?
Because I can still hear the other guy and he can hear me. At the seven-mile mark on a quiet channel. Barely.

The Performer antenna and a higher wattage TX signal would make comparable what you have to my pickup truck radio rig (in turn close to the big truck rig). The proper mount of a DRX-901 is the other part.

I also think it possible the pickup roof isn’t bonded as well as it might be. The use of adhesives in manufacturing over pinch welds changed things.

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[niceguy71]

View attachment 190288

Post in thread 'NMO34 with the W640 (64" whip) vs NMO-27 vs CWB-27'
NMO34 with the W640 (64" whip) vs NMO-27 vs CWB-27

View attachment 190289

Ought to be able — with flexi copper sheet and Hobby Lobby refrigerator magnet sheet — to build one fits your steel roof seams.

.

Sirio sells a magnetic mount Sirio 5000 Performer for $135 .. and that's what I bought. Mag mount Sirio

if I had known, I needed a 5 inch mag mount instead of a 6 inch ... I would have bought a big 4 mag mount or a three mag mount and then I would have bought a weird adapter to go from the bottom of the Sirio that would then screw into the 3/8 hole in the different type mag mount... but it was a learning experience.... and I was unhappy with that big Sirio... and had made up my mind I would never use it again..
so I just wasn't going to spend another penny on it... this test must have cost me???? I don't even want to guess...

Sirio $152 after taxes
Stryker $107
Wilson $165
Larsen $375
K-40 $160
Tram $63
lil wil $63

the Larsen I wasted $200 the first time with that 64 inch whip and coil and NMO mag mount and shipping an antenna is usually $30 buck.... then I spent $175 the 2nd time for the NMO27
and none of it worked!
now that I know my coax was giving me a bad SWR I'm going to try it again... but I'm not expecting much from it.... the Lil Wil beat the Larsen on our test

the only antenna that bothers me is the Lil Wil... I knew it would be junk... but I thought I would show the world how bad it was.... it was so bad that the $63 bucks really bothers me... I was going to return it but I didn't feel right about it.... and good thing too as I may have to redo the whole test.

 

[slowmover]

IMO, the audio the way I hear it seems representative. The viewer isn’t aware of your surroundings, I’ve assumed it’s semi-rural to suburban.

Every time you execute a vehicle turn to a different compass heading things’ll change. Why “the real test” of passing each other on an Interstate is The Gold Standard. (The near mirror standards by which they are built across the 48).

I think it’s fair to have used a quiet AM channel.

So — as before — versus re-do the whole thing get the S-A numbers in a fair test of that and then decide.

I’d also go over how to speak into mic and set Mic Gain numbers. Consistency as seen on other radio meter. Voices differ, yes, but we’d like to see S-Meter “equivalence”.

From 3-5/miles most stuff is “easy” (given RR recommendations). It’s once past 5-miles that weak links start to show anywhere but the Plains states. Could be install, could be settings, could be antenna design & mount.

Use of a power mic on your end would have been notable from the receiving statuon. Etc.


The 6.5’ to 7’+ antennas (plus 5.5’ GR-45) are in a class of their own. It’s assumed, IMO, that the gear & install can get the job done. It’s higher expense and more trouble.

1). I’d put a 102” on the stationary vehicle (roof) for those tests. And as above for the roaming vehicke.

2). Then change to SSB at the drop off point.


Muscle cars were impressive for short bursts. But only a Tri-Power 427 Vette or Hemi Charger were maybe going to outrun an A38 Dodge. Too many design flaws for extended high speed cruise (120+) past insufficient fuel capacity.



A Big Road radio rig “could” get halfway across the county. These antennas are a different order of thinking about how to leverage or maximize performance.

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[slowmover]

Sirio sells a magnetic mount Sirio 5000 Performer for $135 .. and that's what I bought. Mag mount Sirio

if I had known, I needed a 5 inch mag mount instead of a 6 inch ... I would have bought a big 4 mag mount or a three mag mount and then I would have bought a weird adapter to go from the bottom of the Sirio that would then screw into the 3/8 hole in the different type mag mount... but it was a learning experience.... and I was unhappy with that big Sirio... and had made up my mind I would never use it again..
so I just wasn't going to spend another penny on it... this test must have cost me???? I don't even want to guess...

Sirio $152 after taxes
Stryker $107
Wilson $165
Larsen $375
K-40 $160
Tram $63
lil wil $63

the Larsen I wasted $200 the first time with that 64 inch whip and coil and NMO mag mount and shipping an antenna is usually $30 buck.... then I spent $175 the 2nd time for the NMO27
and none of it worked!
now that I know my coax was giving me a bad SWR I'm going to try it again... but I'm not expecting much from it.... the Lil Wil beat the Larsen on our test

the only antenna that bothers me is the Lil Wil... I knew it would be junk... but I thought I would show the world how bad it was.... it was so bad that the $63 bucks really bothers me... I was going to return it but I didn't feel right about it.... and good thing too as I may have to redo the whole test.

Performer 5K only comes with 6”.
5” too small for windload.


The expense is not dissimilar to mine. Except mine added up more by radios and then by systems supply. (Have left out tools).

I had more than $600 into the last big truck antenna system, total. The “working pair”‘would have been cheaper for someone to just copy. Maybe $150-200 less.

True that I’ve enough supply to do the pickup and probably not have to spend on that, even with a fairly big amp included. Not a big savings, overall. $200? Already had the component gear. Nothing new except antenna system.

You can maybe do a raffle with the left over gear once you’ve finished the pickup. Help fund some installs for those cash-limited, but enthusiastic.

— The expense doesn’t hurt much seeing others try what we’ve found works well.

5K Performer and a 203 is a great Big Road set-up. It’s what I gave my son for his 4Runner.

Maybe there’s a Breedlove mount with changeable innards. Convert from NMO to 3:8-24. Then you could have best of both. Radio + NMO around town. 5K + 203 to make the Niagara Falls run.

.