my 2 bobs about aerials
Submitted: Thursday, Oct 23, 2008 at 14:44
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Kiwi & "Grenade"
Had bought one of those real skinny wire like 6 & 9db uhf aerials quite a while ago (its the same as buckys), set us back $140 or so. Its one of the ones where you need an allen key to add the bits to it.
Well, moral of the post....dont bother with them, but I knew that anyway when Nathan bought it - told him he should have spent the money on a cowboy aerial (fat white posts) instead and that it wont last long - they just arent durable (like Bucky found out - snapped on the corrigation).....now Nathan wants to blame the uhf itself and wants a new one with the removable face.....that aint hte problem!!
Anyway....my $50 job that I bought from autopro about 7 yrs ago has always been our back up and is now becoming our full timer! Its a little wippy type but she has coped a thrashing over the yrs being on my soozy for most of its use. She is tough thats for sure and we used it on our trip a couple of yrs back and gave the best reception out of all the ones we took and tried......its a long thing, black with red wire wrapped around it
So another moral of the story - let a female pick the aerial (and hte car for that matter!) and nothing will go wrong....let a man do it and issues are raised!!LOL!!
Laura
Reply By: Member - Ivan (ACT) - Thursday, Oct 23, 2008 at 14:52
Thursday, Oct 23, 2008 at 14:52
My personal feeling is that it's as much about the spring mount that the antenna sits on, as the antenna itself.
I had a few antennas on a cylindrical spring mount (ie it was the same diameter for all of the spring) - antenna used to shake rattle and roll and I went through three or four of them.
Changed the mount to one of the cone jobs (bad description) - where the top and bottom of the spring is still the same diameter, but the middle of the spring is probably 1.5 - 2 times that of the top and bottom. Antenna still has some flex, but has stopped 'going off' - and the only antenna I've had to replace was for one which got knocked off.
AnswerID:
331426
Reply By: Member - Oldplodder (QLD) - Thursday, Oct 23, 2008 at 16:24
Thursday, Oct 23, 2008 at 16:24
Had one of those "real skinny wire like 6 & 9db uhf aerials" for a while now too, about 8 or 9 years.
Mine is mounted on a Z bracket next to the bonnet.
No spring mount.
Had a problem with it on corrugations too, it kept loosening at the base of the wire where it went into the aerial base.
The whole thing used to vibrate like mad on corrugations, and I was tightening it up every few 100k.
The aerial itself used to have a spot that used look like a blur with the vibration frequency.
Put a heaver Z bracket on, about 2.5mm, instead of the 1.2mm whimp of a Z bracket supplied and it is a lot better now.
Yeah, seldom use the 9db, and when I do it bends over witht eh wind so much wonder if it is worth it. Put a bit of fishing line from the top of the aerial to the bullbar and it stands up straighter now.
Glad I have the 6db s/steel whip though, a fibreglass aerial would have been wiped out by branches a long time ago, like the am/fm aerial, it only lasted about 5 years and two rebuilds.
AnswerID:
331456
Reply By: Muddy doe (SA) - Thursday, Oct 23, 2008 at 23:36
Thursday, Oct 23, 2008 at 23:36
I am another that uses just the short black stubbie antenna on a roof rack and it gets me much the same range as others in the club convoys. Just occasionally Roachie (who has a bigger antenna - but then what else on his truck is not "bigger") can be talking to someone at distance that I cannot hear but generally he too is asking for repeated transmissions so is at the edge of his range.
Depends what the bloke at the other end has got too of course!
Stubbie is 3db which is good for hilly and forest as it sends out a nice fat signal but I also carry under the passenger
seat a 9db wire type one about 900mm long which is supposed to be great for flat plains type work. takes only seconds to swap over and it does seem to make a bit of difference.
Never noticed it vibrating on corrugations but then it is up on the roof so is pretty hard to see! The heat shrink idea sounds good.
Muddy
AnswerID:
331553
Reply By: Member - Bucky, the "Mexican"- Friday, Oct 24, 2008 at 06:26
Friday, Oct 24, 2008 at 06:26
Laura
Never had much luck with UHF aerials.
Problem is the person putting aerial in.(ME !)
Either I am missing an intricate part of intelligence, or, am lacking in the total understanding of just simply how to mount an areial.
Anyway I keep trying, and for what it's worth, I somehow keep going back to the el-cheapo" ones, ( like the one that Roachie taught me how to rewire, at his place last year) They just work.
IT goes, and I don't really care if I break it, as I have another spare, in the shed. So can just bolt it on, with the addition of a lot of mumbling or swearing.
I might get one of those big ones for our
Canning Stock Route, next year ( just 9 months away now ), to give a little better range, and to act as a flagpole, but I haven't really made up my mind yet.
The problems in life ...
Cheers
Bucky
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Follow Up By: Kiwi & "Grenade" - Friday, Oct 24, 2008 at 15:14
Friday, Oct 24, 2008 at 15:14
yeah I like them for the flag pole thing too but I sure do wish we stil had my 10 ft extending fishing rod that did the trick in 06.....this yr we used conjoot (speeling???)....flexed too much...we had the bundy flag bouncing off the dunes behind the trailer!
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