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ITS A 102SS WORLD

D

DuckKilla

Member
Apr 8, 2005
78
3
16
North East Texas
At least until someone proves me wrong.Hey it was good enough for Andy and Mr. One Bullet AKA Barny.
Seriously there are a lot of good antennas out there but when height is not a problem its hard to beat a 102.
The only disadvantage I have noticed over the years is they lay down to much when going down the road.
Some people tie them with monofilament but I never have.
Never had a manufacturer give me an antenna so I have no axe to grind.I have run a lot of coils and have been dissappointed.
I have heard people claim they cant get 102s to tune.
Never had that problem.Always get 1.1
Mine is very broadbanded and I can go very low or very high with a quick addition of a three inch shaft or removing it.I am trying out one of the top five builders comp version coil that I havent run before and will let you know how I like it.Its almost as long as my 102SS.73
 
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DuckKilla,
You've basically hit the nail on the head! To some arbitrary point, the 'longer the better'. That's because a "full sized" antenna will radiate better then a "shortened" antenna. Nothing to do with who makes it, everything to do with radiation pattern. If the signal goes where you want it then it's a great antenna. If it doesn't go where you want it, it's not a great antenna. Very simple consept, not so simple in being practical!
It's also not such a good idea to have an antenna 'too' long, in that the radiation pattern changes with length. It can go from a fairly 'flat' horizontal pattern, to one that points almost straight up. Unfortunately, this change in pattern isn't gradual, it's very abrupt. [It's also dependant on frequency, in general, and on the HF bands where you're talking about several feet (maybe) the "practical" part of it gets to be sort of large.] If you know (or can guess fairly correctly) what the radiation pattern is then you can 'point' the antenna in such a manner as to make the signal go where you want. One reason why having several antennas is nice, things 'go' where you want.
One antenna can only 'do' everything! Ain't none of them universally 'good'. Ain't none of them universally 'bad' (well, that's true if you 'qualify' it a bit! Lot's more 'bad' antennas than good ones, sort of.).
Half the fun is in 'playing' with antennas to see what they'll do, won't do. Once you find one that does what you want it to most of the time, keep it, while you keep 'playing' of course...
- 'Doc
 
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i love my 102. i havent got to try a coil type yet and the price of them is the main reason why. i'm not an expert on this at all, but a full size 1/4 wave antenna i would think would radiate the best. true, the lay back going down the road might hinder it a bit. for 17.99 at rat shack, pound for pound, cant be beat!!
 
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Yep and that is the biggest advantage of all.Great price.;)
Hey if you guys want to design an antenna why dont you just make a slightly bigger aka stiffer 102.Take care of the one problem this antenna has.
Maybe put a big corona ball on the end with disco lights so it will catch all us yocals attention and make Billy Bob say I gotta get me one of them thar tennies.LOL 73
 
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When they lay back, reflect goes up. If not for that, I'd run one. NO amp, 102 is great, can't beat one. Run an amp and want to talk at speed, risky. Can't tell the difference between one and my 10K on TX/RX, the money is spent to protect the amp.
 
My friend needed a simple antenna for his base so we made ground radial for a 102 and put it outside in the bush by his window(he lives in an apartment building) The antenna was bent way over but the SWR was still 1:5. I am curious though what is the worst SWR you have seen with a 102 going down the highway and what speed was it at? I would like to run an amp through one but if SWR is that bad then forget it!
 
When I had one mounted on the back of my PU cab, it went better than 2:1 at 45-50 MPH. Never checked it going faster.
 
Ive never had a problem with mine either but I run stock voltage.If your running 18 to 20 volts it doesnt take a lot of change to pop a transistor.
I do know when it lays back it has to hurt your transmit.Changes your radiation pattern and not for the better.Someone needs to make a heavier 102 that wouldnt flex so much.Just a thought.
 
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This has me interested........ Im thinking that a thickerpiece of stainless solid rod would have a higher resistance level and still be quite flexible but what about tube? It should be stiffer and perhaps keep the resistance at an acceptable level.
I'm going to experiment with this, only problem is practicallity, i'm thinking a 6' cab height + 8'5" of radiator = BONK! but performance wise, it shows promise.
Someone else want to work with the concept for corolation purposes?
Punchin' out.......
 
I would think being as tall as they are stiffening one up would cause alot of stress on the mounts and mounting points and since you don't want it to flex much you wouldn't want a spring and this would really stress the base of the 102. As far as tubing I don't think it would stand a chance would bend first tree it hit. I have run both coils and 102's for the money the 102 is way hard to beat.
 
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I remember someone around here on the forum had a 1/4 wave-copper-pipe antenna...who was it?
hmmm UK?
Not a "ride around antenna" , kinda like a stationary mobile antenna.

73
Jeff
 

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