This is going to seem like a silly question, but I can't seem to find an answer for it. Does a fiberglass antenna require a spring in order to be able to tune it properly? A spring adds several inches to the length of the antenna, and 1/8" can make a big difference in SWR. I have talked to a few experienced CBers, and have been told both that I do not need a spring, and that I absolutely need a spring. I know that the lower the frequency the longer the antenna needs to be. Are some fiberglass antennas made to be used with a spring, and others without a spring? The last base station antenna I used was a vertical 102" whip with a spring on a mirror mount bracket, bolted to the wood fascia of my house, then a heavy gauge wire of approximately the same length attached to the mounting bracket, and run along the edge of the roof, basically creating a dipole with one vertical 1/4 wave element and one horizontal 1/4 wave element. It worked very well. I got no readable SWR at all. I'm trying to tune a 4' mobile fiberglass antenna, and cannot get the SWR down. Do I need a spring. Sorry for all the rambling.