Antenna Opinions Please

[1342]

"i bet that and the imax would perform pretty close to that overpriced 20 lb i10k sinker."

thats great booty i would eat that all day long and i not talking about the popcorn!

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

there's better antennas for the price of the imax a @ $100 , and even less , but they do require more time to assemble and time to tune . do it right you only do it once , then you get years and years of better performance for just a couple of hours more effort .

 

[1342]

a better antenna than the imax for 100 but your not saying what it is uh ok.

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

maco v58 and workman w 58 , depending on your weather theres a few by sirio for similar or less money too .

 

[1342]

maco v58 and workman w 58 , depending on your weather theres a few by sirio for similar or less money too .

in my conditions booty the imax out performed the maco v 5/8 by 1 s unit but whatever.i have owned the m400 the antron with gpk and the maco v 5/8 and the imax.and the imax out performed them all so i dont know i thought you were an imax believer but maybe i was wrong.

 

[cominatyalive]

True but then there are those that say nothing and sit back and learn by listening. My signature is aimed at all those who have others convinced they know everything while those of us that know better can pick them out as soon as the bullshit starts flying. IOW those that subscribe to the theory that if you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit. :laugh:

Yes, I see what you mean. Baffled Bullshit. LMAO!!!!! With all due respect Capt., You see, if I just sat back & never said nothing, then that would be half ass. And half of what I could learn by all you senior Engineers. Believe me when I say, (I know nothing). But I want the Full ass or nothing at all.

I've seen all you seniors out here. Seen all you're equipment. Mighty impressive indeed. I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't kill to have just a tiny piece of what you guys have, and half an ass of what you know. But I know where you're coming from. And I won't spoil you're fun.

As you can tell, I'm a talker, a communicator, and I write big novels on here that could put you to sleep. But I can honestly say, (I'm learning on here). Which is more than you could say about some others. I'm an open book. Share my pictures, My family, even pictures of my joke of an air choke mistake. I don't run to remove my mistake pictures from my profile until I fix them. In other words, like my profile says, (i'm here to learn, and gladly admit to what I don't know).

Besides, I have to start somewhere. And this is the best place in the world for me. Now getting back to my Imax, I hated it when I first received it. I had many months of Baffled Bullshit with it. It has been performing well. Even with my Half Ass Air Choke. I've been thinking of getting another antenna, as 1342 says, a beam would be the best alternative from the Imax. I was thinking about what Robb said about the Imax doing well on 11,10 & 12 meters though. That's a lot to consider. And since I'm just a little guy still, I am going to stay with my Imax for a while.

I have another brand new Imax in my garage. I have many other ideas to try. As for example, dacron guy wires, Isolating my mast from the antenna, using a 4 1/2" form for my corrected future choke, and I want to construct a proper radio bench instead of using this flat top plastic table. I want to venture into amateur radio too in the near future.

Booty, thanks for all the info & advice. Many thanks to Gramps, Robb, and all the others who have given their know how. It is very much, Greatly & Truly Appreciated. Also, thank you for the many laughs on here. Without a little humor, I'd be just another Half Asser, with Baffled Bullshit. LMAO!!!! Yes, that was my sarcastic sense of humor guys. Now to shut up my mouth, be quiet & study all I can with all this new found info you guys have so kindly given. I cannot thank you enough ever.

PS: oh, in case most of you are wondering where I get all this time to write so much, well, I work a late second shift. 2:45pm till 1:30am most nights. Doesn't leave me much time working 56 to 64 hours a week all the time. Makes it hard for me to talk on the radio too since everyone is sleeping. But I have this Sat & Sunday off finally! Yahoo! Ok, enuff of my Baffled Bullshit and a few words on a lighter note;

You guys are all great in my book. Every last one of ya. Even you Captain K.

Sincerely,
And With Respect,

James

 

[flatsideDX]

I finally got around to putting the Maco 5/8 together yesterday and tuning it between rain showers. It’s temporarily mounted on a 10 ft. pole in my yard. Mechanically, the project went well with a thin coat of Noalox anti-oxidant applied to all joints. My last antenna project was a Wilson 5/8 (same design) but that was 30 years ago. I fired it up and made 3 good local contacts (which was excellent considering I live between two mountain ranges and they were on the other side) and then a DX contact with Louisiana. Skip was very sporadic yesterday and virtually nonexistent here today in Central Virginia; so I haven’t been able to try it out anymore. Long story short… it seems to be fine and it should be a talker. The SWR ranges were good for my intentions, but there again with the constant showers I was limited with time for fine tuning. Overall I think I would have to position it as good value for the money. This deduction was not without certain frustrations; things could always be better.

Several questions have arisen in my feeble but inquisitive mind, and if anyone one like to take a stab at them it would be greatly appreciated.

#1 Would the exposed copper feed wire benefit from a coating of Noalox or maybe a covering of liquid rubber brushed on?

#2 Is the mast being used electrically as a functioning part of the antenna or would the antenna benefit from being isolated from the mast?

#3 What is the best way to ground this antenna? I have a run of #10 twisted wire and an 8’ grounding rod but where would the best place be to attach the ground? To the actual antenna base, the mast, or the roof tripod that it will be mounted on? I will have a IS-50UX-C0 PolyPhaser in line (coax) just before it enters the shack.

All suggestions and ideas would be appreciated.

Rodney
flatsideDX
CV105

 

[W5LZ]

#1 Would the exposed copper feed wire benefit from a coating of Noalox or maybe a covering of liquid rubber brushed on?

No benefit to 'Noalox', that copper wire isn't aluminum. If you want to insulate it, do so. just make sure that liquid tape can take some voltage.
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#2 Is the mast being used electrically as a functioning part of the antenna or would the antenna benefit from being isolated from the mast?

Not really, either question.
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#3 What is the best way to ground this antenna? I have a run of #10 twisted wire and an 8’ grounding rod but where would the best place be to attach the ground? To the actual antenna base, the mast, or the roof tripod that it will be mounted on? I will have a IS-50UX-C0 PolyPhaser in line (coax) just before it enters the shack.

If that mast you mount the thing on is metal, why not use it instead of wire to that inadequate ground rod? You'd save some wire, which you could then bury as additional grounding where it would do you a lot more good.
Concerning that 'PolyPhaser', read their information on that site. It should tell you a lot of things. The installation instructions would be nice to go by too.
- 'Doc

 

[flatsideDX]

#1 Would the exposed copper feed wire benefit from a coating of Noalox or maybe a covering of liquid rubber brushed on?

No benefit to 'Noalox', that copper wire isn't aluminum. If you want to insulate it, do so. just make sure that liquid tape can take some voltage.
----------

#2 Is the mast being used electrically as a functioning part of the antenna or would the antenna benefit from being isolated from the mast?

Not really, either question.
-------------

#3 What is the best way to ground this antenna? I have a run of #10 twisted wire and an 8’ grounding rod but where would the best place be to attach the ground? To the actual antenna base, the mast, or the roof tripod that it will be mounted on? I will have a IS-50UX-C0 PolyPhaser in line (coax) just before it enters the shack.

If that mast you mount the thing on is metal, why not use it instead of wire to that inadequate ground rod? You'd save some wire, which you could then bury as additional grounding where it would do you a lot more good.
Concerning that 'PolyPhaser', read their information on that site. It should tell you a lot of things. The installation instructions would be nice to go by too.
- 'Doc

W5LZ

Thanks for your reply/suggestions; I appreciate you taking the time to answer. 73's

 

[office888]

Flatslide, how far apart are the two points on the ring?

They should NOT be touching, and it looks like they are.

They should be about 2" apart.

-Richard-

 

[Marconi]

Flatside I don't know if it makes a difference, but my manual says the ends of the tuning ring should be 1" apart, unlike the 2" that 888 says.

 

[office888]

Flatside I don't know if it makes a difference, but my manual says the ends of the tuning ring should be 1" apart, unlike the 2" that 888 says.

I think it's been debated that the distance apart doesn't matter, so much as the placement of the wire on the loop.

Regardless, my V5000 is all sub-1.5 swr. My transceiver is happy.

-Richard-

 

[Shockwave]

in my conditions booty the imax out performed the maco v 5/8 by 1 s unit but whatever.i have owned the m400 the antron with gpk and the maco v 5/8 and the imax.and the imax out performed them all so i dont know i thought you were an imax believer but maybe i was wrong.

The Imax will beat the A99 and the M400 however, it will not outperform the Maco V58 or any other 5/8 wave designed to work with a set of four 8 foot radials. The Imax was designed to work without radials and will not benefit from adding the radial kit the same way a normal 5/8 wave will. RFI is also reduced with the V58 style antenna compared to the Imax. The ONLY omni directional antenna you can buy that can beat this design of 5/8 wave is the Vector 4000. This comes with the tradeoff of poor mechanical strength.

 

[flatsideDX]

office888

Thanks for pointing that out. I can see the pic that I provided was questionable as it was early in the install and had not been adjusted. Marconi is correct (per instructions) on the 1” spacing and I did adjust it accordingly. Thanks guys for all the good info.

 

[1342]

The Imax will beat the A99 and the M400 however, it will not outperform the Maco V58 or any other 5/8 wave designed to work with a set of four 8 foot radials. The Imax was designed to work without radials and will not benefit from adding the radial kit the same way a normal 5/8 wave will. RFI is also reduced with the V58 style antenna compared to the Imax. The ONLY omni directional antenna you can buy that can beat this design of 5/8 wave is the Vector 4000. This comes with the tradeoff of poor mechanical strength.

i am afraid i have to disagree and i am not sure how you came to that conclusion?i did by swapping antennas and testing to locations 50-70 miles away the maco is 19 1/2 feet long on cb band my imax with 102 in whip is 24 1/2 feet that is 5 feet difference and i dont see how all ground planes 5/8 would be bunched together seeing how all different ground planes have different lengths.that extra 5 feet alone is added height and capture area i dont think that response was well thought out. my 2 cents.