Wilson Little will 36" CB antenna differences??

[robertwbob]

only reason im using the lil wil,actually 2. its rugged and ive owned it more years than i care to admit.
about 25 miles 1 day on 37 lsb with at 6666 i had great convo with a friend with lil wil. remember 1 time.
as for truck antennas best i had in 70s was those thin mid mount coil white hustlers. very flexible. i see still made. might get more for my t 600

 

[K9KLC]

only reason im using the lil wil,actually 2. its rugged and ive owned it more years than i care to admit.
about 25 miles 1 day on 37 lsb with at 6666 i had great convo with a friend with lil wil. remember 1 time.
as for truck antennas best i had in 70s was those thin mid mount coil white hustlers. very flexible. i see still made. might get more for my t 600

In the 70's when I was in High school, (and beyond for a while) I ran the twin gutter mount hustlers on a '65 Ford station wagon and a 96 inch fiberglass green whip on a spring in the back passengers side. I had a switch where I could switch between the two. If someone off towards the front left, I'd use the whip and other directions the hustlers did a little better. Always loved those hustlers, had them on several cars as time went on. IIRC, they made two versions of those gutter mounts, I had the longer ones.

 

[robertwbob]

In the 70's when I was in High school, (and beyond for a while) I ran the twin gutter mount hustlers on a '65 Ford station wagon and a 96 inch fiberglass green whip on a spring in the back passengers side. I had a switch where I could switch between the two. If someone off towards the front left, I'd use the whip and other directions the hustlers did a little better. Always loved those hustlers, had them on several cars as time went on. IIRC, they made two versions of those gutter mounts, I had the longer ones.

and hustler is still alive. i had the short hustler gutter mounts on my pickup. some ass cut coax n took the antennas. they got out better than many big antennas way back then. 1 other ive had great luck with was a grey antenna specilist maggie. its still in use too

 

[merlin]

I think where I would rate the 'Lil Wil' is a decent antenna. scale 1 to 10.
Performance = 5 (there are better perfoming antennas available)
Tunability = 9 (easy and quick to tune mid band)
Ruggedness = 8 (they can take quite a beating without damage)
Power handling = 2 (I wouldn't try over 100 watts with these)
Design/engineering = 9.5 (Tuned circuit contributes to compactness and performance)
Originally made in US, later farmed out to Indonesia.
New versions, gold lable made in indonesia, silver label, made in China (a clone)
About performance, the original compares with Antenna Specialist M-125.
the coils are tuned circuit and decent performance for 1/4 wave at 36 inches.
Power handling, about 150 watt PEP max. or about 100 watt ICAS AM.
They have a gain figure of about 2.3 over a 108 inch whip.
If you need a compact antenna and find one under $50, it is a good choice
I've seen them on smart cars to semi trucks and tune easily.

 

[merlin]

if anyone knows the difference between the Gold and Silver lettered Little Wil please let me know

Gold label now made in indonesia, still holds Wilsons design specs. Silver label, made in China. Typically a clone. Poor quality control, you may get a good one or bad one.

 

[merlin]

and hustler is still alive. i had the short hustler gutter mounts on my pickup. some ass cut coax n took the antennas. they got out better than many big antennas way back then. 1 other ive had great luck with was a grey antenna specilist maggie. its still in use too

Hustler is hard to beat, even today. Weather the 15" mast or fold over, the RM series coils were engineered for amateur and CB.
The Rmxx'S', that larger coil had a higher 'Q' factor, so a good edge on gain.
Just the price of these today, SHeesh, I bought a ball/spring mount, 15" and the fold over mast, and a full compliment of 'S' coils with RM11S
less than a RM11S coil today costs.

 

[robertwbob]

I think where I would rate the 'Lil Wil' is a decent antenna. scale 1 to 10.
Performance = 5 (there are better perfoming antennas available)
Tunability = 9 (easy and quick to tune mid band)
Ruggedness = 8 (they can take quite a beating without damage)
Power handling = 2 (I wouldn't try over 100 watts with these)
Design/engineering = 9.5 (Tuned circuit contributes to compactness and performance)
Originally made in US, later farmed out to Indonesia.
New versions, gold lable made in indonesia, silver label, made in China (a clone)
About performance, the original compares with Antenna Specialist M-125.
the coils are tuned circuit and decent performance for 1/4 wave at 36 inches.
Power handling, about 150 watt PEP max. or about 100 watt ICAS AM.
They have a gain figure of about 2.3 over a 108 inch whip.
If you need a compact antenna and find one under $50, it is a good choice
I've seen them on smart cars to semi trucks and tune easily.

pretty much summed it up. gets the job done . and hustler is solid as its here to stay

 

[slowmover]

Height is Might

Short antennas (under 60”) won’t have what matters most while at speed where separation distances rapidly expand. Distance = Time Available.

60” changed to 84” @ 13’ total height (rooftop personal vehicle) makes this clear in every situation I’ve tried (past the change from 72” to 84” in big truck with 14+ clearance the same results; many 100’s of thousands of miles).

“Range Test” is worthy (parked; mobile-to-mobile), no question, but Time & Distance tests (real life) will always favor longest/tallest.

If I’m just on a 30’ mile roundtrip grocery run to town, my 60” DXE would be fine (11’ clearance). A couple miles short of picking up IH-20 not vital.

However, the 100-mile roundtrip where crossing from one major watershed to another and into one of the top five USA metros is something else again. One of the 84” antennas goes back on.

— The better test is by class: design (bottom-load; example) and same height (or close).

An M61x240 ferrite toroid (11-wraps) ought to be Part Two among the contenders where it’s wound into the coax fairly close to the feedpoint. This might be enough to re-consider some choices. Some antennas noisier than others.


The short antennas against similar offerings by SIRIO and PRESIDENT (mainly Euro suppliers) is a subset worth exploring by someone, someday. As design pretty well same and height not terribly broad in range it’d be more QC oriented as a comparison.


A fly’n drive choice ought to be more than advertising copy.

Looking forward, and thanking the OP in advance.

.

 

[Chemtech67]

Hi Guys
well, I am slowly getting ready for my big antenna test of 2025
I have a

1 Sirio 5000 mag mount
2 Stryker Sr-a10 mag mount
3 Wilson 1000 mag mount
4 K40 with mag mount
5 Tram 3500 mag mount
6 Larsen NMO34 with 64" whip mounted to a magnet mount ( for testing reasons ))
7 Wilson Little Wil ( the only one I need to get )

I've been waiting to get my Stryker SR-A10 back from my sick Jeep friend... it's taking forever so I bought another one.

all I have to get now is the Little Will and I'll "borrow" one from Amazon

I had wanted to buy a cheap one... but they get over 53.84 bucks and it's so small I highly doubt I'd ever use it or even let someone try it out.... maybe I'll fall in love with it??? ( HIGHLY DOUBTFUL )

so they sell two different Little Will 36" CB antenna's????? one has gold lettering, and one has silver lettering... one is $53.84 and one is $63.89 on Amazon
one is the Wilson 305-38 300 and the other one is the Wilson 880-300100B anyone have any idea what the difference is... both say they come in a box
I wanted to e-mail Wilson but can't find a customer support e-mail

I guess I'll just buy the cheaper one.....

while looking I found a Wilson 500????? I never heard of it before.... it's been around for at least 15 years???? it's a 54" tall whip... and it has # 12 wire coil VS the #14 coil on the Little Will VS the # 10 coil on the Wilson 1000 .......I thought that was pretty cool..
the Wilson 1000 is 62" ...a Wilson 500 is 54" and the Wilson Little will is 36" .........got to give them credit for giving options.... even though I'm sorry anyone ever had the chance to get anything smaller than a 58 inch antenna as all the little antenna's have killed the hobby with their terrible range. ( in my opinion)

so if anyone knows the difference between the Gold and Silver lettered Little Wil please let me know.

Be sure you find a spot on the vehicle that will give you the best match when calibrating with a meter.