I don’t want to discourage you, but most of the time the FA antenna provides better coverage compared to what you have.
I’d say even a simple quarter wave quick spider can provide similar, if not better results.
The bad performance you experienced from the FA antenna was most likely as i said a cable defect.
Maybe just try making a quick spider:
QUICK SPIDER - No Soldering, No Connector
Will be a good comparison and should be easy after making the colinear antenna 
You might also be interested to check how terrain affects your reception:
What is the Maximum Range I can Get?