Battle of the base loads and the steel whip. A 5' fiberglass top load and one of the air wound coil designs would have been good to see. I always used a field strength meter on a 6' non metallic ladder when doing my tests. Best mobile antenna I ever used, the Signal Engineering, Golden Rod 45.
I thought the K40 did very well, I use a tank whip myself and have no complaints. They were very close the President I think it was, was solid audio wise. Great video Steve, thanks for sharing on the CT Group. I’d have thought you’d be welcome to post them on the CT Forum if you are a member. Take Care
Hi Paddy, yes I am on the forum but never thought about sharing there, I presumed the fb page was used a lot by the forum guys. Please feel free to share on any groups that you feel may benifit from my videos, I have also done one on a gainmaster vs a Hawkins 5/8th antenna with some surprising results. All the best, ty for your comment. Regards Steve
@@EnthusiastSteveM6WVV To be honest I think a lot of the Forum regulars don’t really use Facebook from the feedback I get. I’m sure there is a Section for sharing RU-vid stuff. I will check though mate as I don’t want to mislead you.
The last one was the best one. I have been on CB since 1969. I have seen antennas come and go. I was never a big fan of the K-40. Yes it works and works well but there are others that work much better. For a long time I used to use a Wilson 500. Years ago a friend of mine did a test with a base station. We marked his signal with the K-40 then he used his radio in my car and i was using a 4 foot Francis whip attached the the hatchback of my 1985 Mustang GT. His radio on the K-40 was hitting a base station about 6 miles away across a big body of water. . With the K-40 he hit with just about an 8. When he used his radio in my car it was over S9. When we did a side by side with my radio and his we keyed at the same time and I was heard over him. I now use the Wilson 1000. It's solid it's long and it works. A big problem with the K-40 was and most likely still is that the funky connecter it uses is really not watertight. In areas with high humidity it would get condensation from fog and rain. I knew a guy who had one on his car for a few years and he noticed something was wrong. At first he thought something in the radio was shot. I came over to take a look and the radio was fine. When we went to check out the K-40 it looked ok from the outside but when he went to twist it off the mount it wouldn't budge. Rather than trying to force it off we took some tried and true WD-40 on his K-40 and sure enough it came off and the whole connecter was rusted out. I never had that with my Wilson 500 and i had that for many years. When I got the Wilson 1000 it was a no brainer. It was only $10 US than it was for the 500 and the shipping cost was the same. I really thought about the 5000 but I don't intend to run power and if I do the 1000 can handle it. BTW starting on Jan 01 2022 FM mode will be legal in the USA.
I use a K40 mobile on the 10 metre band. I found that by attaching a thick earth bonding cable between the mag mount and the car body increased the signal by 3db with a local amateur station. So if you use a mag mount, I recommend doing this.
Might have to go back to old school and get another K40. For it’s size it done really well in your test in comparison to the much larger ones. Had one in the early eighties boot mounted on my dads Ford Cortina. Only 4 watts back then copying my friends as we drove out of our town into London. I’d buy one for nostalgic reasons alone.
Looks like it will be one of the sirios i will go for. Back in the day i used to have a roll over plate and bug up a base twig out on the hills on a sunny morning, even used a beam at times. Don't think i can be bothered with all that nowerdays. Especially as most nets seem to be afternoon or evenings. Do wish I'd not of sold all my equipment. I never thought it would of got popular again. Great vid. Mark
The K40 that was made back in the 1970's was made better than the ones that are sold today I have both and like their performance on AM and SSB. I also use an old GE Sentry mag mount as well.
I thought that the Sirio not only had a competitive signal, but the audio also seemed to increase over the other antenna signals as well ! Disappointed in that one video I watched about the Sirio 5000, is that it's base won't accept a typical / common SO 239 Mount ! Guessing Sirio has their own proprietary mounts ? If this is true, they should include such warnings !
I have been using the President Texas also for four years. The single president magnet stays on the truck at 70 mph. Can’t wait to mount it with a thick plate.
K40 is a so so ok antenna I tried the K40 and the Wilson antennas back in the 70's as well Yet Both the I-10k and MonkeyMade antennas Destroy the antennas in this Vid
Thanks for the effort, but we really need more control on the variables for a meaningful test; for instance - were all antennas adjusted to a precise impedance match? Was the calibrated receiver able to discern a half db change? What about reflections? was there measurable change when the distant location moved a few feet?
I was recently using a K40 trunk mount on a Honda Accord and It seemed to work just as well as a 102" I once had on the roof of my truck 35 years ago. Problem with the K40 I got was it was manufactured out of spec because it leaned to the left a few degrees and looked like crap and there is no left to right adjustments only front to back.. Also I screwed it up because in pitch black I tried to screw the base on and somehow screwed up the threads and now the 2 halves won't come apart anymore. Just bought a new car and I don't plan on installing a radio in it anyway.
Thanks for this upload and comparison , as suspected. I think the Sirio was the best bang for the buck..I use one on my Ford Ranger on a daily basis. That said . If I go mobile static. I use a Thunderpole Galaxy 5/8 wave on a drive on mount.. Booms out... K40 is nothing more than nostalgia and big money...P.S. Nice to see you used a 3900 as the receiver . I think these cheap and cheerful radios still out perform a lot of modern day export rigs when aligned and optimised... 73s 153AT888. Subbed and liked..
@@EnthusiastSteveM6WVV Thanks Steve, you got me thinking that I should test my numerous mobile antennas to see which one fares better. All my antennas are from the late 70's and early 80's like my DV27 top loader, Avanti Moonraker base load mag mount, Midland mid loaded and Modulator base loaded antennas. I have small 2' centre loaded DV mount antenna and President Now Yorker for the car. The others I use on the van. Looking forward to seeing your other videos. Take care, Sky.
Your rig sounnds really sweet. You should have tested from further away. Everything sounded so goodthat it was hard to really discern a truly significant difference!
The K40 seemed to do really well. My favorite Antenna I had in the 1990's was a Fracis Amazer. Grey Fiberglass i can't remember if they 102 inch or 110 inch. Really tall I remember.
Today I put my SS9900 in my van and a whip on the mag mount in the roof, I spoke with guys from Bulgaria and I've heard plenty of Russian speakers and Hungarians. I'll need to test my other antennas as well
Thanks Steve. Interesting test with just simple measurement equipment. I would love to see a SWR matching diagram. You can do for small money with a NanoVNA.
Thank you for your comment, yes, eventually I want to get an antenna analyser so I can do more in depth testing. I enjoy experimenting with antennas so it would be a good tool to own. Regards Steve
My best set up is an old Westinghouse 23 on a whip mounted in the middle of the hood on a old cj jeep that thing gets out I'm often accused of it being tuned and amped it's not i just clean it up and check the grounds every few years.
At last, a video that goes into some detail 👌. Do you think you could possibly make another video some day - where the distance between tx and rx is significantly further? 3 miles is hardly breaking a sweat and it gives no indication as to the effective propagation of these various twigs. Theoretically the 7/8 wave should have the best horizontal propagation...shouldn't it?
I may well do, in this video i was only testing locally to see how well they would perfom for local nets, i have had 70mile contacts from the k40, parked at the seafront and talking to another mobile also at another seafront location. The texas gave me 120mile contacts from a small hill to me to a higher one in south wales to another mobile. Another test could be when skip conditions are good, but difficult to test precisely as conditions vary so much. Thank you for your comments, i may well do another. Regards Steve
Thanks very interesting, pity the bases are different so it was not a simple aerial swap, I am a firm believer in the bigger the better, so was surprised the full size one was not the best ? I suppose getting the SWR right on the full size one is harder, as it must be a hacksaw job ? Ken.
Thank you for the comment, yes I am also a believer in bigger is better but on this occasion I was proved wrong. Antennas are like golf clubs, another time another location, the rf take off angle may favour one of the other Antenna's? It's what ever works best for you and the vehicle it is on. The long whip being a full quarter wave gives a wider frequency range but yes, cutting would be required if used at the upper end and into 10m. A small matcher in line will give you as near a perfect match from 26 to 30 mhz if required. All the best, regards Steve
I like so much this kind of test 🤩. I've tested a lot of antenna on the roof of my car in 90's. For me, the best antenna I've owned are the President Pennsylvania and Colorado. Not a big fan of 102 inch wipe. Cheers from 🇫🇷 😁
@@pigeonpaul I use it on my Landcruiser. It is long so you need to careful not to hit the low hanging branches. I use the same mag mount to for CB and VHF antennas. Currently I have VHF antenna on the mag mount.
@@TheOutdoorFun Yeah I have the sirio 4000 but haven't installed it on my van yet. I was a bit concerned about having to let air traffic control know before I mobilise 😀
Nice test set up. I'm not familiar with CB antennas at all, so it was quite surprising to me that the suppliers were describing an antenna that was just 6ft 6in long as a 7/8ths! Only the linear part of any antenna contributes to radiated power, so it should really be considered a 0.2 wavelength antenna...A true 7/8ths antenna on 27Mhz would be 9.7 metres long, have some capacitive loading near the top of the radiator to tweak the radiation pattern and have a simple LC matcher to bring it to a 50 ohm termination. A true quarterwave groundplane antenna will have max radiation directed at the horizon. The trouble with low frequencies like 27MHz is that you need quite a big groundplane to make that come true and a very large groundplane for it to be true for a 5/8ths. Same observation as before though, for a supplier to claim an antenna is a quarterwave on 27MHz when the radiator is less than about 2.75 metres long is a bit of a stretch to put it mildly!
Thank you for the comments, yes supplier's do stretch the truth at times, you just need to read between the blurb so to speak that they write. Regards Steve
So the three standard mount antennas used the exact mount and location. They can be compared accurately to each other, but the K-40 and the whip antenna were mounted differently and probably in a slightly different location. Your antenna test shows that all of the antennas are similar in performance, but you have to keep in mind that the vehicle itself is the other half of the antenna system. Being such this half is critical to the performance of the total antenna system. These antennas are so close in performance that the mount location exactness is critical to getting accurate test results.
All antennas were mounted via a magmount on the same area of the roof of the car, yes the k40 mount is slightly different to the other magmount i used but it is the one that comes with the antenna. I agree the findings are very close, a different time of day, a different location may level the results but since the test i have been using the k40 very successfully on many occasions. Personally i prefer the texas 1800, but i know the k40 performs as well if not just a little better. Thank you for your comments, i agree unless in lab conditions it is difficult to get a accurate test, this was just a real world one comparing them on the dsy. Cheers, regards Steve
That was a great video (I have been on the air since 1968). I was surprised that the clear winner with the clearest and quietest audio was the K40. I just don't think I can give the win to the Mega Silver. It just was not as quiet as the K40 (even though the signal strength was a hair better). I was expecting the winner to be the 102" Tank whip. I currently have the Sirio 5000 Turbo installed on my truck. I do have an old K40 Mag mount on the roof of my work shop (it is a steel building). The K40 seams to be impressive on the shop, it is hooked up to a little Uniden 520 on a small power supply. I have some narrow banded old Antenna Specialist base loaded antennas they seem to have good performance when just used on CH19. I use the old base loaded mag mount antennas as loaners when traveling with friends. I never use my monkey made it is just too large for my through the roof mount.
this video was very interesting specially like you say how well the K40 performed. I have not much knowledge about antennas and all. But i wonder can you really compare antennas like this ? What i mean is quarter wave with half wave with 7/8 wave. now the performance was very close to each other but will a 7/8 wave not very much outperform a quarter wave on much longer distances ?
Hi, yes it is difficult to get a full test on an antenna, so many things can change the outcome. The test was just a real world comparison of different antennas in one situation. If we were to test antennas for their skip performance on 11m or 10m a different outcome may be noticed or ground wave over a much longer distance the 7/8th May have the edge but over a shorter distance the K40 surprisingly came out just on top. Not a lot in it but would give you an edge better performance when working locally. Thank you for your comment, happy new year, regards Steve
Interesting comparison Steve but grounding is very important, mag mounts work well to a point but the lack of decent ground connection at base of antenna affects performance, years ago CBers drilled holes in their cars and used Dv or Dx27 antennas with very good results due to the close grounding connection, if you did the same setup with the Tank Whip it would probably win hands down..
Hi, yes agree grounding is important, i kept them all on the same mount to try and get a fair comparison, you are correct, if they were all mounted direct to metal, the signals to the horizon may improve but they should all improve equally, might be worth testing different mountings in the future, thank you Mark for the comment, regards Steve
Hi Stephen, If you use a Breedlove 3" Puck Mount, there is no problem installing antennas like the Sirio 5000 on a roof mount. Also another amazing roof mount antenna is the Hustler HQ27 (3/8X24 thread). The HQ27 has a long reputation on mirror mounts used on 18 wheelers (back to the 1970's). Many of the HQ27's were run as co phased twin truckers. The Hustler is not as broad banded as some of the others but for up to about 120 channels (I have used an older Grant DX 120 channel Export CB with it and it will handle that band width). The performance of the HQ27 is up there with the K40, the Wilson 1000, and the Sirio 5000.
Thank you, not seen a hq27, I will look into it. Their have been some very good antennas and base fittings over the years. In phase on trucks were popular even here in the UK. It helped project the rf forward and back along the motorway /highway. Thank you for your comment regards Steve
@@EnthusiastSteveM6WVV Hi Stephen, I am sure when you see the image of the HQ27 you will recognize it. Although it is not amongst the recent breed of popular antennas. It is also a well known top performer. Look into the Breedlove Puck mounts if you want serious strength on a roof mount.
@@PeterJavea Hi Peter, is there a reason you are using that set up (like you are in a homeowners association)? You are not able to have a proper ground plane or counterpoise set up that way. With a proper set up your system will perform much better. What you are doing is like taking a Cadillac pulling out the V8 and putting in a 4 cylinder engine. You may think it is working great, but take my word it is not. When properly set up it will work much better.
Hi Steve I enjoyed your video. You mentioned you have your home base antenna in a tree. I'd be interested to see that as I am in the process of getting back into cb radio after a thirtysomething year break.
Hello, yes, I have a gainmaster on a short 10ft pole, the pole sits by the trunk and the gainmaster goes up through the branches, just the to 1 to 2 metres stick out to which I have tie wrapped some small twigs. It's only about 31ft to the tip but works well when skip is up and OK on local contacts. The tree has little effect on the antennas performance. I used ratchet straps to secure pole to the trunk. Regards Steve
I use a 5 to 6 inch magmount but only operate whilst parked static at the seafront or hilltop. I have had it up in 25mph winds on those no problem. For something stronger and to give a better conductive ground to the car I have used a triple magmount. That has had a 16ft 9inch whip on it for the 20m band. Good luck, 73s regards Steve
Greetings friends In the car ..What do you have to do with the surplus cable? If the base has 4 meters of cable, but my station is only 1.50, what do I do with the cable that is left over? Rolling it at somewhere? , short and weld back the pl again? ..
I would coil it and have it as an rf choke at the antenna end in the boot, or cut it to size and resolder the connector to keep coax loss to the minimum. Regards Steve
It is a strong whip so should be good for general driving but all depends on the mount, a triple magmount would work best and give a good ground to vehicle. Find a quiet road and try it out on your setup to see if it is secure. Something like the k40 would be better if regularly using it mobile. Regards Steve
I had to re film one bit so when I got in I had to set up again and return to the hill. A short 25min gap is when things moved. Well spotted. Regards Steve
Hi Kisho, all antennas work on all modes, so fm, am or sideband makes little difference. Ssb is just a signal where the energy and information, voice or data only uses up one third of the space that a AM signal would. Concentrating the power into a narrower band width. Ssb has no carrier wave and looses a side band making the signal travel further. Different antennas send the signals out at different angles, like golf clubs, different ones to propell the ball further. For local contacts, ones that don't use the atmosphere to skip then verticals from 1/4 wave to a 5/8th wave works best, a 1/4 in built up areas as take off angle is better at getting over buildings, a 5/8th for hill to hill as rf is shallower. For skip anything goes, the atmosphere will twist the signal so matching vertical or horizontal antennas is not so important. I use a 5/8 design as my home base antenna, a sirio gainmaster. The K40 or texas 1800 are both good car antennas all will work with ssb. Regards Steve
I used to use the sirio mega watt 4000 but since I descovered the bigger president Texas 1800 I haven't looked back. I see a 1-2 s point gain on both Rx an TX. Everyone I know who has the Texas 1800 never goes back to using Sirio 4000s.
@@EnthusiastSteveM6WVV Hello from France, i'm surprise too about K40 ! I have first generation of texas 1800 and i'll be happy to know the differences with your texas 1800...
@@Toto0861 hello Jean Claude, not sure of the difference, the texas is a good antenna, solid construction, still my favourite. But the K40 did perform better in the test and just today I had a great contact using it mobile from here central South Coast UK into Stockholm, Sweden on triple 5. Vswr is good at 1:1.2 at peak output using my crt 9900. All the best Steve ct2064 aka enthusiastic Steve 🤓
@@EnthusiastSteveM6WVV i'm surprise president "change" it so rapidly. Maybe there're more differences than just simple outside look. 2,14m to 2,12m, then no same inside too and price is very different ! Just curious...
I will hopefully be doing more antenna testing in the future, I have had a few suggestions from viewers as to what they would like. There are some good American antennas that unfortunately are just not available here in the UK to be able to test them. Thank you for your comment, I will see what antennas I can obtain. Regards Steve
hey anybody got a clue what antenna i should use on a old 70 nordman cb i just have to reach about 10 k out when i search i just get stuff that fits with modern stuff... greetings from Denmark
Hello Kurt, I am not aware of that brand of radio. I presume it is still 27mhz? In which case any 27mhz antenna is suitable but sounds like you just need to solder a different connector onto the coax to fit the radio. 10k is a bit of a push mobile, all depends on terrain of course, but homebase a good 5/8 wave should get the signal out low to the horizon well. If hilly or built up a 1/4 wave may be better. Regards Steve
@@EnthusiastSteveM6WVV 27mhz yes it,s a old stationary unit in perfekt condition woodsiding and all, i live on a small island in the baltic sea called Bornholm on a high point and its just farmhouses nearby 3 story buildings i the main town 12km away .thanks for the very fast reply Steve Regards kim
3 miles is too easy for all the antennas. Should have done a 3mile and 5 miles, and after that perhaps increase at increments of 1 mile, and then you know which one is the best antenna.
Hi, yes from a 300ft hill top, north of Portsmouth, parked up I had a 2 way usb conversation on ch 39 mids with a fellow radio user up on a hill north of Cardiff. I have done this a few times when conditions have been pretty flat. The net is on most Thursday evenings from 9pm covering the South UK with net controller located hilltop in Berkshire. Regards Steve
I have had fm contacts on it right across Europe when conditions have been favourable. Fm will travel a good distance not just ssb. This weekend could be good as the Sun is getting active.
Hello Kevin, not a massive difference. The 145 came out as the weaker one but still a useful antenna for general use. The others a S point or a half either way. To achieve even those small gains using just power is still a a hike from the standrad radio tx power. So any advantage in a better tx ing antenna has to be considered. I think overall the K40 is a good performer, it surprised me. Just proves size is not might. Regards Steve
On 4W FM, 2-3 miles away there won't be much noticeable difference between them. Comparing antennas on the groundwaves is always hit & miss. The real test would be on the skywaves when the propagation is right, some SSB DX'ing
Nice antenna think to buy also one for my collection i use also a santiago 1200 by Sirtel also super one made a qso to isla magarita Venezuela from static mobile luc 16IR101 16IR101 Luc
@@VicGreenBitcoin yes, all antennas were very similar once I had adjusted them for the band in use. The full quarter wave without any loading coils should on paper be most efficient, I was surprised the K40 just pipped it, though in reality it must be angle of take off, I still think the whip on long dx would or should be best.
@@VicGreenBitcoin yes, all antennas were very similar once I had adjusted them for the band in use. The full quarter wave without any loading coils should on paper be most efficient, I was surprised the K40 just pipped it, though in reality it must be angle of take off, I still think the whip on long dx would or should be best.
@@EnthusiastSteveM6WVV I've just bought a Sirio fighter 5000 in red the limited edition one. But i still love my origional Modulator too. And if i want to use something smaller on the car i have a metal spring base Sirio dv27 toploader which makes a difference especially when going smaller. A top load is more efficient. Than a base loaded antenna..But it has a max power rating of 50w. But uses it well.
You missed out the best one ! Try a 2 metre vhf diamond nr22 L ! Yes the diamond vhf will win ! No i am not trolling you . The nr22L is 2× 5/8 on 144mhz , and is the very best 2 metre vhf mobile ant out there. But it just so happens to be a top performer on27/28 mhz ! At 2.5 metre it will match or win over all these ant . No i am not joking . I have one conected on my car/van heavy duty aluminium ladder rack , it works mid band at a push ,all the way to 29 mhz . Only downside is they are very expensive. And power limited to 120w . I know this sounds like madness, but me and a pal did tests 20+years ago , when he mixed up his 10 metre and vhf ant on a icom ic 706 . Couldn't work out how the vhf ant was working as 10 metre . That's when we did the test similar to your test . Test was carried out over sea between Aberdeen and Peterhead (20 odd miles ) with all the best cb ant at the time . The Diamond nr22L was the winner 🏆. Just my tuppence worth . MM0UDI.
Thank you Rob, great two tuppence worth, that's the amazing thing with antennas, you never know till you try them. Some 4m antennas also work fairly well on 11m and 10m, my 40m delta loop is resonant on 4m as well but the rf mainly goes upwards lol. The fun comes from experimenting so top marks for your exploits. All the best, regards Steve
@@EnthusiastSteveM6WVV Tks Stephen for your reply. Yes it amazes me as well. When I tell this story, some give me a lot of grief, think I have completely lost my mind ? Yet there are others that see past that . I might put up a YT post on my findings. 73 Rob .
Sorry.. None of those antennas are Great.. Of those though..the K40 is almost Ok. There Indeed are Far far Better antennas then that. The 1-10K or MonkeyMade for Sure Also the 102" Whip The I-10K Destroys All those antennas you Listed Plus those using Power will also be Best with The I-10K or MonkeyMade antennas
Yes indeed the1-10k antenna is a beast, solid built and no reason for it not to perform, especially at higher power levels where legal to do so. Unfortunately I could not get one to test here in the UK, none of the CB radio suppliers stock them, and import costs with our tax adds a huge cost to bringing anything in from the States now. I would agree the antenna looks like it will perform and looking over the Web some favourable reports have been written about them. Regards Steve
@@EnthusiastSteveM6WVV K40 is Not a Monster antenna Simply an Ok one... Not built like a Tank.. Predictor 10k and MonkryMade Destroys the K40 Be it Transmitting as well as recieving. Back in 1980 or 81 I ran the Following test ( repeated test in 200p ) Radio was Cobra 146 GTL Mike Astatic M6 power Mike with Tone Mounting antennas to a hatch mount ( one at a time redid test but radio being Ranger 2750 100 watt radio) My car parked in driveway .. within an valley some 150 ft from top of mountian.. To where I would Test Transmit to a friend beyond the 150 ft sunken valley... Over the top the mountain and to my friend down the other side of the mountian.. My friend parked in a open parking lot of a supermarket some 8 miles away. Keeping every thing the same.. K40 could only at times intermediately make short contacts. PENATROR 10k Consistently made it through with a 8 on the meter MonkeyMade was same as the penatror I Suspect the MonkeyMade would handle the Power the Best Where likely beyond a continual 20 to 50 watts the K40 would start to burn up All of the antennas in the comparison for the vid are Basically useless. On Level ground the K40 does So so..Almost Ok Yet again the Penatror 10k out performs All the antennas in this Vid..Period
@@MrBOB39 shame we don't have more of a range of mobile antennas over here in the UK, CB is still not main stream enough for dealers to carry more antennas, I am fortunate I have a shop that supports cb just a few miles away, we only have a handful across the UK. Sounds like a good test you did with some challenging hills to overcome. Also here in UK we don't seem to run the power like you do in the USA, generally mobile 20 to 50watts is the norm, though I expect a few run more but legally we are only allowed 4w, and 12ssb. If we get pulled over and a tx radio is fitted it is something that would get close inspection. I do appreciate your comments, thank you, I don't disagree other antennas would perform possibly better but just tested the popular and available ones here in UK. Regards Steve
I Hear you. Typically in the mobile ( as I always do at home ) I do Now use Either my Icom 706 MKIIG or Icom IC7000 modded to work on 11 meters.. On a Funny note ( that thankfully wasn't my fault) I got a Notice once Claiming my Transmittions were Interferring and Jamming the 2 way audio equipment of Newark Airport ( 8 miles away as the crow flies ) Turned out.. Newark airport a couple weeks prior had done some maintenance and wrongly/poorly rebooked up their antenna gear Another Funny note. Once I was talking skip..NYC to hawaii.. Using my Icom IC7000 with Icom SM20 desk power Mike Using 80ft of Andrew's Heilax LDF5-50A coax into my Penetrator I-10K Groundplane. In so doing.. 5 ( what I refer to as Dufas kids..lol ) others were 6 to 8 miles from me..Hill topping using whatever CB's but hooked to 20-50K amps/liniers. Though they initially stepped on and interfered with my skipping to Hawaii I simply turned up to 100 watts and raised the audio to full and smashed/drowned them out They so Couldnt believe how their home made SUV roof mounted vertical beams either their amps could be stomped on Leading my showing them a Quality base set up Thus 3 of those 5 themselves upgraded to Simular high grade equipment ( and became ham operators ) I too go mountain topping Setting up some 1200 to 1800 ft above sea level for a day of DXing on 11 meters Few believe my level of contacts Until I bring them along It's a Great hobby A bit expensive A bit a pain in the butt keeping it working top notch But been doing so about 50 years ( 40 with my own gotten high end equipment) It's gotten harder here as well In finding and getting the equipment But it's worth it ( I think )
