stubby radio antennas

[ex vtxer]

are these any good???
do they replace cb antenna or just the regular antenna..i know, that i dont know much on a good day, on a better day, i know less...that's why i ask???

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Stubby-Radio-A ... 2565856530

[AZgl1800]

they will work okay if the person you are trying to talk to is within seeing distance.

Straight line, no obstructions,

just think Handie Talkie and you will be okay.

a shortened antenna is severely compromised for efficiency.
The "standard length of a CB whip" is 108" and that is with a "good ground plane", of which, there isn't one on any motorcycle.

so, we suffer with what we have, about 2 - 3 miles with the bike's stock antenna.
In the mountain twisties, maybe 2 or 3 corners, no more than that.

[ex vtxer]

thanks for prompt reply...

[Viking]

That specific stubby is only for radio, and will shorten your range considerably. I could not even find a stubby for CB antenna replacement, probably due to the information that AZgl1800 stated above.

[tfdeputydawg]

Stubby's kill the incoming signals! Dastic reduction in reception distance.
As for the OEM CB antenna. I see so many comments such as "line of sight", short distance, etc.
While it is true there is not much ground plane on a motorcycle, if the SWR is carefully and properly tuned, the transmitting distance can approach 5 to 6 miles!
You will receive for much greater distances but will not be able to respond.

[AZgl1800]

Stubby's kill the incoming signals! Dastic reduction in reception distance.
As for the OEM CB antenna. I see so many comments such as "line of sight", short distance, etc.
While it is true there is not much ground plane on a motorcycle, if the SWR is carefully and properly tuned, the transmitting distance can approach 5 to 6 miles!
You will receive for much greater distances but will not be able to respond.

My avocation is communications. Been in the field since 1958, I think that I am almost aware of how to tune antennas.

I have seen so many people quote "with careful SWR tuning" you can get better results.
Yes you can, provided that antenna NEVER has anything within a few feet of it to capacitively decouple that tuning.

As soon as a rider gets on board, not to mention adding a passenger, you can kiss that stubby antenna's "careful SWR tuning" goodbye forever, it ain’t' there no more.

Back in my earlier days when I was an avid ham radio connoisseur and running mobile, I hand built a special antenna tuner for my antenna.... that antenna was a 16 ft long Army Jeep/tank antenna complete with the special spring mount for it.

On 40 meters ( 7.250 kHz ) I could zero that SWR right down to zero reflected power.
But, as soon as the car started moving, that SWR meter started for the top of the gauge.
Depending on speed, and the degree of backward tilt, the antenna had to be retuned...

My special tuner was two electric motors, connected to a variable capacitor and a variable inductor. Both taken from surplus military gear. I used Double Throw, Center OFF spring loaded toggle switches to tune the antenna. The tuner was installed at the base of the antenna, so the Coax always saw 50 ohms.

While talking on 40 meter SSB, the SWR meter was always left in Reflected position. Forward does not mean crap.... as I talked, I would toggle those switches until the meter reading returned to zero.

as long as I kept to the same speed, all was well. come to a stop, and the SWR would go above the meter's capability to read it, even if you corrected for the proper Forward setting.

Antenna tuning is a science, don't let folks mislead you.

Get the proper rod for the bike, set the antenna length to best meet the part of the CB band you want to use. I only use channels 1 and 5.... you cannot "tune the antenna" to properly cover all of the CB band. So, I go for channel 5 and forget it....

Even at that, I can hear truckers for miles.... but I cannot talk back to any of them..... way too far away, and they will not talk to a Yankee sounding voice..... I once tried to tell a trucker that he had a blowout on his trailer, I was right next to his open window, blowing my air horns, and talking to him on Ch 19.... he gave me the bird.... I never tried again.

[tfdeputydawg]

As soon as a rider gets on board, not to mention adding a passenger, you can kiss that stubby antenna's "careful SWR tuning" goodbye forever, it ain’t' there no more.

FYI, My comment was directed AT CAREFUL TUNING of an OEM CB antenna, not a stubby.
Careful relates to being away from buildings, trees, etc. Also knelling beside the bike while taking a reading.

[AZgl1800]

As soon as a rider gets on board, not to mention adding a passenger, you can kiss that stubby antenna's "careful SWR tuning" goodbye forever, it ain’t' there no more.

FYI, My comment was directed AT CAREFUL TUNING of an OEM CB antenna, not a stubby.
Careful relates to being away from buildings, trees, etc. Also knelling beside the bike while taking a reading.

and my comment was, that regardless of the antenna, as soon as a rider climbs on board, that careful tuning just disappeared. Even the OEM CB antenna is a poor replacement for the full size CB antenna. The BEST tuning will be if the CB antenna is tuned while the rider is sitting on the bike.
At least that way, you can compensate for the detuning effect of a "near field capacitive load"


just as an aside, I don't think that I have ever seen any motorcyclist have a full size CB antenna on his bike LOL

[ex vtxer]

As soon as a rider gets on board, not to mention adding a passenger, you can kiss that stubby antenna's "careful SWR tuning" goodbye forever, it ain’t' there no more.

FYI, My comment was directed AT CAREFUL TUNING of an OEM CB antenna, not a stubby.
Careful relates to being away from buildings, trees, etc. Also knelling beside the bike while taking a reading.

and my comment was, that regardless of the antenna, as soon as a rider climbs on board, that careful tuning just disappeared. Even the OEM CB antenna is a poor replacement for the full size CB antenna. The BEST tuning will be if the CB antenna is tuned while the rider is sitting on the bike.
At least that way, you can compensate for the detuning effect of a "near field capacitive load"


just as an aside, I don't think that I have ever seen any motorcyclist have a full size CB antenna on his bike LOL

thank you all for your replies and most importantly, for taking time out to answer. i'll tell you the truth, i was asking about the stubbies, since i've seen some bikes with them on, both Harleys and GW, so when i dont know, i ask. i was going also for the look, since i have the 40th anniversary model, lol...mine right now seems to work fine, so i'll keep it. no stubby!!!

as for that full size antenna, when i had my vtx i used to ride with a group that were all gw's plus one triked Valk. the Valk belong to a cigar smoking gentleman who had been riding since they first came out with bike lol...he had his triked since he couldnt walk without a walker. all that said, he had this antenna on his valk, that was about 10 feet high, with a big spring at the base of it, sort of like the ones on army jeeps that i remember, and he also used a hand held lol...again, thanks for replies, i got my answer, i'll keep the regular cb antenna i have now and forget about asthetics.
has anyone ever painited theirs black just kidding. happy new year and thanks again...

[AZgl1800]

go ahead and paint it, it make the radio waves invisible