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Dave MAde Rod Of God Antenna *PICS*

the pic mack posted is just some fixed glass vacuum capacitor. if you knew the value of the one in the antenna you could make one if you had access to a lathe.

macks pic is of course different than the one in the other pics, its illustrative only. my guess is each cap is around 3-12pf, I figure that would be able to tune a 1/2 wave or 5/8 wave antenna depending on the loading coil.

you know usind a coil and a cap to tune antenna is nothing new.

that antenna isnt really magic... its marketing
 
Thank you! Great info.

By the way, what kind of gain would my rod of god have over a single steel whip?
Would my mobile running the rod of god it be just as strong as a base station running an antron 99? (when running the rod of god with the reflector)?

I don't have numbers handy, I believe that a two element system is about 3dbi or so and of course directional. Someone else may know for sure.

It should, given equal elevation over terrain, outperform a typical 1/2 or 5/8 vertical, yes as it will direct the power into a tighter pattern in one direction. It will help the receive in that direction as well.
 
the pic mack posted is just some fixed glass vacuum capacitor. if you knew the value of the one in the antenna you could make one if you had access to a lathe.

macks pic is of course different than the one in the other pics, its illustrative only. my guess is each cap is around 3-12pf, I figure that would be able to tune a 1/2 wave or 5/8 wave antenna depending on the loading coil.

you know usind a coil and a cap to tune antenna is nothing new.

that antenna isnt really magic... its marketing

Thanks linearone. Wonder where Dave got the idea to build something like this. I dont recall seeing a design like this in the ARRL antenna book. Maybe its there somewhere and i missed it. I dunno.

I think its pretty funny that this antenna has been out for over 10 years and this is really the first time people (on the net) get to see it close up. Its all over the net now in various forums and 99% of the people out there never knew it existed. LOL! Im getting all kinds of crazy offers. I think i may sell soon :)

I don't have numbers handy, I believe that a two element system is about 3dbi or so and of course directional. Someone else may know for sure.

It should, given equal elevation over terrain, outperform a typical 1/2 or 5/8 vertical, yes as it will direct the power into a tighter pattern in one direction. It will help the receive in that direction as well.

Thanks SR385.....i may get brave one day and call out a base station and key for $$ :)
 
I found another Rod Of God success story:

13va wrote:

"At Bodeines break 2 years ago I key against "Mr Fort Bragg" 721 as they called him in N.C. Mr Gunn and Bodeine him self were running the water gate about 10 miles away.. Me and 721keyed, him with a 3-500 box doing he said 4000 bird. I ran a 8 pill with a 3 pill driving it on 18 volts with a Rod of God. I didnt run hard but when Bo came back on the phone he asked 721 did he key. So we did it agin, Well that was just a wasted key. Beacuse all they heard was 1 1 1 1 1 1 now this is the proof... Anyone can call me I will get Bo and Gunn on the land line and we can get a instant replay, beacuse I am sure it is in Bodenies mind very clearly.. Ps I was doing 1500 bird.. Sound about wright CCm.."

Damn thing has THAT much gain? 1500 bird vs 4000 watt bird? 1500 wins?

The event above happened at bodine's break in 2002. Was anyone there to confirm?
 
no one ever sees them because you can buy a 7 element beam for your house for less than a rod of god costs... make something expensive, and hard to get and it will be lusted after...

$500 I mean come on.... thats a lot of money man...maybe someone would pay but not me.
 
U are right $500 plus $200 shipping LOL haha u know it dont cost that much to build. Well the ones who have this antenna should test it out at breaks. Against the ac/dc champ ( whom ever it is)to see how well this works then post here LOL. My 2 cents.
 
I found another Rod Of God success story:

13va wrote:

Sound about wright CCm.."

Damn thing has THAT much gain? 1500 bird vs 4000 watt bird? 1500 wins?


Yep, that's 13va for sure. He never could spell right correctly. Dead give away everytime.

I can confirm that this is true. 13va may not spell right right but he is honest if nothing else. I also was told about this from 3 other people that were there. One was an amp builder from North Carolina, the other was a drunk from North Carolina and the third was in amazement because he didn't make the gate. TWICE.
 
It's just another 'fat' conductor, big coil antenna. If it is an array, then I would expect it to out perform non-array type antennas. Why else would you want an array? Is it worth $500 dollars (no matter what the shipping cost is?), certainly not to me, and I honestly don't know why it would be to anyone not in the 'shoot out' 'bid-nez'. Is it as 'good' as some other antenna for 'fixed' or home use? No. Not even if it were free! How about mobile? Think about it, not even as useful as in 'fixed' service.
- 'Doc

Any bids on this shoe lace that's proportedly from one of Elvis's blue suede shoes?? Lets start at 50 cents...
Oh, you pay shipping! Shipping and insurance depends on selling price, of course.
 
Damn thing has THAT much gain? 1500 bird vs 4000 watt bird? 1500 wins?

It's not just that "rod of god" that is producing the gain. It's the combination of the reflector making it into a 2 element beam. A typical 2 element yagi can have anywhere from (roughly) 3-7 dbi gain.

Cebik writes:
"I have in other notes made mention of the Director/Driven Element configuration of the 2-element Yagi. When pressed to maximum gain, these antennas are capable of over 7 dBi free space gain, about a dB higher than the conventional Reflector/Driven Element configuration tuned for maximum front-to-back ratio."

As others said, the tube and coil form the matching network for the rest of the driven element. They're big like that to handle a ton of power without arcing or blowing the caps. That part doesn't really have much to do with the gain figures.

If they were able to achieve even close to 7dbi gain, then just do the math on that keydown scenario mentioned earlier. They didn't say what antenna the 4000 watt station was using but if it had no gain or worse had negative gain (loss), then that's a very easy outcome to predict. Remember, 2 times power increase = 3db gain.
 
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It's not just that "rod of god" that is producing the gain. It's the combination of the reflector making it into a 2 element beam. A typical 2 element yagi can have anywhere from (roughly) 3-7 dbi gain.

Cebik writes:
"I have in other notes made mention of the Director/Driven Element configuration of the 2-element Yagi. When pressed to maximum gain, these antennas are capable of over 7 dBi free space gain, about a dB higher than the conventional Reflector/Driven Element configuration tuned for maximum front-to-back ratio."

As others said, the tube and coil form the matching network for the rest of the driven element. They're big like that to handle a ton of power without arcing or blowing the caps. That part doesn't really have much to do with the gain figures.

If they were able to achieve even close to 7dbi gain, then just do the math on that keydown scenario mentioned earlier. They didn't say what antenna the 4000 watt station was using but if it had no gain or worse had negative gain (loss), then that's a very easy outcome to predict. Remember, 2 times power increase = 3db gain.

Beautiful!

Thats why I like this forum. You get it straight up from both sides of the fence. My questions were answered professionally, with detailed information. WL5Z, Ill pass on the shoelace LOL!
 
It's just another 'fat' conductor, big coil antenna. If it is an array, then I would expect it to out perform non-array type antennas. Why else would you want an array? Is it worth $500 dollars (no matter what the shipping cost is?), certainly not to me, and I honestly don't know why it would be to anyone not in the 'shoot out' 'bid-nez'. Is it as 'good' as some other antenna for 'fixed' or home use? No. Not even if it were free! How about mobile? Think about it, not even as useful as in 'fixed' service.
- 'Doc

Any bids on this shoe lace that's proportedly from one of Elvis's blue suede shoes?? Lets start at 50 cents...
Oh, you pay shipping! Shipping and insurance depends on selling price, of course.

In my case, its all about getting out . Will be using the Rod of God strictly for skip talking. I figured this. Spend money to buy one 320 amp alternator and run a 16 pill in my truck at 16 volts and the Rod of God to compete with the biggest mobile here in Hawaii which runs a 3CX3000. Ill be talking all day on my setup running right with him or even keyin on him guaranteed. He spent $1000 on his 3 alternators, $5,000 on his AC box, $300 for his (3) 1/4 wave antennas and even more for misc stuff.

In the end, that $500 i spent for the antenna now becomes a golden deal for what im gonna use it for. I worked smarter, not harder. Not to mention, saved at the low end at least $5,000 because before the Rod of God, Prior to the Rod of God, I was going to get exactly what he has.

Theres no feeling better to know that...

A. You spent WAY less money than your challenger and you are putting the hammer on him.
B. You will have way less issues mechanical/car wise when and if something goes wrong.
C. You are producing way less rf than him, therefore keeping your self that much more radiation free!

And thats the $500 story. Ill take the shoelace only if you dipped it in Gold. Dave Made Gold!
 
How much power will your 16 transistor amp put out and how much does his 3cx3000 do? Also remember, nobody is saying that the "rod of god" will have 7db gain...I was just quoting Cebik about what is possible under the right circumstances. You're going to have to do some testing to figure out how to configure that array, or at least follow the instructions you were already given.
 
From what I remember about the Rod of God and it being banned from competition LOL was the fact that they people keying didn't know what that glass thing was so they assumed Team DaveMade was cheating.

Mind you now that the people doing the accusing are the same people that sit on Paltalk cause they Like Big Butts and do their DXing on DSL Dial Up.
 
no offense meant by this but two things:

1) just because "someone beat someone with something different " in no way means anything. That is not scientific proof. Its a personal account which by no means proves anything. (read my signature line, bob said it best)

2) If an 8 pill beat a z box I want to know how many tubes there were and how big was the guys supply etc etc etc. for a 3-500z box of any config 3 tubes plus to get beat by a 8 pill is silly. Something was wrong, all there was too it. Im not saying he didnt win, Im saying the ac mobile must have had a problem. Any time anyone with a 16 pill mobile wants to key against my 3cx3000a7...heh heh.. I will be more than willing to take the challenge, half waves and all... I dont think you will be successful keying on him sorry to say.
 

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