102 question ?

[BOOTY MONSTER]

i know all antennas/stingers flex at least a lil when driving , some more so than others . i think most will agree that a 102 inch SS whip will flex/bend back considerably more than most and a spring can make that even more-so . i also know as surrounding change as the vehicle moves that it can cause some swr fluctuations . with that 102 laying back in the wind much closer to the vehicle , does that affect the reflection/swr of the antenna not to mention reducing its height advantage since its laid back and no longer vertical ?

 

[Master Chief]

Yes.

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

is it enough to cause problems or possibly damage the radio or amp over time ?

 

[hotrod]

ive never seen them go above a 1.5 @75mph

 

[Beetle]

Not if the equipment is well designed for a mobile environment.

 

[AudioShockwav]

I run the Fiberglass 102/96" whips, They stand up better. SS is tough, but too much flex for me. Thats why I got 2 as spares not to long ago

73
Jeff

 

[mackmobile43]

Guys used to tie some light fishing line about half way up the 102 to add support and it would not bend near as far.

 

[Master Chief]

is it enough to cause problems or possibly damage the radio or amp over time ?

No.

 

[hotrod]

Guys used to tie some light fishing line about half way up the 102 to add support and it would not bend near as far.

thats a good idea

 

[C2]

The height that you need to worry about is the feedpoint.

SWR sway is negligable for your standard install (~1.5 as said).

Also, when mobile, just think you are 1/2 way to flatside.

 

[steved]

Just installed a 102...I checked SWRs both at standstill and at 70mph. There was a 0.05 difference from 1:1 to 1.05:1...and that might have been from passing cars, overhead wires, etc...

It was not as significant as I was imagining. And this antenna leans back about 2 feet at least, and the SWRs were checked with an external RatShack meter that has been compared to three others (it is accurate).

 

[psycho]

A friend of mine was running a 9' steel whip on the roof of his Dodge Dakota and I was running a Predator 10K on the roof of my Silverado. We had a keydown....his 2x8 pill vs my 4 pill, needless to say he won. On the way back on I-95 going about 80 mph I was able to key on him easily. We then slowed up to 45 and he started killing me again.
He has a cross needle Daiwa meter in line and his SWR doesn't increase much at all but his system doesn't do very well at highway speeds.

 

[steved]

I've only had mine in a few days...can't really tell any difference moving or not...however, I don't have the spring which prevents it from laying back nearly as far.

 

[freecell]

so what's the question?

 

[steved]

so what's the question?

There was discussion about SWRs changing as the 102 flexed back...I was making the statement that I didn't notice a change in SWR on my setup (a 102), nor a decrease in performance.