Steel or Fibreglass? Antenna advice.

[NoodleNut]

Ok, got a great price on an Icom 400 pro, did a diligent search through a bunch of forums to help me decide on the antenna to hitch it up to and decided on the RFI Explorist twin pack. THEN a 'helpful' mate mentioned that my 300tdi Disco would probably shake the preverbial out of them and that fibreglass would have been a better choice.

How much chance is there of the antennas fracturing. Won't the spring do a good enough job of dampening the disco jitters :(

Keen to hear what people have experienced.

[FFR]

How much chance is there of the antennas fracturing.



It depends on how may trees do you use to hit per day. If I had to hit trees or other low clearance obstacles, I would go to a fibreglass one. If I plan to do a standard use, the one you have bought is ok.

The only antenna I broke during the last years was a fibreglass one (amateur use, not CB), and it was due to poor engineering/manufacturing in the point where the fibreglass was attached to the metal botton.

[slug_burner]

I don't think it will matter. I have fibreglass but metal you can straighten after a tree strike.

[richard4u2]

do you guys use your disco's for land clearing or something :confused:

[PhilipA]

This is one of those threads that warrants the response of
"Whatever."
Regards Philip A

[NoodleNut]

This is one of those threads that warrants the response of
"Whatever."
Regards Philip A

Having enjoyed the comments and general chat that often ensues in these forums I'm a little disappointed by your reply PhilipA. I would have thought if you have nothing really to add then the effort of having to type "Whatever" hardly seems worth it.

I should have been a little more descriptive to start with. I was interested to hear from anyone having experienced the situation that my mate described where stainless whips tended to fracture at joins when mounted on a diesel.

Cheers,
NoodleNut

[PhilipA]

Noodlenut, you are talking about something that costs 30-40 bucks and even with vibration would last a considerable time. They are disposable low cost items worth less than a carton of beer . How many cartons of beer do you buy and do you agonise over cans or bottles?

The only time you would possibly have a problem is if you mounted it on a bullbar which was not adequately fixed. Any other position eg roof gutter, which is the appropriate position for a non groundplane antenna the comment about vibration is bunk.
I have been in 4wdclubs for many years and nobody has ever raised this as a problem. I have had both steel and fibreglass antennas and for the average 4DB antenna there is my opinion no difference in longevity, other than fibreglass ones get broken more often by shrubbery than steel ones. I have lost the plastic top from mine from shrubbery, and being tight have dipped it in plastic "liquid tape" to stop it unravelling.

So what you may lose on the swings you will gain on the roundabouts.
Another 2 minutes of my life gone.

[Utemad]

When you say fibreglass do you mean the broomstick type or the flexy whip type?

I have heard of the ss type snapping where the whip mounts to the solid part but never experienced it. I've had a ss GME for 9 years or so but not always fitted. I tend to swap antennas around in type and position for something to do.

The only time I've damaged an antenna was a bullbar mounted broomstick when it whacked something.

Just buy the one you want and suits the terrain you drive.

[NoodleNut]

Again I ask the question PhillipA why bother typing anything at all? I certainly didn't PM you seeking your opinion on the relative worth of anything or ask that you spend anything more than a cursory glance at the thread title, let alone offer the sad loss of your two minutes, as fulfilling as they must be.

Luckily these forums tend to be inhabited by folk who don't mind shooting the breeze on the occasional trivial matter.

For what it's worth my mate spends his days working on mining equipment and based his opinion on a recent refit of antennas on their trucks. They attributed breaks on SS whips to the high vibration.