Mobile Antenna Field Test
The Purpose Of The Test
Your requests for the best antenna you can install on the roof of your vehicles have raised our own curiosity. We have heard a lot of talk about 4-Ft "Top-Loaded" antennas outperforming the base loaded antennas. The theory is that since most of your signal comes from the base of the antenna. Therefore this could be the worst place to put the loading coil. The newest opinion was the best place to have the coil was either in the center of the top of the antenna.
 
So, all us at Radio Pro Shop decided to perform our own test for you.
 
Antenna Lineup
1) Wilson 1000 Base Loaded Steel Whip Magnet Mount
1) Wilson 4' Fiberglass Top Load Magnet Mount
1) Firestik 4' Fiberglass Top Load Magnet Mount
1) K-40 4' Fiberglass Top Load Magnet Mount
1) Francis 4' Fiberglass Top Load Magnet Mount
1) 102" Steel Whip (To set the standard)

Test Description
Stationary Test was conducted in Steve's Driveway, with the engine running the whole time. Each antenna was placed in the same spot on his roof on it's own magnet mount base, and no settings were changed on his radio. Results: We had 4 remote CB Stations take down readings for each test. We added up our signal meters together and came up with a score for each antenna. The opinions for audio quality and signal strength of each antenna are listed below also.
 

Wilson 1000 Base Load Magnet Mount

Monitoring Station Signal Received Audio Quality
Jiggaman 7 Strong Audio
Dave 6 Good Audio
Newport 5 Good Audio
Weasel 3 Good Audio
Total Points: 21
 

102" Steel Whip Magnet Mount

Monitoring Station Signal Received Audio Quality
Jiggaman 6 Good Audio
Dave 6 Good Audio
Newport 5 Good Audio
Weasel 3 Good Audio
Total Points: 20
 

Wilson 4' Top Load Fiberglass Magnet Mount

Monitoring Station Signal Received Audio Quality
Jiggaman 6 Fuzzy Audio
Dave 5 Fuzzy Audio
Newport 5 Fuzzy Audio
Weasel 3 No Noticeable Change
Total Points: 19
 

Firestik 4' Top Load Fiberglass Magnet Mount

Monitoring Station Signal Received Audio Quality
Jiggaman 5.5 Fuzzy Audio
Dave 5 Fuzzy Audio
Newport 5 Fuzzy Audio
Weasel 2 Poor
Total Points: 17.5
 

K-40 4' Top Load Fiberglass Magnet Mount

Monitoring Station Signal Received Audio Quality
Jiggaman 5 Fair Audio
Dave 5 Lower Audio
Newport 4 Lower Audio
Weasel 2 Lower Audio
Total Points: 16
 

Francis 4' Top Load Fiberglass Magnet Mount

Monitoring Station Signal Received Audio Quality
Jiggaman 4 Very Fuzzy
Dave 5 Fuzziest
Newport 3.5 Fuzziest
Weasel 2 Poor Audio!
Total Points: 14.5
 
Steve Reports How The Antennas Received
The 102" whip and the Wilson 1000 had the best receive gain. The Fiberglass top-loads had less receive gain than the steel whips with the Francis having the worst receive. All antennas brought in the vehicle's electrical noise the same.
 
The Wilson performed the best for transmit and receive. The Wilson 1000 had a noticeable improvement over the other antennas except for the 102" whip. The Wilson 1000 is a much better choice over the 102" whip because of the size difference and the mounting options. The Wilson 1000 works very well with a magnet mount where as the 102" whip should be directly mounted.
 
Our Line of Fine Wilson Antennas Can Be Found At: Wilson Antennas
 
We would love to hear your opinion of this test and also your questions! Please register for our Radio Pro Shop Radio Forum! It's free and lots of fun! Just go to:
 
 
 
 
 
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