Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: Radio Shack whip antenna 102 inchs long

Category: Antennas: HF Mobile & Accessories

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : Radio Shack whip antenna 102 inchs long
Reviews: 25MSRP: 16
Description:
Antenna that is 102" long and is used mainly by CB Radio Operators. Also a good choice for 10 Meters. This antenna is available at some Radio Shack stores and at Radio shops.
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00254.8
W2NSF Rating: 2006-04-27
I use it for HF portable... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I made up a car-top rig out of plywood, a sheet of copper foil, an ICOM AH-4 antenna coupler, and a Radio Shack 102" whip. The whole thing sits between the roof racks on my car and I use it for "HF Portable." Works great! I park at the beach, run a ground wire into the water, if I'm close enough, and use my ICOM 706 MkIIG to work the world. The AH-4 does a great job tuning this whip on every band from 10m up to 80m, believe it or not. I'm not saying it's the most efficient setup, but it works for me.
KB2NAT Rating: 2006-04-27
Simple and strong Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The 102" whip is simple to use (I bought two and scaled them down for other uses later) and is constructed with reasonable strength. Little can go wrong with them. They are not junk and there's nothing to complain about. It's a little like rating a brick, it's that simple. It's not a "system", it's just a handy and useful mobile/portable antenna.
SPARKFLY88 Rating: 2006-04-26
Not ment for my car Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I love my 102" whips! I have a 92 buick lesabre, aka old grandpa car pulled by a truck motor, and I decided to add my own touch to the car by gettin a CB,I started with a Midland 1001z and a little 10" magnet mount antenna(didnt have it long) That setup sucked, the antenna was from walmart, and it was a POS. So I went in hunt for the fabled 102". It took me a while to find it, then I went to radioshack, appauled they didnt have it, untill they heard me talkin about it to another, then they came out of the backroom with it in hand for me. I got home with it, installed it on my back right bumper on a ball mount. It worked EXCELLENTLY. I had it for about 2 months, then wasn't done with my project, I went out and bought another antenna to attatch to my other side of the bumper, so now I'm Struttin dual 102" whips. The faces out of these people behind me at a redlight, when they move the sunshield out of their way, while im watchin them in my rearview, they look up to the sky with a face like "DO they end?!" I work at Mcdonalds, and it is fun as hell to go through my own drivethru causing all the noise. People DO stay way back from me on the highway, cause these things can be a little crazy with wind(so i put tennis balls on them so they cannot hit my car anymore) I love my antennas! Everyone can spot my car wherever I go, and get comments on them all the time. I have a photo of my car with antennas if anyone wishes to see. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v211/Sparkfly88/workcarandtux008.jpg
W0AHH Rating: 2005-03-26
amazing antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is one of the best and cheapest (roughly 15 dollars at radioshack) antennas you can get for 27-29 mhz for mobile operation with an swr so low in this frequency range there isnt really a call for tuning adjustment. amazing signal reports locally and dx.

the best part about this antenna is it provents people from tailgating u as it flexes in the wind hanging behind your vehicle. i highly reccomend getting the slim spring for for extra added whipping action when you hit the brakes. it's a sure way to get a date just somethin women like about guys with a big antenna, you can always find your car in parking lots, if your headlights go out in a parking garage the sparks light the way, and if your a country folk there is no better way to express it then a sky scraping antenna.
KB9OJS Rating: 2005-03-26
THE ONLY ANTENNA TO HAVE FOR CB OR 10M Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I noticed that knowone reviewed this classic antenna, so I thought I would. I am 22 now, and I had a cb in my vehicle ever since I had my Drivers License. It was real popular to have a CB in High School, and a lot of my classmates had one. I ran a 4' fiberglass antenna that was 30 years old, a 4' firestick, and a wilson 1000 and 5000 and I was somewhat happy with them. Then one day I met a local man at a Ham Radio Operators breakfast who recently obtained his Amateur Radio license. He was an ex-cb radio operator and had a large 102" whip on his truck. When I asked him how well it worked, he told me it worked very well and was extremely broadbanded. The rx signals on his radio where stronger than on my radio. Needless to say, I was falling in love with this "ugly" antenna. After about a month, I decided to go to the Radio Shack Store in Jerseyville, IL and get one with a barrel spring at a total cost of about 30 dollars and hooked it up to my "sub-standard" HTX-10 that I got as a present for my 18th birthday. I got a 1.3:1 SWR with it attached to the bedrail of my 87 ranger truck. From there I went to Pere Marquette State Park in Grafton, IL and attempted some DXing. I managed to hold a solid copy with an operator in california for 2 hours!!! The antenna really outperformed my "lossy" wilson 5000 magmount by about 10 miles. I then came home and worked trinidad from the driveway(I'm in a real bad spot)with a 5x9 signal. After the "10 meter season" ended, I hooked my Uniden PC 68xl up to it and I was able to reach all the operators in my area with a good, quality signal with a flat swr across all 40 channels. Then I went up to the same spot in Grafton, IL early in the morning and managed to talk 78 miles on 4 watts! I was sold after this. Here are the pros and cons:

Pro's:
1. full 1/4, no lossy traps to deal with.
2. almost indestructable, never even bent the antenna, but I scraped up the drive thru's and ended the life of some tree limbs.
3. low SWR on 10 and cb, no tuning needed for my application.
4. stainless steel is easy to polish with some fine grit sandpaper, mine is almost a mirror finish(sorry, it's the machinst in me).
5. THE BEST PERFORMANCE FOR THE DOLLAR

Con's:
1. 9' is an impractical size for most folks that need their cars to fit in garages and the such.
2. You have to have a durable mount. One 5" magnet does not cut it here. the 3 or 4 magnet magmounts are needed here. Ball mounts or custom steel mounts(like mine) are good too.
3. They deflect back and sway in the wind.
4. People look at you like your some kind of a redneck(in my case it's true).
5. You can cause people in McDonalds to have a heart attact from the awful sound the whip makes when scraping the drive thru roof.

In conclusion, the pro's outweight the con's. Get one of these for the cb or 10M rig and you wont be sorry.

73's DE John KB9OJS Amateur Extra