Frank Bals schrieb:
I've seen longer telescopic whips like the Maxon WTA-1, which is a 48" CB
whip. I wonder if the center-load on the Radio Shack actually does make up
for it being only 26" when fully extended?

I am using such a telescopic center loaded whip with my handheld
scanner. It actually *does* work from 25Mhz up to above 500Mhz.
But you have to adjust carefully for optimum performance. It detunes
when touching or taking the hand off.
You should know: Length of an antenna much less than 1/10 of the
wavelength *allways* results in dramatic loss of performance. So a
*tuned* 48" antenna has its advantage over a 26" antenna for the desired
frequency range.