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penetrator 500
- Thread starter Zman
- Start date
O
oldslowchevy
Guest
for 10-15 bucks more i would have bought a brand new k-40 bcmax, but that's just me, i don't restore antennas. radio, yes.
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oldslowchevy
Guest
oops, my fault.......
i may not be real smart but i can lift heavy things.......
LOL thats ok!:laugh:
I had P500s in the past and will say these are one of the best if not the best ground planes made!
Recently I picked up another used one. I spent a couple weekends cleaning and replacing everything that didn't look good! Most parts can still be had.
After all the work it's at 36 ft. to the bottom and works like a champ!
I'm now building a four element beam but the P500 will always fly at my 20!
Good luck and take your time. Do it right the first time.
:w00t: 100 posts!!!!! Do I get a door prize?
Recently I picked up another used one. I spent a couple weekends cleaning and replacing everything that didn't look good! Most parts can still be had.
After all the work it's at 36 ft. to the bottom and works like a champ!
I'm now building a four element beam but the P500 will always fly at my 20!
Good luck and take your time. Do it right the first time.
:w00t: 100 posts!!!!! Do I get a door prize?
You've got a treasure; worth restoring. Used an sp-500 as my primary omni until 1987 and, with nothing else than a barefoot Cobra 140 and a Turner 2+2, received many compliments from both local and dx stations. If you find any pitting upon disassembly, I suggest to use some Penetrox at each contact point as an 'extra' measure to preserve continuity. I'm considering buying one of the new ones (curious as to whether Hy-Gain changed the basic design).
For $40.00 you stole that antenna. It's one of the finest 5/8 base antennas ever made.
I plan on buying a new one, myself, since they're back in production.
Take your time on your project. You're gonna be very happy with it.
From the looks of the antenna i think mine is an older one. It has 2 holes for each ground radial instead of 1 like the new ones do. I replaced the top hat rods with stainless steel since the old ones were brittle and two of them broke when i was taking it home. I also have another Hy Gain 5/8 wave i got from the same person i got the P 500 from. Its a CLR-2 i think its called.
For $40.00 you stole that antenna. It's one of the finest 5/8 base antennas ever made.
I plan on buying a new one, myself, since they're back in production.
Take your time on your project. You're gonna be very happy with it.
That's nothing. i bought one once from a 15 years old kid for $15.00 once because he didn't know what it was, LOLOLOL!!! He replaced it with an A 99 because he didn't like the long radials of the P 500...:glare:
Gives a whole new meaning to 'stealing candy from a baby'.
The earliest and best (IMO) P500s had both two radial bolts per radial and were three piece radials, the beefy first & largest tube being only about 24"- 30" long.
I'm building up one today from excess parts, shortening it to a 6m omni for a good friend.
One oddity I've noticed over the years; when rebuilding a CLR-2 or other 3-radial omnis into the 22' 9.5" P500 T-match specs, I find noticeably better horizontal performance from the 3 radial version over the 4 radial.
The only thing I can conclude is the 4 radial has a radial every 90° and may be cancelling horizontal RF compared to the 3 radial, having a radial only every 120° - which also happens to be the textbook perfect angle for a center-fed dipole to be zero reactance and flat 50Ω SWR at the proper length.
Also, I don't notice more than maybe a negligible half needle width difference between the vertical performance of the 3 vs the 4 radial when putting a station directly between the radials; 45° vs 60° off-radial, so I now prefer the 3 radial version to the 4.
For $40.00 you stole that antenna. It's one of the finest 5/8 base antennas ever made.
I plan on buying a new one, myself, since they're back in production.
Take your time on your project. You're gonna be very happy with it.
If my memory is correct, it isn't a 5/8 wave, it is a .64 wave. They have more gain than a 5/8 wave. I also think they outlawed the aluminum .64 wave antennas. The new ones they reintroduced may be 5/8 wave, the old ones were just larger. I have a knock off version of the Penetrator 500 that was made by Archer, and I'm in the process of a restoration too.