Steel Base Loaded

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March 6th, 2010 admin Leave a comment Go to comments

Steel Base Loaded

I WANT TO BUY A CB ANTENNA WHAT IS BETTER A 102" STEEL WHIP OR A BASE LOADED ONE?

WHY 102" IS LONGER BETTER

Base loading is only used to shorten a whip antenna.
The theory is, as you shorten a 1/4 wave antenna (in this case your 102" CB antenna), it becomes "capacitive". It won't load the transmitter efficiently.
Thus by adding series inductance (the base loading coil), the whip is artificially lengthened to present a proper 1/4 wavelength antenna. Base loading may also be used to produce an antenna greater than 1/4 wavelength long for reasons as below.
As I expect your 102" whip is for mobile use, it will be better than a base loaded 1/4 wave whip.
However, a 1/4 wave antenna has a high "radiation angle", for mobile/ base or mobile/ mobile use, often a better option is the helical wound 5/8 wave or longer, whip.
The helical winding provides both a shortened whip, and the proper matching for the feedpoint (50 ohms). The radiation angle is significantly reduced. It thus gives better range along the ground, as well as a hefty boost to the skywave that will "bounce" back for skip contacts.
If it happens you are talking of a base antenna, it is hard to beat a 5/8 wave base loaded antenna, at about 21 feet long.
The mobile 5/8 wave helical antenna is usually around 72" long, for comparison.

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