• You can now help support WorldwideDX when you shop on Amazon at no additional cost to you! Simply follow this Shop on Amazon link first and a portion of any purchase is sent to WorldwideDX to help with site costs.

Retuning the Maco V 5/8 for 6m operation

mr_fx

Sr. Member
Oct 8, 2011
1,536
172
173
Kansas City
Well I have a Maco v58 cb/10 meter antenna that I want to use on 6m

I had some aluminum tubing that fit the radials so I was able to bring the length down to 52" with out cutting the original tubing

I started at 130" long on the antenna length, BUT according to the analyzer it was resonating at around 38Mhz (and it had a nice near flat SWR around 24.000 Mhz... that makes NO sense as is a little less than 235"

SO I collapsed the antenna several more feet and NOW its around 48.00 MHz, SO WHAT IS GOING ON HERE

at this point is is WAY shorter than a 5/8 wave 6m antenna SHOULD BE
 

a vertical antenna on six is pretty much a waste,...... unless you are up in the FM part of the band

YMMV
 
Well I have a Maco v58 cb/10 meter antenna that I want to use on 6m

I had some aluminum tubing that fit the radials so I was able to bring the length down to 52" with out cutting the original tubing

I started at 130" long on the antenna length, BUT according to the analyzer it was resonating at around 38Mhz (and it had a nice near flat SWR around 24.000 Mhz... that makes NO sense as is a little less than 235"

SO I collapsed the antenna several more feet and NOW its around 48.00 MHz, SO WHAT IS GOING ON HERE

at this point is is WAY shorter than a 5/8 wave 6m antenna SHOULD BE


When dealing with any vertical other than a 1/4 wave you need to adjust/modify the matching section as well as adjust the overall length of the vertical.Also make sure you sweep the antenna and find all the resonant points and don't simply look for the lowest SWR point.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 people
Really, good to know... Well I guess a Halo would be a good antenna to build and put in it's place then

a MUCH better idea,.... and you can stack them too;)

heck, a six element quad on 6 fits on a 20 foot boom quite well and is really small
 
maco 5/8 6 meters

Yes you have to move the tuning ring tap also.
The 38Mhz thing is most likely a 1/2 wave resonant point
On the ones i have used on six meters i set the element length at 113 inches and re adjusted the tap on tuning ring usually had to move the tap to the opposite side of the ring.
A vertical antenna works quite well on six meters sporadic E propagation mode .
we are in the beginning of The e Skip season now

Squirt some RF in the air and enjoy

RCB
 
...A vertical antenna works quite well on six meters sporadic E propagation mode ...


it will work,.... don't know about the quite well part:p

6 is a "different animal",... yes, when it is open, a "wet noodle" will work,.... but,.... trust me,.... a BIGGER wet noodle IS better<More audio><More audio>

you want,.... no, you need an antenna with gain and directivity to play well on 6.
 
FOR ME,,,,,,,,,, 6 meter is a waste of my time, few and far between openings <can not stand it>

Anyway, that and a $1.89 will buy you a 20 oz coke **Jump_im**
 
FOR ME,,,,,,,,,, 6 meter is a waste of my time, few and far between openings <can not stand it>

Anyway, that and a $1.89 will buy you a 20 oz coke **Jump_im**

I agree on Far a few between, 11 or 12 total contacts and 10 of them were from mobiles, just not really any 6 meter stuff around here.



73
Jeff


You guys need some real 6m antennas. Six elements at 40 feet yielded me tons of contacts from DM06 in California to Florida to VE8 to Europe and the Canary Islands all one summer. Sure that was during a peak but it takes a bit more antenna than it does on 10 or 20 meters when the cycle is low.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
When 6 is open, many would be surprised how much DX can be worked with an effective vertical on 100 watts or less. Nothing is going to beat the gain of a beam here but not everyone is willing or able to dedicate the space required for that. To many this band is just a supplement that's fun to work but not worth a big expense.

With respect to modifying a Maco V-58 for 6 meters, don't waste your time as it will never make a good 5/8 wave on this band. You can tap the loop inductor anywhere you want and cut anything you like down to what you think should work here. The problem holding you back is the hidden capacitor in the base of the antenna.

Look at the way the insulator at the bottom of the antenna is designed. Notice the overlapping telescopic sections with the insulator in-between? Walla, a capacitor is formed. By the time you get to 50 Mhz, that cap has enough reactance to drastically alter the physical length at which the antenna will tune.

I'm not saying you can't get it to match on 6 meters. Just that the cap will keep the length of the radiator much too short to produce any gain. In fact, the gain could easily be less than unity by the time you tune it to 50 ohms.
 
If he cap is in series it should electrically shorten the antenna therefore the actual physical length would be LONGER and not shorter. I.m just not sure if it is series or in parallel with the feed.
 
The cap is between the bottom of the vertical radiator and the grounded side of the antenna. Placing it in parallel with the antenna and requiring it to be physically shorter. That's also why a V-58 tunes slightly shorter than a Penetrator or Interceptor.
 
I suppose one of the benefits of living in the UK is a stack of DXCC on the doorstep, 6m has been a blast over the last couple of days.
I have an hour's drive to work in the early evening and have worked many stations whilst mobile, nothing I'd consider real DX, topping out around 1,100 miles, but it's been great fun, a 1/4WL antenna on the roof of the car mixed with Es season = sweet ;)
 

dxChat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
  • dxBot:
    Tucker442 has left the room.
  • @ BJ radionut:
    LIVE 10:00 AM EST :cool:
  • @ Charles Edwards:
    I'm looking for factory settings 1 through 59 for a AT 5555 n2 or AT500 M2 I only wrote down half the values feel like a idiot I need help will be appreciated