Which of these 3 CB antennas?

[fun in dirt]

I know nothing about this type of stuff... Which one is better? I like the idea of using the magnetic base, but not if it's crap.
Bottom 1 is a Radio Shack, middle a Wilson & top is a Road Alert.
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[Kurt L]

Wilson antenna is the nest of the three.now if you use that one you need to have an swr meter so you can check your swrs. they need to be as low as possible so you can talk far and hear good.if your going to to mount that wilson on your truck the best place would be in the middle of your front wall of your truck.that way you will hear in 360 degrees and talk in 360 degrees.if you mount it on a mirror on either side then you will be directional. meaning that when you turn your signal will fade and go in another direction. back to swrs. you take that cap off the end of the antenna and pull that little wire out of it just enough to cut it if your antenna needs to shorter.
in other words when you check your swrs,if they are higher on channel 40 then channel one you clip that wire on your antenna till you start to see them go down. now if they are higher on channel one then channel 40 you need to shorten your antenna. the only way to do that with that wilson would to have a shorter coax. the swrs should be down to 1.5 on all three channels. you will get a variousness in swrs as long as they are not at 2 or higher you will be good. but try to get them as low as you can. the lower they are the better you will transmit and receive. now to make it even better is to go to a cb shop and get you a magnet that you can put that wilson on and put in the middle of your roof.that way you will ground plane off your roof which will help you tremdously in your reciecve and transmitt. when you check your swrs check on all three channels 1,40,20. 20 is the middle of the bands so they need to be as low as they can be there also.sorry for the long post but it takes more then just hooking up and antenna to a radio and talking.put your swr metter on calibrate,key up your mike til your needle on the metter goes to the red line at the end of the metter. do that while your key up unkey then put your metter on swr and key up then you will see where they are at[swrs].do that on 40,1 till you get them as low as you can then when you do check them on channel 20.do the same thing each time you check your swrs. now if this is complicated,which for some people it is. you can call me. i will be laid off till next week. im more then glad to help you over then phone. so you get the best results.my cell is on 24/7. i will pm you my number okay?

[fun in dirt]

Thanks for all the info! I got your pm, so may need to ring you toward end of the week ( when I get a chance to fool w/ it all again). I've heard the Wilsons are good. Guess I'll probably mount it in back corner of the bed by the tailgate (this is on a Blazer).
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[Kurt L]

that will make you directional. no way to get a magnet mount for that antenna and put on your roof? wilson makes magnet mount antennes that are real good also.
you might check into those also. works great i've had on before and loved it. my wife has one and swears by hers.they have the little will, wilson, 500,1000,5000, the 5000 is they best all around magnet antenna in our book. if you are going to be off roading then the wilson mags would be the best way to go. can't hardly knock them off your truck and stainless stinger will flex like you wouldn't belive in the woods.

[fun in dirt]

Well I don't have a roof, just rollcage The softtop is on now, but room for the antenna to stick up through it. However it's about to come off until November!
Here's a shot of what i'm working with...

[dieseldawg142]

personally i would use the firestik (wilson). dont know what all that stuff Kurt L is talking 'bout, but i had one on my truck & it worked fine. also used a magnetic kind, dont like. tree branches would tip it over, & WHEN (not if) water gets under it, makes a mess of your metal

[Kurt L]

yeah that will be a good place for that antenna. but as far as what i'm talking about is thats how to make an antenna work.also as long as you take up the magnet antenna once a month and put a coat of wax on your roof the the antenna sits then your good to go. you can just put a radio in there and not set your swrs but in the long run it'll hurt you. but i've only been in this hobby for 30 years. and thats the way i was taught.

[dieseldawg142]

ok, what is swrs? (swear words?)

[Kurt L]

Stanard Wave Ratio if your swr's are high that means that the signal coming out of the radio going to the antenna will be weak. that means that the radio has to work over time to send [or force the signal out the antenna]. basiclly like a small wire trying to do job of a large wire as far as amps trying to go thru it. with that said.in other words your signal being weak from high swr's will cause your signal to come back down the antenna and go back into your radio. thus causin an overload and could cause your radio trouble. as like electronic parts to be burned up. so the less swr's means that your signal will flow free and not cause any damage to your radio.and with high swr's[stanard wave ratio's] you audio or modulation will be really loud and some what distorted and your recieve will not be as clear, and you wont be able to hear someone that has a little distance on your radio. so in order to have a clear sounding radio and a real good recieve your stanard wave ratio needs to be low as you can get on your antenna.a 1.5 is highly recomened but if you can get your stanard wave ratio down to no swrs then thats even better. but 1.5 is really a good medium. if your swr's are at 2.0 or above then u either have a bad ground or theres something wrong with the antenna. but with a stainless steel antenna you cut the stinger to lower the swr's. but if your antenna needs to be longer you raise the stinger up. i hope all this helps out to understand that that cb radio's are a great hobby and a way of communicating but theres alittle work involed [sp].if you need any more help with this then i will be more then glad to help.

[fun in dirt]

All makes sense to me - I think Waiting on my driveshaft to come back from machine shop, then I can drive out into middle of the yard & do some cb tuning!

[Kurt L]

yeah you don't need to be around anything that will cause reflection while tuning, and don't try when antenna is wet either.

[Kurt L]

okay i was re-reading my post in the beginning, and i said that if the swrs are higher on channel 1 then on channel 40 you need to make the antenna longer which means that you will have to use a longer coax. my mistake sorry bout that. if you have ant problems don't hesiate to call me. you have my number.

[Mike C]

Standing Wave Ratio = SWR. Here is a link to where FireStik explains how and why. And like Kurt says, this is key to the whole CB thing.

http://www.firestik.com/Tech_Docs/Setting_SWR.htm

[Kurt L]

thanks mike c for the added info.