Guess that applies to alot of things................
Indeed. Or: "that's what she said."
Regarding their lengths, is a 2ft firestick as effective as a 4ft firestick?
Is there loss with the smaller stick?
I'm assuming they are just a helical wound stub, right?
The shortest non loaded resonate antenna you are going to find is the 1/4 wave.
1/4 wavelength on the CB frequencies is 2.75 meters. That is really long for most casual use, and way longer than you'd want on a hood bracket like the one we were talking about above. To run one of these you need a substantial mount, either drilled into the vehicle, mounted to the trailer hitch (makes getting in the rear hatch hard) or mounted off the bumper or other such thing. They are handy for finding every low tree branch in town, destroying gas station or parking garage lights, etc.
Anyway, anything shorter than 1/4 wave on a CB antenna is done by installing a load at the base, center or top. These are the thicker parts of the antenna. This tricks (in simple terms) the antenna into thinking its longer than it really is.
On the Larsen NMO-27, it's a base loaded 1/4 wave. While the whip is only about 120cm long, the loading coil in the base makes it look longer.
The Firesticks usually have a wire or conductive tape run up the antenna. Depending on the model, it's got a coil of that wire/tape in the base, center or more often, the top. Same thing, just a different look. Some are just a helically wound wire on a stick.
Anytime you shorten the antenna, you are losing efficiency. A 2 foot long Firestick is going to be a worse performer compared to a 4 foot Firestick. A 4 foot Firestick is going to be a worse performer than a full 1/4 wave.
Key take away from all this antenna talk is that antennas are governed by the laws of physics. You can't cheat those laws. Some manufacturers will lead you to believe they can, or that they have some magic pixy dust they sprinkle on the antenna, but in reality all they want is your hard earned money.
People will swear by a specific model or brand. Reality, it has more to do with build quality and proper installation and tuning. Going with a known good commercial manufacturer that has decades of experience in the public safety communications field is a good bet. Going with a good name like FireStick is probably going to lead to decent results, same with K40 and the like. Truth is, they'll all work pretty well if you choose the right model and install it correctly. Again, no pixy dust required. Personal experiences will lead people to recommend a specific model/brand (just like I did) but that's only part of the decision. If you don't install it correctly, it won't matter.
