The Firestik

The place to talk about specific radios, equipment and accessories. Do you prefer the latest generation of rigs and antennas or do you like the classics? Discuss it here!
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cb4ever104
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The Firestik

Post by cb4ever104 »

I'm going to sell my (bought in Largs around 84) 7' Firestik here locally. But it got me thinking. Were these really any good? I remember at the time I ended up drilling a hole in the boot of my Mum's reasonably new Cavalier, which she wasn't too pleased about once she saw it :)

Mostly, I remember the looks people gave you as you drove around with the thing on the back of the car :roll: . Saying that I had a PA speaker fitted as well, so you could always give those same people abuse if you felt so inclined :)
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Alan Pilot
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Re: The Firestik

Post by Alan Pilot »

I never rated them but many did.
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NightProwler
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Re: The Firestik

Post by NightProwler »

I have a 7 foot Firestik here from the early 80's but I have never tried it, Strange thing is though yesterday I was digging through a pile of scrap antennas behind the greenhouse and I was thinking of making a groundplane kit from 3 old Thunderpole groundplanes and chucking the 7 foot Firestik on it. Now I HAVE to do it :think:
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Buick Mackane
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Re: The Firestik

Post by Buick Mackane »

NightProwler wrote: 11 Sep 2022, 13:36 I have a 7 foot Firestik here from the early 80's but I have never tried it, Strange thing is though yesterday I was digging through a pile of scrap antennas behind the greenhouse and I was thinking of making a groundplane kit from 3 old Thunderpole groundplanes and chucking the 7 foot Firestik on it. Now I HAVE to do it :think:
That's cheating, HAS TO BE a quality street tin :)
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NightProwler
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Re: The Firestik

Post by NightProwler »

I was going to but they are all bloody plastic now.
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Astro fantom
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Re: The Firestikhen

Post by Astro fantom »

I actually did rate these back in the day and i started out with the obligitory dv27 and busicuit tin set up with a cobra 21x fm muppet box but soon spotted a firestik in a local shop amongst all the tat they sold so had to have it..
I tried it on the biccy tin which swiftly fell over due to the seven foot length and had to buy a proper groundplane kit from stockton cb centre and up in the loft it went..
Swr was difficult at first but once done it was awesome and put out a good signal to other local stations..
I soon upgraded to an 18ft gp and then an alcom and after that a mighty magmum and sigma 2 eventually with various rig upgrades to ssb status along the way but that firestik was ace for my first antenna and i kept it for years..
I bought another when i owned a 7.5 tonne truck in the 90’s and had it on the roof but was a pain tho going under bridges and hitting trees on country lanes so had to replace it sadly..
Id love another just for nostalgia value tbf
grafter
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Re: The Firestik

Post by grafter »

I'm not sure they were any better than all the other stuff that was around back then but I'm still not sure ANY 11M mobile antenna is noticably better than another once they're 1.5M long or more. FWIW I had one clamped to the back of a bike rack on my pushbike in 1981-83 along with a Colt 210 then York 863 and Bremi BRL31, it tuned up eventually although I'm sure I took off about a metre of enamel copper wire from the top of the coil before it matched. The coolest thing about a 7ft Firestik was saying you were using one :)

After getting a visit from Busby who bubbled me up to parents saying my Sigma IV wasn't legal I ended up getting a thunderpole 2, within a few weeks I'd swapped the radiator for a 3/8 mount and 7ft Firestik, announcing it on air as a TP3. TBF it did work well and managed quite a lot of nice single hop Es besides 100mile ground wave contacts.
my friend grafter, seems like you are using a very offensive tone in the reply.
The Collector
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Re: The Firestik

Post by The Collector »

I had one but never used it. I think I swapped it for a k40. Tell a lie, we put it on my mate's Wot-pole instead of the Cherokee half-breed that they usuall had on. It did get out a bit better but was strainng the mounting bracket on his fascia board!

It was too unwieldy and we rarely stopped driving for long enough to warrant fitting it on the car. If I recall, I would have had to have stuck it out of the window of my Mk1 Escort slightly as it wouldn't fit inside anyway.

The one I did use was a 5ft'er and it wasn't too bad...once it was SWR'd which could be a pain - snipping off a couple of mil' at a time! I stuck to my Modulators or Tagra t40 most of the time though. They were a touch better and more flexible.

With the larger 5ft or 7ftFirestiks, you really needed to reinforce any roof or boot lid panel with a thick metal plate though as if you didn't, the panel around the stud mount could buckle slightly if the aerial hit a branch hard.
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timbo
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Re: The Firestik

Post by timbo »

Performed like a 7 foot dummy load. Too many of those helical wire wound antennas where "self-inductive" gave a good SWR because they burned off the power without radiating much of it. Go for a base loaded whip or better .. a 1/4 wave unloaded (9 foot)
Samalex
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Re: The Firestik

Post by Samalex »

Sammy does it have wire wrapped round it?

I have a 8ft (maybe cut down cant mind) white fiberglass antenna looks similar with an avanti sticker on it. It worked better than anything else i tried in the 80s only went mobile once or twice but wasn't fun lol so would only be used static mobile. worked the world with it. I later then used it as a top piece for the antron 99 and again worked well

Locals used to ask what i was using when i had it on the car as my signal was very strong even when others were in the same location.

The firesticks i used back then weren't as good but they had wire coiled around it
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Re: The Firestik

Post by adrian »

late 80s ,early 90s...5ft firestik on top of thunderpole groundplanes..worked well..and ive still got the qsl cards..
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Re: The Firestik

Post by NightProwler »

adrian wrote: 29 Aug 2023, 12:51 late 80s ,early 90s...5ft firestik on top of thunderpole groundplanes..worked well..and ive still got the qsl cards..
I remember doing that to my MK2 Thunderpole in the 80's. Worked well.
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