7
The guy at the truck stop who said I needed a specific CB antenna for mountain driving was spot on.
After 3 trips through the Rockies with nothing but static, I swapped to a Firestik II like he told me and now I can hear dispatch from 15 miles out, has anyone else found one antenna that just works better in the hills?
2 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In2 Comments
irisross3d ago
Firestik's just overpriced hype... I ran a $20 Wilson from a pawn shop through the Smokies for years and could reach Chattanooga from Clingmans Dome. Placebo effect with your wallet.
9
thompson.tyler3d ago
Man, you nailed it with "placebo effect with your wallet." That's EXACTLY what I see all the time. People drop $150 on a Firestik and swear it's magic, but I've run a $30 Tram magnet mount from eBay for two years and can hit repeaters 40 miles out on flat terrain. I replaced it with a Firestik once just to test, and my SWR readings were WORSE. The whole thing is marketing telling you that spending more means better signal, but in reality, a properly tuned cheap antenna will do the SAME job. Half the time those expensive ones come pre-tuned for some random frequency that doesn't even match your setup anyway.
4