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FireStik IBA-5 Indoor CB base antenna
Antenna | Radio |
Brand | FireStik |
Number of Channels | 5 |
Maximum Range | 5 Miles |
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This Item FireStik IBA-5 Indoor CB base antenna | Recommendations | dummy | dummy | dummy | dummy | |
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Price | — | $62.15$62.15 | $21.99$21.99 | $68.00$68.00 | $32.28$32.28 | $49.99$49.99 |
Delivery | — | Get it Apr 2 - 5 | Get it as soon as Tuesday, Apr 2 | — | — | Get it as soon as Tuesday, Apr 2 |
Customer Ratings | ||||||
Value for money | 3.6 | — | 3.8 | 4.7 | — | 3.9 |
Easy to install | 4.3 | — | 4.4 | 4.4 | — | — |
Sold By | — | UnbeatableSale, Inc | eifagur | DNJ Radio | PEPE DEALS INC. | C. Crane |
maximum range | 5 miles | — | 10 feet | — | — | 6 feet |
impedance | — | — | 50 ohm | 50 ohm | — | 75 ohm |
antenna description | Radio | Radio | Radio | — | Radio | Radio |
Looking for specific info?
Product information
Product Dimensions | 65 x 6 x 3 inches |
---|---|
Item Weight | 6.4 pounds |
ASIN | B000X3D6TG |
Item model number | Firestik IBA-5 |
Customer Reviews |
3.9 out of 5 stars |
Best Sellers Rank | #2,184 in Radio Antennas |
Date First Available | June 2, 2004 |
Manufacturer | FireStik |
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Product Description
IBA-5 Indoor CB base antenna
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers like the quality, portability, reception, and tunable features of the antenna. For example, they mention it's well made, serves their application of being portable, and has a very good bandwidth. That said, opinions are mixed on performance.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers are satisfied with the quality of the antenna. They mention that it is well-made, stable, and heavy enough to stay put. Some say that it would make a great mobile base station antenna and a good alternative for HOA situations.
"...bags would be necessary unless near hurricane winds because its quite stable and heavy enough to stay put...." Read more
"It arrived in a package that was halfway destroyed, it's a decent antenna aside from that...." Read more
"This is a quality antenna for your CB radio if you have to mount your antenna indoors...." Read more
"...This would make a great mobile base station antenna. Although this may not require grounding, I believe it would benefitgreatly by grounding." Read more
Customers like the portability of the antenna. For example, they say it serves their application of being portable, and is easy to move. That said, some say it's good for camping and remote locations.
"...is a success after fiddling with it a little, and it serves my application of being portable, drilling no holes, or having to have a mast, etc...." Read more
"...I had to get this for restrictions and for it's easy mobility to be moved. I was actually able to tune this well with wave ratios about 1.3:1 on CB...." Read more
"...story.Probably good for camping and remote location.Def not good for home base station." Read more
"Portable setup but you better have a good SWR meter!..." Read more
Customers are satisfied with the reception of the antenna. They mention that it has better reception, better transmit, and a very good bandwidth. Some say that the antenna can transmit for over 3 miles with very little static.
"...You'll have less noise, much easier tuning, better reception, MUCH better transmit (local) since the radiation angle will drop...." Read more
"...As for performance, I have clear reception with very little static and can transmit for over 3 miles...." Read more
"Nice SWR. Wide bandwidth. And tunable...." Read more
Customers like the tunable feature of the antenna. They say it's easy to tune and has a wide bandwidth.
"...You'll have less noise, much easier tuning, better reception, MUCH better transmit (local) since the radiation angle will drop...." Read more
"...I was actually able to tune this well with wave ratios about 1.3:1 on CB. Adding a spring to the antenna base enabled me to drop that .1, was 1.4:1...." Read more
"Nice SWR. Wide bandwidth. And tunable...." Read more
Customers are mixed about the performance of the antenna. Some mention that it works pretty good indoors at less than 2.5 SWR, while others say that it does not perform well at all indoors. The four legs attached do not really work well as a ground plane.
"...I like this setup. It's portable and working ok right now after some destructive testing...." Read more
"It works great on my balcony. For some reason my swr went down when I started moving the support steel legs. This position gave me the best results." Read more
"What a piece of junk does not work with none of my radios tried everything dissatisfied waste of money and time" Read more
"...I do like the tunable tip on this antenne, I find that it works fine for achieving a low SWR. Like any other antenna, location is everything...." Read more
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I like this setup. It's portable and working ok right now after some destructive testing. Turns out the coax connector was not making contact through the bottom bolt of the hub assembly. The head of the bolt must be tight enough to go past the insulator and make contact with the bottom disk which is connected to the center conductor of the coax. The top disc in the coax loop is the ground or shield. I cut the loop open to try to figure out how they were connect each of the two conductors, when I could have done a simple continuity test on side and discovered how they have two discs or washers inside the loop with a white plastic insulator that separates them, and that the center conductor works up through the bottom disc in contact through the bolt. I love the hardware and the robustness of this, but very poor assembly by the manufacturer. They assembled the top part of the hub with the mount but not tight enough and did not bother to do a continuity check. All it really needed before I cut the loop open was to tighten the main bolt and nut tight enough that the bottom bolt edges touched the bottom disk. The insulator holds the bolt head out just a hair to not make contact if not tight enough, so make sure to tighten the big bolt and big mount nut, and do a quick check on it.
Out of the box, the SWR was off the scale no matter what because the antenna was not even connected to the radio, only the coax.
I am finally getting a 1.2:1 SWR now with the long screw in the whip up through the plastic boot, and one pair of jumper cables clamped to the studs between the upper and lower hub discs, and then both clamps clamped to the aluminum rain gutter to use the camper's aluminum siding as well, which did make a difference compared to no cables. Make sure to install the boot because it does bring the SWR down by using it.
This is a 5 ft trucker antenna with radials for the ground plane, and it works as good as on a truck as long as the SWRs are down. I'm getting great reports from the truckers.
You may be able to add a spring at the bottom to lengthen the antenna in order to use the shorter screw that fits under the cap. I have not tried this. In other words adding some length to the bottom instead of only the top.
So this antenna is a success after fiddling with it a little, and it serves my application of being portable, drilling no holes, or having to have a mast, etc.
I can just unscrew the whip and pull it off the roof and put away the jumper cables. I don't think any sand bags would be necessary unless near hurricane winds because its quite stable and heavy enough to stay put.
Only other thing to suggest would be to replace the hardware with stainless steel where possible because it will rust eventually from the acidic rain.
I think the manufacturer should at least create a longer boot cap for the whip for this system as a professional product that does not have to be hacked up in order to get it to work properly.
If they would correct this adaptation from this whip being normally used on trucks to a more finished product, and also insure that when they assemble something at the factory it's checked to insure proper connection, they would sell many more of these because they were on the right track with these, but fell short just a little bit at the end causing a little confusion, doubt, and headaches for some of the buyers of this good product.
NO cutting like the old days. You turn a screw into or out of the top of the whip to change its electrical length and thus the resonance. Can be done by hand but you MUST have an SWR meter on your radio first, and probably a tuner, too, to put inline. INDOORS, this is VERY reactive to objects around it, including you, window screens (!), wiring, floor lamps, metal bladed ceiling fans or a motor near it... etc...
Also, it is REALLY designed for use on the first floor, second is PUSHING it. That means an attic install would have to be only one flight up. The radial bars are flatirons at 30" length. The 30" length is not electrically related as a normally formula'd radial or counterpoise, but it's better than nothing.
If you are running at an altitude of 3 flights up, you CAN get amazing attic results if the attic is pretty clear, there is pretty much no metal and you cut wires to extend the radials to something useful. At that height, if you can do it, 8-1/2' each is perfect, lay out four of them in an X coming from the very center of the clamping bracket that holds the components together. Run the wires out straight, it matters, in a 90 degrees-X. Suddenly, it will behave MUCH better.
You'll have less noise, much easier tuning, better reception, MUCH better transmit (local) since the radiation angle will drop. I've done this a few times and it really works. What you've done is create a 5/8 wave top loaded vertical ground plane antenna with 1/4 wave radials. At that height, a genuine 1/4w radial will work fine. The length is 102" and you'll get very good bandwidth well over 28MHz and well under 27MHz doing that.
You'll have a fairly low angle TX pattern AND no problems with rain or ICE messing up your SWR! I've usually gotten this setup tuned so well (1.2:1) that I did not need to use a tuner and took it out of the line! Just cut your radials properly, put them in properly and adjust your whip length.
You can also consider a counterpoise with an "artificial ground" tuner, but that's a lot of money. Do it my way on the 3d floor. Cut off 2" for the second floor and cut off another 2" for ground level. Do NOT exceed 102" even if you go higher.
You can try lining up the radials with the flatirons (also 90 degree crossed) or between them and see which works better. It may be VERY subtle and something you don't notice without several days of listening and qso's. Good luck, but HAVE AN SWR METER!!