antenna size
JK Enthusiast
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 239
Likes: 1
From: Brewster,Wa
same spring problem
Just got my 4' Firestick II (Tunable Tip) from Northridge4x4.
My current 4' Firestick KW is stuck to a spring mount on the spare tire...can't get it off for nothing! Beware of the spring, although I thought a Spring would be best to provide some "give". When I go to twist off the antenna, the connection just rotates inside the spring. I ran that spring for two years with no issue, now it's junk. Going to a quick disconnect now,
Anyway...enough of that, this is an antenna thread ;-)
Oh, and I'll be doing Toad's homemade antenna holder mod that goes inside, above the rear window
My current 4' Firestick KW is stuck to a spring mount on the spare tire...can't get it off for nothing! Beware of the spring, although I thought a Spring would be best to provide some "give". When I go to twist off the antenna, the connection just rotates inside the spring. I ran that spring for two years with no issue, now it's junk. Going to a quick disconnect now,
Anyway...enough of that, this is an antenna thread ;-)
Oh, and I'll be doing Toad's homemade antenna holder mod that goes inside, above the rear window
JK Enthusiast
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 166
Likes: 1
From: Altoona, PA
Function vs. Appearance
Last weekend, installed the CoolTech Ultramount set-up with the 4' Firestik II and a Cobra 75 WX ST, and I just spent the entire week trying to figure out why my SWR was so frickin' high. When I say "high", I mean as far peaked into the "red zone" as you can be. I sanded the paint off behind the tail light like they say, and I even ran an additional ground wire from the mount bracket to the frame, but the SWR was still way too high. I could receive from about a mile, but couldn't transmit beyond a city block. I discovered that my tail light guards were causing some interference, but they weren't the main culprit of my high SWR. After using every curse word in the dictionary (twice!), I took my Jeep to the local CB shop, and they hooked me up with a new antenna (Wilson 2000 Trucker Whip). While it doesn't look nearly as badass as the Firestik, it definitely does a better job. Now, my SWR is a little over 1.5, which still isn't great, but it's definitely an improvement, and I'm a firm believer of function over appearance. I do like the "factory" appearance of the CoolTech, but when mounting near the license plate and so close to the body with a fiberglass antenna, I was just getting way too much interference for whatever reason...
