Antenna might be toast

[Brother DXer]

It's an IMax 2000 and was new in 2010 or there about. Last year I rescued it from the dilapidated back yard of an old man. I cleaned it up and did what I needed to cosmetically then with the help of @undertaker and his mfj antenna analyzer, we checked the swr's. The swr's were great and I've been using it ever since.
We've been having bad storms on the regular here, and last night had a bad one move through, lots of crazy bad lightning and hail on top of 60 mph winds. So today I noticed the receive isn't great at all, but swr's are still good. I switched to the A99 and was hearing all the chatter, then back to the IMax and could barely pull anyone out. The IMax normally beats the A99 on receive, but not now.
I suppose I'm now in the market for a new GP antenna. I won't try the new "Max 2000" because I haven't heard too many good things about it.
So it's time to start shopping.
Any ideas would be much appreciated.

 

[YardDog]

A friend of mine put up a Sirio 2016 after his old antennas finally died. He said the receive is better than the A99 or the Imax. He did say he beefed up some of the connections, but otherwise he's really happy with it for his needs.

 

[Brother DXer]

Thanks to my great friend and brother, @undertaker has offered me a NIB Sirio Starduster.

Thank you Sir!!

 

[whiteastro]

Thanks to my great friend and brother, @undertaker has offered me a NIB Sirio Starduster.

Thank you Sir!!

Good for you, let us know how it works for you. I've had the Workman and the Sirio Starduster and they have both worked for me in my situation. I bought the Workman first just by accident because I found it and it was cheap and I was just getting back into 11 meter again. A friend in another forum told me it was a good choice for me because of the way it radiated the signal out of this stinking valley, and he is a Ham operator so I had confidence in what he was telling me. So when I had to replace it naturally the Sirio stepped up to the plate. I've heard people complain about the Starduster so it will be interesting to hear your evaluation and comparison against other antenna you have owned. Wishing you the Best of Luck !

 

[FlatlandBusa]

Water in the coax can do this. SWR will still look good, but receive will suffer.

 

[Brother DXer]

Water in the coax can do this. SWR will still look good, but receive will suffer.

In this case it's more like water in the cracks of the fiberglass. I'm surprised it hadn't happened yet. My refurbish job wasn't the best but I got 14 months out of it.

 

[Eldorado828]

In this case it's more like water in the cracks of the fiberglass. I'm surprised it hadn't happened yet. My refurbish job wasn't the best but I got 14 months out of it.

Brother, you done smoked it with all that big Texas audio coming from that dx machine you're running. A colossal 10k is the prescribed remedy for that.

COLOSSAL 10K 5/8 WAVE HEAVY DUTY GROUNDPLANE ANTENNA | ZeroFive Antennas

 

[Brother DXer]

Brother, you done smoked it with all that big Texas audio coming from that dx machine you're running. A colossal 10k is the prescribed remedy for that.

COLOSSAL 10K 5/8 WAVE HEAVY DUTY GROUNDPLANE ANTENNA | ZeroFive Antennas

Yes Sir! At that price I may order 3 just for the fun of it.

 

[Eldorado828]

Yes Sir! At that price I may order 3 just for the fun of it.

And send one my way. You only need one backup, but if your backup fails I promise to eventually send it back

 

[Smokinone]

Brother, you done smoked it with all that big Texas audio

 

[BC Coyote]

A friend in another forum told me it was a good choice for me because of the way it radiated the signal out of this stinking valley

Your friend was right. It has a somewhat higher radiation angle than some other antenna designs. Normally the lower the radiation angle the better, EXCEPT if you are in a deep valley, in which case the higher angle will help your signal get out of the valley instead of just radiating into the hillsides. At least in theory. YMMV.

 

[linearone]

Maco v5000, shockwave, colossal, mr coily, or any metal sirio antenna