Stubby Antenna

C2tuck

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Anyone tried these? Has mixed reviews online. Like the looks but wondering about performance. Thanks
0d58012975ab49ca14e5bb7fc65da392.jpg



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08Monster

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My cousin installed one on his ram, he has 1/5 the signal strength that he used to, almost has to use Sirius XM everywhere outside of town now. Highly discourage getting one.

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C2tuck

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I’m bluetoothing about 95% of the time to my phone, but I know the kids won’t like getting their stations and I don’t live in the metro area...


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slc6oh

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Have the original on my ‘15... seems like its a bit more picky about picking up hd stations... but- 90% of the time im bluetooth or satellite anyways so its no biggie to me


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lincolnlocker

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i have the .50 cal on my 12 but i hate static and commercials so i have sirus on all the time. no idea if my am/fm stations ever worked.

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BIG JUICE

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I really want one of these, I have been on the fence about ordering one for a few years. I don't want to lose reception. I use pandora cds or sirius 99 percent of the time. But the few times to goto bfe I have no cell service and plan to cancel sirius soon, I don't want to not be able to use radio.
 

lincolnlocker

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I really want one of these, I have been on the fence about ordering one for a few years. I don't want to lose reception. I use pandora cds or sirius 99 percent of the time. But the few times to goto bfe I have no cell service and plan to cancel sirius soon, I don't want to not be able to use radio.
if you are worried about signal strength then dont get it. keep sirius and work out a deal when you call to cancle.. they always have a one time deal and i think can be as cheap as 6-9 buxks a month.

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ironworker25

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i had the original one, one my bike. I hated it UNless i was in the city, it didn't pick up that many stations. Even in the city it wasn't all that good
 

Dave_Nevada

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Okay, this is my forte'. let's just say I was trained to repair radios in the military.

Often the problem (READ: MYTH) with these 'shorty' antennas is they are better!!!

Wrong. You don't get something for nothing. They are specifically made to capture (lingo term) a certain frequency band. What works on AM doesn't work worth a crap on FM and vice versa. Kinda like trying to put shoes on that are 1/2 your normal size.

If you have a radio or a reception device that receives at 100-150 MHZ and stick an antenna on it that is designed for 100KHZ, it won't work. It's called wavelength = Lamda (Wavelength) = 300 meters/second divided by 1 sec.

That means- if you have a full wavelength antenna, it's literal PHYSICAL length should equal the FULL wave length you are trying to capture and amplify for maximum effect.

Manufacturers LOVE to sell you new fangled antennas that are in reality, TOO short to do the job. So they will make one at 3/4, 1/2 or even 1/4 of the wavelength. And guess what? Your reception suffers not at a linear rate, but it is squared. For each distance amount, you have to square the amount of loss- so 1/4 is actually 1/16th of what it should be.

But their marketing says NEW NEW NEW!!!

I call B.S. :bs:

Others will wrap the same amount of wire around a short stick to get the same wavelength your current antenna has. WASTE OF MONEY.

Unless you have a signal strength meter attached to the antenna's RF amplifier circuit, you really have no scientific proof of better reception.


That said, unless it is designed to receive your FULL WAVE LENGTH signal, pass it up.
 
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brown1

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Okay, this is my forte'. let's just say I was trained to repair radios in the military.

Often the problem (READ: MYTH) with these 'shorty' antennas is they are better!!!

Wrong. You don't get something for nothing. They are specifically made to capture (lingo term) a certain frequency band. What works on AM doesn't work worth a crap on FM and vice versa. Kinda like trying to put shoes on that are 1/2 your normal size.

If you have a radio or a reception device that receives at 100-150 MHZ and stick an antenna on it that is designed for 100KHZ, it won't work. It's called wavelength = Lamda (Wavelength) = 300 meters/second divided by 1 sec.

That means- if you have a full wavelength antenna, it's literal PHYSICAL length should equal the FULL wave length you are trying to capture and amplify for maximum effect.

Manufacturers LOVE to sell you new fangled antennas that are in reality, TOO short to do the job. So they will make one at 3/4, 1/2 or even 1/4 of the wavelength. And guess what? Your reception suffers not at a linear rate, but it is squared. For each distance amount, you have to square the amount of loss- so 1/4 is actually 1/16th of what it should be.

But their marketing says NEW NEW NEW!!!

I call B.S. :bs:

Others will wrap the same amount of wire around a short stick to get the same wavelength your current antenna has. WASTE OF MONEY.

Unless you have a signal strength meter attached to the antenna's RF amplifier circuit, you really have no scientific proof of better reception.


That said, unless it is designed to receive your FULL WAVE LENGTH signal, pass it up.



i had an electrician on the job tell me something similar. there is yet to be a jobsite radio that is worth a damn and he made an antenna out of conduit and wrapped wire around it telling us that the length of conduit and wire were critical and it worked flawlessly. way over my pipefitter head but it worked.


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Dave_Nevada

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Yep. The length of wire must match the wavelength of the frequency you are trying to receive.

In the music world they call this harmonics- or resonance.

You can remember it this way: Length of antenna is inversely proportional (opposite) of the frequency.

The higher the frequency, the shorter the antenna.
The longer the antenna, the lower the frequency.

A young boy doesn't sound like a man because a boy's vocal cords have not grown enough to lower his octave range of his voice.

So too the case with musical instruments- look at the strings on a guitar.

Wavelength effects everything. From VLF (Very Low Frequency-submarines communicate this way) to Gamma Rays from some distant exploded star or blackhole. They are all a part of the light spectrum.

Those job site radios are usually a POS. Usually shorty antennas not matched to the transmitter circuitry- typically designed at 1/4 wavelength- which means you have little transmit strength, or receive capability. The FCC likes it that way.

Depending on the bandwidth, they can be useless.

You didn't know you were getting into physics today, did you? :jammin:
 
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Dave_Nevada

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BTW- Don't think you don't understand electricity or electronics. Current Volume (AMPS), Voltage (Electrical Pressure) and Resistance (Flow resistance) are basically the same concepts as Plumbing.

I can take any decent Plumber and have him relate to electronics in minutes by talking his language of flow, pressure and resistance. We use the same concepts in Electronics/Electricity.

Hydraulics employs the same operational rules.

It's just physics- regardless of the physical natural we are discussing.

As a pipefitter, you work with physics all day long.

No difference between electricity, hydro or hydraulics.
 

BIG JUICE

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lol before I seen all these posts I did some internet research last night. I guess 31" is the length of standard antennas like ours because that is 1/4 the length of a full wave from fm. I'll just leave it alone, good info though guys!!!
 

Jomax

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How do cars get away without those little wing antennas on the roof? It’s factory too..


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