The best antenna I have ever used was the old Radio Shack .64 ground plane omni. It was a fantastic performer and I had upgraded everything I could on it (screws, nuts, washers, clamps, etc.) to stainless steel. Unfortunately, it met a premature death when it got hit by lightning.
Radio Shack had no replacement parts and no direct replacement antenna. Instead, they had this fiberglass thing dyed in sky blue which they called a Crossbow. It was only a half-wave, so it wasn't quite at the performance level I was looking for. Nevertheless, this two piece thing with no radials would be easy to assemble and visually more pleasing to the neighborhood antenna police (who had already call the FCC on me). I found out a little later that I was essentially buying a Shakespeare Big Stick made specifically for Radio Shack to sell.
Well, the Crossbow lasted me about 40 years. It just died recently. Time to send it to the big antenna farm in the sky. It never was my favorite or my best performer, but it served me adequately for the tasks I gave it. Anyone else ever own one of these? What was your experience?
Radio Shack had no replacement parts and no direct replacement antenna. Instead, they had this fiberglass thing dyed in sky blue which they called a Crossbow. It was only a half-wave, so it wasn't quite at the performance level I was looking for. Nevertheless, this two piece thing with no radials would be easy to assemble and visually more pleasing to the neighborhood antenna police (who had already call the FCC on me). I found out a little later that I was essentially buying a Shakespeare Big Stick made specifically for Radio Shack to sell.
Well, the Crossbow lasted me about 40 years. It just died recently. Time to send it to the big antenna farm in the sky. It never was my favorite or my best performer, but it served me adequately for the tasks I gave it. Anyone else ever own one of these? What was your experience?
