[Antennas] Mobile Antennas - which shoots best, is strongest?

Thu Jun 15 23:21:50 EDT 2006

I think there are better choices than a mobile antenna for a roof-top, but 
if you want to proceed in that direction...
I own a variety of mobile antennas including a Bug-Catcher, a Predator, some 
full-sized whips (for all bands 6-17 meters), a Hi-Q and a few others that I 
can put on my vehicle at any time (all trailer-hitch mounts with excellent 
ground connection via a welding extension lead plug/pin set). We (NAQRO) 
are about to make some of our own tests with these and a few others for 
publication... but I can give you some qualitative results in advance from 
experience (so take it for what its worth at this point).
I've found that mobile antenna gain for transmitting is rarely a 
problem...but rather gain for receive is always THE problem. The 
Bug-Catcher seems to be the best all-around antenna for BOTH receive and 
transmit... It will tolerate a tall whip and cap hat because of its coil 
strength. It has a very large/ high-Q coil, but suffers (obviously) from 
the coil TAP syndrome. The Predator is my next choice.. not quite as much 
gain as the Bug, but doesn't suffer from the TAP syndrome. The coil is 
large again, so the coil A is good. It has good mechanical strength, so an 
extended top whip and cap hat is possible. The Hi-A is my next favorite, 
but with the Predator, I rarely use it. Of course I always use the full 
sized whips whenever I can,,, they are better than any loaded antenna unless 
it is mechanically longer to start (and then there is still is no guarantee 
in will absolutely be). All of these antennas take my full legal limit 
mobile amp.
With all this said, you will find the counter poise and radial system to be 
almost more important than the antenna selection. It you don't do this 
right, no matter what you do...the antenna will never work right.
Sincerely,
Dr. William J. Schmidt, II K9HZ
Trustee of the North American QRO - Central Division Club - K9ZC
Email: bill at wjschmidt.com
WebPage: www.wjschmidt.com
"If you drink... don't drive. Don't even putt" - Dean Martin.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David J. Ring, Jr." <n1ea at arrl.net>
To: <Antennas at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Thursday, June 15, 2006 11:49 AM
Subject: [Antennas] Mobile Antennas - which shoots best, is strongest?
> I've been looking at some of the beautiful mobile antennas for sale, in 
> the
> Hi-Q, Predator, and GS antennas.
>> The Predator is shown here:
> http://kj9t.150m.com/N9JMXs_Predator_1/index.html
>> The Hi-Q is shown here: http://www.hiqantennas.com/
>> The GS antennas are shown here: http://www.gs-mfg.com/pages/antdiv.html
>> The GS according to the "Antenna Shoot Out" results shown on their web 
> page,
> seems to perform best, and there is one report that it is made better than
> the Predator, however the Predator will take full legal limit.
>> I was thinking of using one of these mobile antennas and extending the 
> whip
> and using a capacitive hat and installing it on my roof and using for 80
> meters and above. If I can get the length around 22 feet, and/or use a
> bigger top hat, I might consider 160 meters!
>> Could anyone offer any guidance, or point me to any web sites that might
> have some actual "shoot out" ratings?
>> Thanks in advance for your help!
>> 73
>> David J. Ring, Jr., N1EA
> =30=
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