hello all my imax snapped and someone gave me a maco 5/8.i put this bugger on 10ft mast and started adjusting and after 2 days i gave up.i then decided to pull the radiator out and it was bolted through the base at the bracket (some idiot drilled a hole through it)so now the match is adjusting well heres my problem 1.i had this at 1.1 at one time and cant get it back,i got my dip at 27.475 right where i wanted it after many many adjustments.my swr is 1.3 27.475,1.4 27.385 and 1.4 at 27.555 the ring gap is 1 inch like the instructions call will making this gap larger or smaller bring the swr down? 2.when it rains my dip drops down to 26.805 or so is this common my imax never did that?any info would be great.
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maco 5/8 nightmare help
- Thread starter 1342
- Start date
There's nothing at all wrong with an SWR of 1.3:1 or 1.4:1. Or do you mean "3:1" or "4:1"?
It's a RATIO. There's no such thing as an SWR of 1.3. The colon has to be there, and the number "1" has to be right after the colon all by itself.
B
BOOTY MONSTER
Guest
heres a good thread with master chief helping robalo with his maco 5/8 . i agree that a 1.3 is acceptable even with a amp . but i also understand wanting to try to fine tune it to as close to perfect as possible just for a warm fuzzy feeling , knowing that it really makes very little to no difference in tx or rx
http://www.worldwidedx.com/cb-antennas/24388-master-chief-antennas-experts.html
http://www.worldwidedx.com/cb-antennas/24388-master-chief-antennas-experts.html
well hello again with some fine tuning of the tuning ring,radiator and tap point i was able to achieve flat line on those same bands and also made my antenna more broad banded by 3 bands of 40.i do not want to sound cocky but i do not like a 1.3-1.4 match and my antenna was not workable before more than 1 band of 40 channels but now its able to work 4 bands of 40 so that little bit of difference that some may not see a problem i see potential, but thank you for the responses.73s all
You know C2, I agree that 3 bands of 40, FLAT, is a bit optimistic, but 1342 says he is able to work 160 channels easily, so maybe his deal is not too unusual---if he has a real nice tune.
1342's bandwidth may also not really be as FLAT as he indicates for over 120 channels either, but if he does have a very good match with his V58, he might be using the meter in his radio, and that too might show that FLAT response. Sometimes even a good inline meter will show BW that is a lot wider than it really is.
With this said however, Bob85 has convinced me that his taking very tedious steps to tuning his Vector 4000 showed him very nice gains to stations 50+ miles away on the coast. A convincing indicator for Bob85's tuning in this case was that he also saw a measurable increase in bandwidth, so maybe 1342 is just experiencing something similar with his V58.
With this said however, Bob85 has convinced me that his taking very tedious steps to tuning his Vector 4000 showed him very nice gains to stations 50+ miles away on the coast. A convincing indicator for Bob85's tuning in this case was that he also saw a measurable increase in bandwidth, so maybe 1342 is just experiencing something similar with his V58.
I think receiving is one thing , safely transmitting is another. (especially when running power) I've been through at least 1/2 a dozen of these antennas in 20 + years. Flat match ? never ever saw one on any of my mine over the years.
It was usually 1.3 to 2 on channel 1 / 1.1 on channel 20 /1.3 to 2 on channel 40 on cb 27mhz . At least this was the norm for me on my Alpha's. Although they could have problems here and there for me , but it usually was something I didn't do right to cause them.
They always seem fairly well about 15 channels either way above and below into the freebands. Although a 2.0 to 5 will work on these antenna's or any antenna for that matter , running power on anything above 1.5 or so would be asking for trouble to your equipment.
I don't see how anybody could tune these to have a perfect match (whatever that is ?) 3 bands of 40 channels ? antenna matcher ? Although they can be tuned for other places if power is a concern for you and keeping within the realm of safety for your equipment. This would become the length of the antenna for given bands of operation.
As Robalo has in the past ............ tx Switch kit. so here we go.
........... SWR R. X.. Z
26.995... 2.0 50 30 63
27.205... 1.6 42 13 43
27.405... 1.4 41 13 43
27.675... 1.0 50 02 50
28.000... 1.4 71 08 7
Looks like he got 60 decent "power" running channels between 27.405 and 28.000 , as I said before concerning the cb band and freeband , that would sound about right, 15 channels above and below regular 40 channel cb radio.
I think receiving is one thing , safely transmitting is another. (especially when running power) I've been through at least 1/2 a dozen of these antennas in 20 + years. Flat match ? never ever saw one on any of my mine over the years.
It was usually 1.3 to 2 on channel 1 / 1.1 on channel 20 /1.3 to 2 on channel 40 on cb 27mhz . At least this was the norm for me on my Alpha's. Although they could have problems here and there for me , but it usually was something I didn't do right to cause them.
They always seem fairly well about 15 channels either way above and below into the freebands. Although a 2.0 to 5 will work on these antenna's or any antenna for that matter , running power on anything above 1.5 or so would be asking for trouble to your equipment.
I don't see how anybody could tune these to have a perfect match (whatever that is ?) 3 bands of 40 channels ? antenna matcher ? Although they can be tuned for other places if power is a concern for you and keeping within the realm of safety for your equipment. This would become the length of the antenna for given bands of operation.
As Robalo has in the past ............ tx Switch kit. so here we go.
........... SWR R. X.. Z
26.995... 2.0 50 30 63
27.205... 1.6 42 13 43
27.405... 1.4 41 13 43
27.675... 1.0 50 02 50
28.000... 1.4 71 08 7
Looks like he got 60 decent "power" running channels between 27.405 and 28.000 , as I said before concerning the cb band and freeband , that would sound about right, 15 channels above and below regular 40 channel cb radio.
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sorry for the confusion guys my flat line was for the frequencys i listed not all bands this was on an external meter.the dip came out at 27.475 thats where i wanted it.26.865-1.8,26.965-1.6,27.385-flat,27.475-flat,27.555-flat,27.855-1.4 and 28.005-1.8.i could have checked it to 2.1 but i dont like to run my radio at 2.1. 73s all
the 5/8 I built
I built a 5/8 wave and had really good SWR, or so I thought:
Final SWR:
28.305 2:0
27.855 1:2
27.405 1:0
27.185 1:0
26.965 1:0
26:515 1:2
26.065 1:5
Is this an indication of problems? Never saw any problems with it...
I built a 5/8 wave and had really good SWR, or so I thought:
Final SWR:
28.305 2:0
27.855 1:2
27.405 1:0
27.185 1:0
26.965 1:0
26:515 1:2
26.065 1:5
Is this an indication of problems? Never saw any problems with it...
I built a 5/8 wave and had really good SWR, or so I thought:
Final SWR:
28.305 2:0
27.855 1:2
27.405 1:0
27.185 1:0
26.965 1:0
26:515 1:2
26.065 1:5
Is this an indication of problems? Never saw any problems with it...
Well Homer, if the antenna is doing a good job on-air and is responsive, then the large bandwidth probably serves you well. It is unusal though for a typical 5/8 wave or longer vertical antenna to have that much bandwidth. But, like I said earlier, Bob85 has a convincing idea that might cast some light of truth on what you and 1342 are experiencing.
It is my opinion that an antenna with excessive bandwidth (2> megs below 2:1) is probably also showing some excessive losses as well. This almost 5x compromise however could be an advantage to some operators where the losses may not be a problem as long as efficiency is not also sacrificed...
good job homer that was funny i had an imax 2000 up with a flat match on at least 2 bands of 40 but thats got a tuning coil.hey i will remember that if any of my radio buddies tell me there match is flat i will tell them there must be something wrong lol. the maco is 40ft to the base with 80ft of belden 9913.cheers!
Marconi, all I was trying to say was something similar to
1342 seemed to be indicating that
which to me sounded like 160 channels with an SWR of 1.4 or less.
which to me, considering a standard, well known antenna that is the V58, is way too wide for that design.
However, 1342 has clarified his readings, which seem more reasonable, as I interpret them (and yielding to some loose measurements):
26.865 - 1.8:1
26.965 - 1.6:1
27.385 - 1:1
27.475 - 1:1
27.555 - 1:1
27.855 - 1.4:1
28.005 - 1.8:1
