When it comes to stainless steel whip antennas.. Are they all not pretty much created equal?
When it comes to stainless steel whip antennas.. Are they all not pretty much created equal?
For example, there was one I was watching on ebay (never bid).. it just ended and sold for $35 plus $15.00 shipping = $50.00
Others have starting bids for around $40 + shipping
Yet Radio Shack (also listing on ebay) always has them new for $27.00 and free shipping.
This makes me wonder.. are some 102" whips actually better then others?
Contrary to popular wisdom stainless steel will corrode. The cost difference could be due to the use of less durable stainless but it is more likely that it is due to vendors pricing at what the market will bear.
Neil
Stainless steel does corrode but at a much slower rate than other metals.
And yes there are different grades of stainless steel just like any other grade of metal. The heavier the grade , the more it costs.
RFB
And yes there are different grades of stainless steel just like any other grade of metal. The heavier the grade , the more it costs.
Understood, you get what you pay for.. But does a heavier grade of stainless steel posses better transmitting capability then the less inexpensive radio shack whip?
Most likely the difference in grade would be seen in mechanical durability and not in electrical performance. This would be a factor for mobile operations but not for stationary uses.
I don't think this is important unless one is seeking military spec. hardware and this would not keep me from buying at the lowest cost.
Neil
I prefer the fiberglass whips, just because of their greater mechanical stability (the steel ones really 'whip' around in the wind or when in motion and attached to a vehicle). I guess another interesting question would be: which is a better transmitting antenna, a fiberglass whip (which I believe is a piece of wire encased in fiberglass) or the steel whip?
I have both, have used both for amateur radio purposes attached to a mobile antenna tuner, and really didn't notice any difference on HF frequencies (and much higher power than Part 15, of course).
AR is correct, the fiberglass whips will hold better in wind than the steel whip counterparts. They don't swing and sway like a whip will.
One has an advantage while the other doesn't, but also has an advantage over the other too...a trade off over one vs the other, or do we expect to go under a lot of low bridges in mobile situations and let it "bend" through or bust through.
In the end...how many end up just using a piece of wire hung from a thumb tack off the roof! :p
RFB
I always wondered if a fiberglass whip has a big enough conductor to provide enough bandwidth.
At least in the two way radio world Fiberglass antennas work quite well.
We use them a lot for repeaters or base stations.
The steel whip antennas are used more in mobile applications where some give would be preferred.
Our base station antennas use a fiber glass tube which contain several phased dipoles.
These are gain antennas with low angle of radiation.
Of course at VHF and UHF you can fit several dipoles into a tube between 8 and 20 feet long.
Our 800 mHz mobiles used to use colinear whips but have all been changed over to fractal antennas about the size of a hockey puch.
MRAM is right on the money there.
Our Fiberglass antennas are typically gain antennas.
Of course for Part 15 AM, those fiberglass antennas have no gain.