In the dirt, especially when traveling with a group, radio communications save time and hassle. If you've ever done the "stop and huddle" method of communicating, you know that there's no comparison to lazily picking up a microphone and transmitting directly to the rest of the conga line. No stopping, no waving, and no looking for convenient pull-off places next to the trail.
At the same time radios and antennas can be a hassle. Antennas are particularly grievous offenders. How many times has a magnetic mount antenna been swept off of your roof by a marauding branch? And what about that monster-sized coaxial cable that tweaks and squashes weather stripping because you have no other choice but to shut the door on it? Finally, how much can you really hear through that cheapie antenna?
The RF Parts Company in San Marcos, California, has an antenna kit that addresses all of the above-mentioned gripes with our antenna. The kit consists of a powerful Firestik FireFly antenna, a versatile, low-profile mounting bracket, and a super-skinny, ultra-flexible cable.
If you need to hear and be heard and you need that capability wrapped in a low-profile, rugged package, then the RF Parts antenna kit is tailor-made for you.
This whole antenna kit is...
This whole antenna kit is exciting, but the adjustable antenna mount steals the show. It’s secure, yet there’s no need to drill a hole through your roof.
It can mount to a trunk lid,...
It can mount to a trunk lid, pickup tailgate, or onto a rear hatch, as seen here. Four setscrews securely hold the antenna mount to the hatch. There’s a protection plate included which can be placed between the setscrew ends and the vehicle’s sheet metal to avoid putting divots in thin sheet metal. Said protection plate was called into play here. By the way, those big scratches in the paint were there long before this antenna was installed.
The antenna base can handle...
The antenna base can handle antennas of several different lengths. A three-foot antenna seemed like the best compromise between power and physical size. Antennas that stick up too far are the first to suffer damage.
This antenna, mount, and cable...
This antenna, mount, and cable can be adapted to several different types of radios. Tod had the parts on hand to mate the cable with my CB radio. Note how skinny the cable is. Yes, it still has to feed through the door opening and the weather stripping, but it’s so compact and pliable it causes no drama. Once in the dirt and on the highway, the antenna proved stunningly powerful, pulling down conversations that sounded as if they were hundreds of miles distant. Better yet, the low-profile mount has kept the antenna safe and undamaged despite lots of time on the highways and trails of SoCal. Final bonus: while it’s quite a bit more expensive than the el cheapo antennas we’d been using, the overall investment is far from a bank-breaker. This qualifies as an economical upgrade. Two thumbs up.
The FireFly can be precisely...
The FireFly can be precisely tuned by threading the antenna’s tip in and out.
The ideal setting is found...
The ideal setting is found using a high-tech, high-dollar radio antenna tester. This was the first time I’d seen an antenna tester, so I trusted Tod from RF Parts when he declared the settings good.