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just want to know the inside scoop on this antenna.

are they made by workman? or sirio? both?
if so, which one is better?

what improvements need to be made to make it sturdy?
SS hardware etc...?

should it be isolated from its mast?

i am thinking that a choke balun would not be needed, but im open to opinions on that.

thanks for any and all input you can provide on my prospective birthday present.
LC

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"Man shall never reach the moon, for such a quantity of gunpowder would be needed as to gravely injure the crew."
~ Children's Encyclopedia, 1926

not sure about the new ones,but ran astarduster back in 1967 till 1982....never had a problem.I out talked my neibor,and out heard him....a astroplane go figure...73s de JW

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Be radioactive

palco sells their workman version for $50 =S&H .
Workman M-400 Starduster - Palco Electronics

theyre not as well made as the origional starduster from what ive read . but its cheap and all aluminium , and isnt mostly coil like those balcony antennas .
on my wire starduster copy it was suggested that i should have done a second coax choke 9 foot below the feedpoint to help prevent induced (i think??) mode currents . the choke at the feedpoint it for common mode currents . i forgot to do the lower choke but i dont have any CMC's if wildly shaking the slack coax in the house around while i hold a deadkey and my ess wubba ares dont move around means anything . other than i musta looked like an idiot . LOL

a pipe/sleeve choke may be useful , better , worse ????????

ill let others comment on isolating it from the mast or ground .

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I have a Sirio Starduster M-400 and she is loud . Sirio Antenne - Products

Antenna Notes

some good info there LC

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Starduster was my very first Base Antenna, purchased back in the early 70's from AES in Milwaukee, worked great, never had any issues with stray currents/RF anything like that, though back in them days 150 watts was about my max. Later in the years I ran quite alot more through the original AS M400, never had any issues, even with the old Two Piece D&A Warrior I ran, other then melting my Moms wire core clothes lines . And the mysterious deaths of more then one small bird , that was back in the last Solar Cycle Peak

The Antenna was always a decent performer, had some issues with it breaking the plastic spreaders, made up some of my own and never had another problem. While I did prefer the Hygain, and Avanti antennas it was a solid performing anenna which was much less prone to performance changes due to weather. I do remember one though that apparently the radiator filled with water over the winter months and it split/burst from expansion as it froze, never broke, worked fine other then that.. Had one fall over on 40 feet of water pipe during an Ice Storm, a little straightening, raise it back up and it was good to go...

I did sell a few Larrys clones back in the early to mid 80s, never had any complaints on them the 90s Sirio version were very similar, one thing I did learn about the original Starduster is it worked best threaded onto the waterpipe with plumbers sealant, the original matched the pipe threads for somewhere around the 1 inch water pipe, and my Father (master plumber) always had the sweet ass HEAVY DUTY old school water pipe around which came in 21 foot lengths, and was the best you could get for antenna masting I think at least one of the clones threaded on as well, no need to isolate from the mast...

Not sure who is actually making the current bunch of clones, my guess is someone over in Italy, and imported By H&Y. I'm sure they've lost some quality over the years, just use a bit of common sense when putting it together, if it looks weak, it probably will be, improvise/replace from there.

All that said and done I wouldn't hesitate to choose a Duster Clone over glass...

Here is a page from an old CB Center of America Catalog I have...

Attached Images

cropduster.jpg (160.7 KB, 114 views)

thanks for all the input guys.

probably going to pick one up in the next few weeks.
LC

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"Man shall never reach the moon, for such a quantity of gunpowder would be needed as to gravely injure the crew."
~ Children's Encyclopedia, 1926

They are great antennas for the price. Only thing I would do is lose the screws that came w/it and use better ones or find some way to really hold down those ground planes and the sections too.

I dont think it needs to be sepsrated from the mast(GROUNDING). A choke would be a good Idea too.

Small but really performs.....

Aloha, James....

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Mobile:
Prez Grant Export
Black Widow 350V
9" Predator 10K
RS SWR/Watt Meter

Base:
Soon to be "COBRA 2000"
Pyramid 25 Amp P.S.
partly assembeled Starduster/ works well too, 1.3:1 SWR....

Like James said (15minigrass) change the screws or secure them better. I've had the original StarDuster and the Workman or Sirio Clone or I should say I still have the clone.
The clone, the screws fell out of the tip top after a few years and the tips fell off. I redid the tip and all with new screws and tapped over the screws to make it all hold together better. I've had zero problems since and the Clone seems to work quite well.

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