102 whip location
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ironic
- Skipshooter
- Posts: 220
- Joined: April 11th, 2007, 7:27 pm
102 whip location
I tried to look this up in search but it kept saying to common word and I couldn't get it to work.But everyone keeps praising the 102 whip so I figured I might try one.I have a mercury mountaineer and I was thinking about mounting it on the back left corner with a bracket.Would that work.And do you have to put the spring on it for swr match.What kind of coax would you need and how long?
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231
I'm sure you had a hard time because there are a ton of threads on the SS whips.
My experience with the SS whip is the more side reflection you give it (i.e. vehicle body), the longer the antenna needs to be to be resonant (lower SWR). When you say the back corner, that can mean anything from the bumper to the top of the hatch and/or roof rack. Whatever mount you go with make sure it's good and strong. And yes, I'd certainly plan on at least the Spring with it. It's a great performer and placed high enough will find almost every tree between point A and point B.
Good luck,
My experience with the SS whip is the more side reflection you give it (i.e. vehicle body), the longer the antenna needs to be to be resonant (lower SWR). When you say the back corner, that can mean anything from the bumper to the top of the hatch and/or roof rack. Whatever mount you go with make sure it's good and strong. And yes, I'd certainly plan on at least the Spring with it. It's a great performer and placed high enough will find almost every tree between point A and point B.
Good luck,
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ironic
- Skipshooter
- Posts: 220
- Joined: April 11th, 2007, 7:27 pm
I was thinking drill into the metal right on corner high as I can get it without being on top.How about coax length.
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'Doc
ironic,
Are 102" whips the best antenna that ever came along? Yes and no. They do work, they work well, but are not exactly suitable for all occasions. They are probably th oldest CB antenna around. If they are still around, then you have to think that there's something to them, right?
Having said that, they can also be a Royal P.I.T.A.! They are not always the most convenient antenna to use, they are tall. They are not a so-called '50 ohm' antenna, but then, no antenna is. Gotta do some 'tuning'/adjusting with them (just like all antennas). They are getting to be a little harder to find. Not 'rare' by any means, but the corner grocery store doesn't carry them like they used to.
A spring isn't always necessary. A spring has two purposes, sort of. They make whatever's on top of them wiggle more so that it doesn't destroy themselves and everything around them. They also increase the height/length of the antenna by the spring's length. Both of those qualities are good at times, and at other times not needed at all. Just depends on where/how they are used.
Because of several reasons, an antenna always works best by being 'over' metal rather than being 'beside' metal. Being on top of all the metal around them is nice. It's also not very practical! So, you have to sort of compromise performance to make it practical. The more of an antenna that's 'exposed' above metal, the better the results. A trailer-hitch is probably the worst place to put an antenna. But there are a lot of them mounted that way and they seem to satisfy the users. So, not having the 'best' isn't always terrible. And if it's the difference between having and not having an antenna, it's a pretty good place to put it, right? To some ridiculous point, higher is better. It also make the things a bit easier to tune, but that's a different story altogether.
Feed lines, how long and of what kind. A feed line needs to be long enough to get from the radio to the antenna without stretching and with a couple of feet 'extra' so you can move things without doing any of that stretching. Considering that all transmitters have an output impedance of 50 ohms, that's a very good 'size' of coax to use. There are exceptions to that, but they are few and far between. Your situation doesn't fall under that category. There are different 'qualities' of coax, some very nice, some total trash (nothing different about that, huh?). A good idea is to stick to a name brand. Which brand? Doesn't really matter, just so that it's 'good' coax. One of the things to worry about is how much loss is there. Losses are figured for 100 foot lengths of coax. I seriously doubt if your coax run is going to be anywhere close to 100 feet, so the amount of loss in any particular coax just isn't something to worry about. The only thing I'd recommend is that if it has 'Tandy' or 'Radio Shack' on it, find something else. It really didn't used to be that way but it is now. Oh well.
I've just about reached my word limit so I'll quit. There's a lot more to it than this. I'm certainly willing to bet that you'll see most of it here. The whole idea is to have fun, so, have fun.
- 'Doc
For a very large substantial fee, I will endeavor to reveal all of the secret 'tricks' to messing with radios.
(and if you believe that, I got this here really big boat for sale at a real bargain price...)
Are 102" whips the best antenna that ever came along? Yes and no. They do work, they work well, but are not exactly suitable for all occasions. They are probably th oldest CB antenna around. If they are still around, then you have to think that there's something to them, right?
Having said that, they can also be a Royal P.I.T.A.! They are not always the most convenient antenna to use, they are tall. They are not a so-called '50 ohm' antenna, but then, no antenna is. Gotta do some 'tuning'/adjusting with them (just like all antennas). They are getting to be a little harder to find. Not 'rare' by any means, but the corner grocery store doesn't carry them like they used to.
A spring isn't always necessary. A spring has two purposes, sort of. They make whatever's on top of them wiggle more so that it doesn't destroy themselves and everything around them. They also increase the height/length of the antenna by the spring's length. Both of those qualities are good at times, and at other times not needed at all. Just depends on where/how they are used.
Because of several reasons, an antenna always works best by being 'over' metal rather than being 'beside' metal. Being on top of all the metal around them is nice. It's also not very practical! So, you have to sort of compromise performance to make it practical. The more of an antenna that's 'exposed' above metal, the better the results. A trailer-hitch is probably the worst place to put an antenna. But there are a lot of them mounted that way and they seem to satisfy the users. So, not having the 'best' isn't always terrible. And if it's the difference between having and not having an antenna, it's a pretty good place to put it, right? To some ridiculous point, higher is better. It also make the things a bit easier to tune, but that's a different story altogether.
Feed lines, how long and of what kind. A feed line needs to be long enough to get from the radio to the antenna without stretching and with a couple of feet 'extra' so you can move things without doing any of that stretching. Considering that all transmitters have an output impedance of 50 ohms, that's a very good 'size' of coax to use. There are exceptions to that, but they are few and far between. Your situation doesn't fall under that category. There are different 'qualities' of coax, some very nice, some total trash (nothing different about that, huh?). A good idea is to stick to a name brand. Which brand? Doesn't really matter, just so that it's 'good' coax. One of the things to worry about is how much loss is there. Losses are figured for 100 foot lengths of coax. I seriously doubt if your coax run is going to be anywhere close to 100 feet, so the amount of loss in any particular coax just isn't something to worry about. The only thing I'd recommend is that if it has 'Tandy' or 'Radio Shack' on it, find something else. It really didn't used to be that way but it is now. Oh well.
I've just about reached my word limit so I'll quit. There's a lot more to it than this. I'm certainly willing to bet that you'll see most of it here. The whole idea is to have fun, so, have fun.
- 'Doc
For a very large substantial fee, I will endeavor to reveal all of the secret 'tricks' to messing with radios.
(and if you believe that, I got this here really big boat for sale at a real bargain price...)
-
ironic
- Skipshooter
- Posts: 220
- Joined: April 11th, 2007, 7:27 pm
Tunning is one reason I stayed with the wilson 1000 for so long.It was pretty easy to tune comes with the right amount of cord.I was just curious about a differant way to go.But if the 102 whip is a pain I may not do it.I was going try to get it up high enough that theirs not much side metal intaference.I would never put it on the tow hitch or middle of cab.I know its pretty tall but not much tree's that I drive thru.I figured I could strap it down if I went thru a drive thru of some sort.Radio shack 102 for 19.99 what I was planing on trying.So just don't get the coax their and don't go over 100 ft.I was told that the spring was nesasary to get extra length for swr so thats not the case?If you can think of more info I am open to sugestions. And thanks for your reply's.Keep them comeing more info the better.
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shadow
- Skipshooter
- Posts: 453
- Joined: November 30th, 2007, 8:15 pm
- Radio: Cobra 25 NW, 148 GTL
- Contact:
I had mine mounted on a bracket off the back of my trunk
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Worked fine but now I have it on a tri-mag on the roof and it's even better. Here are a few things I learned from experience with the 102" whip:
- Wherever you put it, make sure it's high enough and most of it clears the roof line of the vehicle.
- You may want to use a tennis ball and/or a guy-wire(s) to prevent it from smacking up against the body of your car or whacking anything else (cars or pedestrians) while taking turns or on the freeway.
- Make sure the spring you get is stiff enough otherwise you will have a very floppy antenna. I have several springs laying around and they are all very different.
- Fill the gap between the string and the mount completely as to prevent water from settling there which will short the antenna and raise your SWR. I used a rubber washer but silicon works as well.
Good luck with your install, you will love the 102".
[Please login or register to view this link]
Worked fine but now I have it on a tri-mag on the roof and it's even better. Here are a few things I learned from experience with the 102" whip:
- Wherever you put it, make sure it's high enough and most of it clears the roof line of the vehicle.
- You may want to use a tennis ball and/or a guy-wire(s) to prevent it from smacking up against the body of your car or whacking anything else (cars or pedestrians) while taking turns or on the freeway.
- Make sure the spring you get is stiff enough otherwise you will have a very floppy antenna. I have several springs laying around and they are all very different.
- Fill the gap between the string and the mount completely as to prevent water from settling there which will short the antenna and raise your SWR. I used a rubber washer but silicon works as well.
Good luck with your install, you will love the 102".
