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imax died??

camaro1

camaro1

Well-Known Member
Nov 2, 2012
1,077
467
93
wisconsin
well we had some high winds last night and more today, noticed my receive signal going way up and down today, looked outside and the top of the imax was almost bent horizontal when the wind picked up. swapped coax to the tree mounted gainmaster and signals were fine.

any chance its just the top section that is having a short/open inside the fiberglass,,, heard of people replacing the top section with a ss 102 whip cut to size??
 

I had an Imax bout ten years ago. It was 65 ft to the base of the antenna. Where I used to live I was surrounded by open fields so wind was a issue. Had a good storm come through one night and the next day imax was broken at the bottom of the second section. What's your swr look like?
 
swr 8.8,, on the analyzer,, just went outside and checked at the connection box on the base of the tower, same thing,, lowest swr is around 50mhz
 
took the imax down, top is good, bottom section is cracked and something must have went bad in the base of it,, now to pick a replacement

should I give an aluminum 5/8 a try,, maco, workman, penetrator 500??
 
If you find that the bottom section is actually good Ide be interested in it I have an Imax that the wind killed last fall.
 
its toast,, bottom section is cracked and the metal sleeve is separated from the fiberglass, the wind just had this thing all over this morning,, just glad it didn't damage my radio with the high swr

ordered a maco 5/8 to try out
 
i had one back shortly after they came out. my center section bent completly
horizonal and was only held in place by the bare copper wire inside. imho JUNK.
the gain master ya got has coax inside and i believe it to be made better than
a imax . with that theres really no reason to buy a alumin antenna as its
been said the gain master tx as good as the alumin antennas if not slightly better
although id like to see that myself as i perfer alumin antennas. should you decide
to replace i get a penator500 . great antenna for the money
 
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We don't get a lot of high winds here in CA; it is pretty rare. But on occasion it will happen. Had a wind here a few years back that made the top section of the Imax go horizontal; but it came right back up. Fiberglass is gonna give a lot before it breaks.

Which would you rather have; a fishing pole made out of aluminum - or out of fiberglass?
 
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I think the first thing antenna companies think about is production cost and price to the small market of consumers they have to sell to. Also keep in mind a product that last forever will not have someone looking to buy a new product.
The Imax 2000 and A99 were designed as was the big stick to be installed easy and to work good for the price. No rotor etc. The Super scanner was sold to be a directional antenna with out a rotor and worked good for what it was. Some say it worked great. and for the most part it did. Fiber glass vs aluminum. That is the question I want to ask. What is better Imax vs Maco V5/8 Fiberglass was made so people would not get shocked and killed by power lines. Will aluminum out perform fiberglass ? What is the best vertical Siro LW-150, Maco, Imax,Antron,and then theres the gain master. I am going to bed this whole thought about verticals is driveing me mad. Vertical antenna Pole to vote on ? What is the best???????????????????????????????????????????????????????
 
maco 5/8 will be here tomorrow, hopefully have it up in the evening. I have some locals 100-120 miles that I have been talking to in the evenings when the band quiets up, this will be the test if I can still get out to them as good or better than the imax and how I receive them
 
camaro1 said:
maco 5/8 will be here tomorrow, hopefully have it up in the evening. I have some locals 100-120 miles that I have been talking to in the evenings when the band quiets up, this will be the test if I can still get out to them as good or better than the imax and how I receive them
Click to expand...

I will be looking forward to the results of the imax vs the maco 5/8. 100 to 120 miles is a long range test for local talking so it should show which if any have better rx and tx.

I will go out on a limb and say the maco will edge out the imax, barely.

On the other hand the imax has multi band capabilities with out the need of an antenna coupler.

Keep us posted camaro1 and looking forward to the results..

Compare it over a few days to get a good idea of how it performs as conditions can make a big difference.
 

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