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Firestik Fire-Up 99 Has anyone tried one.?

Wouldn't the wire diameter change it in some way ? Firestik calls the tuning screw something to change inductance. Would the spiralled wire interact differently to produce some type of dispersion pattern that's associated with those types of antennas? I guess you have to look at the Firestick's resonant frequency,that it's close to the stock A99's resonant frequency. The only difference is the Firestik has a tuning section to either lengthen or shorten the antenna for swr adjusting purposes.
I've never owned a wire wound so called,"big stick". I guess you would have to look up data on how these types of antennas operate separately,meaning,how a physically shortened radiator with spiral wound wires that somehow keeps the swr in the proper range performs.
I don't know yet but I'll have to look up info to see how these antennas propagate.


I'm not saying that the Firestik is anything special. I'm getting my chance with a real Firestick to see for myself how it performs. At best it maybe just a gimmick but if it does help to perform within the requirements that I have personally set then I've got me one good performing A99. Sort of like tweaking a Yugo(personally seen a new Yugo with a locked up alternator).



Thanks guys for all the thoughts,models,and imput on the Firestick modified A99. We'll find out soon!!!
 
Lil'Yeshua said:
Wouldn't the wire diameter change it in some way ? Firestik calls the tuning screw something to change inductance. Would the spiralled wire interact differently to produce some type of dispersion pattern that's associated with those types of antennas? I guess you have to look at the Firestick's resonant frequency,that it's close to the stock A99's resonant frequency. The only difference is the Firestik has a tuning section to either lengthen or shorten the antenna for swr adjusting purposes.
I've never owned a wire wound so called,"big stick". I guess you would have to look up data on how these types of antennas operate separately,meaning,how a physically shortened radiator with spiral wound wires that somehow keeps the swr in the proper range performs.
I don't know yet but I'll have to look up info to see how these antennas propagate.


I'm not saying that the Firestik is anything special. I'm getting my chance with a real Firestick to see for myself how it performs. At best it maybe just a gimmick but if it does help to perform within the requirements that I have personally set then I've got me one good performing A99. Sort of like tweaking a Yugo(personally seen a new Yugo with a locked up alternator).



Thanks guys for all the thoughts,models,and imput on the Firestick modified A99. We'll find out soon!!!
Click to expand...

Bob85; I have a home brew tilting tower. Swapping antennas out is as simple as changing spark plugs on a Yugo. :D
 
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enough talk, lol,, get this thing in the air and get a test station out 15 miles or more and lets see what it does back to back with the original top section
 
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The A99's up and running.

My brother came by to help me take the tv antennas off the tower mast pole and help(do most the work)install the Radio Shack 101.5" SS whips on the GPK-1. He also mated all the sections together and installed the A99's top section on the A99. I hoisted the tower back up in the upright position and checked the swr on my Galaxy DX-959 which I have for a base station. The antenna's coax runs through my MFJ-971 QRP Antenna Tuner and then the the 959. I fine tuned the 971 for best receive and swr. Obviously the A99's tuning rings needs adjusting. I get a 1:3:1 on 27.405 MHz and a 1:1:1 on 26.965 MHz. A little long.
It was nighttime by the time we've finished installing the A99 so tomorrow I'll a proper setup using my MFJ-207 swr analyzer(plastic duck) and taking the A99 top section off and installing the Firestik and get everything tweaked just right. The tuning rings are at 37' high.
I've already gotten a radio check with a local CB'er 6 miles away. He's got a Maco V58 60-70' up in a tree and a GE 3-5814A NOS radio he talks on. He said my dead key went up from 7 s-units with the 102" SS whip my A99 replaces to a 9 1/2 and 10+ on modulaton.
My brother who lives 8-10 miles away will give me a radio check in a hour or so. He's got a Maco V58 20-30' high and probably a Cobra 89GTL base station he's using at the moment. I'll present more pics tomorrow when I change out the A99 top section for the Firestik FS99. :D
 
ditch the tuner,, your using an antenna meant for 11 meters and an 11 meter radio,, no need for it,, just causing additional loss
 
camaro1 said:
ditch the tuner,, your using an antenna meant for 11 meters and an 11 meter radio,, no need for it,, just causing additional loss
Click to expand...

Humphffff??
Didn't know that. It comes in handy when I want to scan way down under up to 28 MHz with my 959.

I took the 971 out of line. I'm picking my brother up a half a s-unit higher. He's got a stingy meter on his Cobra 89GTL. I went from a 5 s-units with the 102" SS whip to 5 1/2 s-units with my A99 on his S/RF meter he tells me that my signal moves backwards on his meter. I think not!
Here's the true litmus test,my audio quality and modulation is far better than before. I also sound clearer to them. That tells me that they're getting a stronger signal from me than before.


Update: my brother hooked up the NOS/NIB Royce 1-604 DTB tuned radio I gave him to see if the signal I throwing his way. He's showing 8 1/2 a-units on me.
 
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remember that increased bandwidth is not necessarily a good thing when it comes to how well an antenna "gets out".

my dummy load has a flat 1:1 SWR from 1 to 30 mhz but it doesnt get out for squat!

antennas only have one specific frequency that they are resonant at (you guys know what im getting at, lets not throw red herrings in here! :) )

some antennas SWR curve is much narrower than others, but generally an antenna with a sharper curve is a more efficient radiator than one with a broad SWR curve.
LC
 

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