Base A99 vs Gain Master vertical

Staybolt said:

Tell these locals here thier a99s are junk and dont work and they will laugh in yalls faces.

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Naw, I'd just out-talk and out-receive them, lol

The gainmaster will work but kinda suck if installed that low, whereas an A99 always sucks lol

Like Shockwave wrote, they all work, but if you want upper level performance especially so low to the ground then grab a Sirio Vector.

At low level it should provide the most gain with the lowest TOA compared with any other omni vertical.

I can't really say , other than a 1/4 wave RS $14.95 GP , A Big Stick & 2 A-99's that's all I've had in over 50 years . But you are right my receive sucks ! But I have chatted WW on what I use first when I lived on the H2O & now @ over 800' in elevation , so I've always had something going for me ! Maybe someday I'll get help & put that Sirio 27-4 up that's been boxed in my garage for 2 years !

Titan7 said:

I am on a hill in suburbia Orange County CA. Yes RFI is something I would like to avoid if possible. Just for reference I was using one of the Firestik indoor base antennas sitting on my concrete pool deck and could get good reports for about 10-15 miles. I would use it but it’s not really weather proof and I just figured the a99 or gain master

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I can't suggest either because of my lack of knowledge and limited understanding about take off angles between the a 99 and gain master. I will say that if you decide to go with the a99 seriously consider spending the extra money on the IMAX 2000. I went from the a 99 to the IMAX 2000 and gained One s unit both on receive, and transmitt (@ 10ft.) As rivermen71 mentioned my iMAX 2000 is only 10 feet off the ground. At the heights we're talkin about RFI will be more prominent than it would be if the antenna we're at its proper height (33'.) Winding an RF choke out of your coax is fairly simple. Even though it's simple asking 10 people exactly how to do it will yield you approximately 5 different suggestions. All of those suggestions will probably yield the same results. And that is to suppress RFI. It will cost you about 12 ft of your coax in order to wind it. I went with a very simple and in my opinion cheap option which worked extremely well. For around $35 you can purchase the mfj 915. I believe it has a 5-star rating on eham (or close.) At one time i was having issues with SWR, and removed my mfj 915 thinking that might have been the issue. After 3 years of never receiving a complaint from a neighbor with the mfj 915 in line within 10 minutes of transmitting without it there was a knock on my door. I was coming over my neighbors Gibson guitar amplifier. The highest SWR problem was not caused by the 915 and I reinstalled it immediately. Never had a problem with RFI afterwards (@500 watts.) One other suggestion I can make is that at ten feet off the ground (or less) try to get the antenna as far away from your home or any large obstructions as you can. The further away from your home and other obstructions will lessen reflected power/SWR. That has been my experience with the a 99 and then I Max 2000
Booth at ten feet off the ground. Good luck. 73

I own and have used both. I prefer the Gainmaster.
It has a lower noise floor on the receive side.
It is less prone to RFI impacting neighboring devices.
It is about an S-unit better on both transmit/receive *at my location.

*The GM likes to be in open space. Many have reported performance suffers when in a crowded environment (trees etc.)
The GM is limited to ~ 500 watts output (I have never run mine at those levels).

Titan7 said:

Thanks guys, I got GM a week ago but have not put as it’s been raining in SoCal and I really need to figure out where it’s going to go. I can get it away from the house but I don’t want to run 100ft of RG8x due to a 1.4db loss. Since I am running barefoot on a 1976 SBE Console II, I need all the help I can get, lol.

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Using LMR 400 would be the best way to go. 95% (possibly more) of you transmitters output will make it to your GM.
100' might cost you in the neighborhood of $125 to $160 depending on which brand you purchase. In my opinion it's worth it. I think most would agree. It'll hold up for many years under extreme weather conditions. They're made with high-quality components, and that's why it's a very expensive cable. If you have absolutely no intentions of ever running an amplifiera then lmr-240 might suffice. Both lmr-400 and 240 are excellent choices if you're going to bury the cable undergroun. The lmr-240 is substantially cheaper. Taking into consideration your only transmitting 4 Watts I would think that the lmr-240 might be the way to go. Just so you know this is coming from somebody with little knowledge about coax. Other members will weigh in, and you could take it from there. Good luck with the game master. 73

Coax rule of thumb:

Good coax ain't cheap.
Cheap coax ain't good.

Yes, the slack is for wind. I don't even recall having to cut anything (but then it's been about 5 years).

Don't cut the wire.