J
jacquelyn S cortes
Guest
Yup why waste your time on junk do an inverted V, off of a tree and get the antenna hi in the air like 40/60 Ft high for best results and a low SWR 73
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Bought Sigma Venom 5/8 Silver Rod, Performance Review To Follow
- Thread starter Wire Weasel
- Start date
Not everyone has the real estate to use wire antennas so verticals have there place.
There have been endless debates here about the perfect antenna, much of it rich with a lot of experience behind it and it becomes evident that there is no one perfect antenna.
The best working antenna for your station, depends on a lot of things, terrain, elevation, how much room do you have, are you limited by HOA, or perhaps you live in a apartment, what bands are you trying to cover.......the list is endless.
73
Jeff
There have been endless debates here about the perfect antenna, much of it rich with a lot of experience behind it and it becomes evident that there is no one perfect antenna.
The best working antenna for your station, depends on a lot of things, terrain, elevation, how much room do you have, are you limited by HOA, or perhaps you live in a apartment, what bands are you trying to cover.......the list is endless.
73
Jeff
I set up the antenna using the clamps supplied, then checked the setup swr etc. Took it back down marked each section, then drilled and installed stainless steel screws. Now I will apply head shrink over each joint to protect from moisture. At 27.385 I now have a 1.1 to1 match. I have found it to have a much better receive quality at a lower static noise level over the IMax. Stations at a distance that were 4 DB are now 5 DB and the noise level I always have is almost gone.
The Sigma Venom 5/8 Wave is much lighter weight of course but I am impressed with the quality of the aluminum that is used in it’s production. For a $75 antenna that receives and transmits better than a $250 fiberglass antenna you just can’t go wrong but I would definitely do the extra work to improve the assembly. I hope this helps. My first contact was out to Montana, then The Witch Doctor in Trindad.
The Sigma Venom 5/8 Wave is much lighter weight of course but I am impressed with the quality of the aluminum that is used in it’s production. For a $75 antenna that receives and transmits better than a $250 fiberglass antenna you just can’t go wrong but I would definitely do the extra work to improve the assembly. I hope this helps. My first contact was out to Montana, then The Witch Doctor in Trindad.
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So I took mine down this weekend and did what I believe are upgrades. The reason for coming down after only a couple of weeks is because I was convinced something might be wrong. Nope, it's just that the band is dead haha.
Well figuring it was down and weather was nice there had to be a way of making it a little more versatile. Started with replacing all the galvanize clamps with stainless and using 2 per joint rather than one. Took apart the bottom section to resolder the small coil and inspect. Added sealant inside the coil section to s0239 connector for some weatherproofing. So after inspection, there's really no way for water wetting the matching coil because of the plastic housing it's in, you'd have to submerge it in a bucket to get it wet. No need to mess with it any more than that.
Back to the joints now. So I've read here where some if you folks use the no-ox-it but rather than waiting for some to get delivered I found this.
Similar use and found locally at ace hardware. All went together well and really the reason for this post is to share the ox-gard solution.
Will update later as to how the ox-gard works in terms of keeping out corrosion.
Well figuring it was down and weather was nice there had to be a way of making it a little more versatile. Started with replacing all the galvanize clamps with stainless and using 2 per joint rather than one. Took apart the bottom section to resolder the small coil and inspect. Added sealant inside the coil section to s0239 connector for some weatherproofing. So after inspection, there's really no way for water wetting the matching coil because of the plastic housing it's in, you'd have to submerge it in a bucket to get it wet. No need to mess with it any more than that.
Back to the joints now. So I've read here where some if you folks use the no-ox-it but rather than waiting for some to get delivered I found this.
Similar use and found locally at ace hardware. All went together well and really the reason for this post is to share the ox-gard solution.
Will update later as to how the ox-gard works in terms of keeping out corrosion.
I've had a tube of the OxGard for several years now and it seems to work just as good as Noalox and No-Ox-It. I found out just today that apparently I missed getting OxGard on one connection and it was starting to booger up. All the places I did use it were just fine.
73
73
Another old post but, I have a brand new Sigma 5/8 silver rod with the 3 small radials still in the box.
All I've done is open it and look at it and right back in the box it went. When I bought it I believe I paid about $78 dollars for it. That was 3 yrs ago or so. Where I live I'm not allowed to put up any antenna so, not sure what to do with it. No base station operators in my area so, if anyone might be interested, I would let it go for $65.00 dollars.
I wish I could try it but, it's a no go here.
All I've done is open it and look at it and right back in the box it went. When I bought it I believe I paid about $78 dollars for it. That was 3 yrs ago or so. Where I live I'm not allowed to put up any antenna so, not sure what to do with it. No base station operators in my area so, if anyone might be interested, I would let it go for $65.00 dollars.
I wish I could try it but, it's a no go here.
Greg T
WDX-945 (Jazz Singer) Upper Peninsula of Michigan
These are relatively fine antennae. I used one for about 5 years or so with no issues. I wish you luck on selling it. I erected my Sirio 2008 a few years back and pulled my Sigma down. I've had it for sale now for $40.00 ever since and have no bites what so ever. Hopefully your area is better than mine.
I'd buy it for a backup antler but shipping is probably ridiculous.
Would it be possible for you to use an umbrella stand to use the antenna occasionally? Maybe that could put it to a little use at least.
Hi, first time on here. Ive just upgraded from a 1/2 Silver Rod to a 5/8 Silver Rod Venom. The 5/8 wave is definitely better and reaching further away. I have contacts in East and South London I can talk to now, but could barely read on the 1/2. Locally up to 15miles there is nothing between them. But beyond that, the 5/8 wins. However, its much harder to SWR in. I got 1:1 on the 1/2 wave fairly easily.. I was getting 1:9 baseline across the 27mhz band. I installed a choke ballon and earthed the pole and now have 1:7.
The weird thing about this and the (Thunderpole version) is that is only 5.85m long. Thats about 30cm or so shorter than a proper 5/8 wave length....but I guess a little less imposing and less prone to wind breakage. Most of my Ham friends say that the small 30-40cm spriral radials at the base are virtually useless and arent really helping a 5/8 wave to perform at its best. But for many, having 1/4 wave length radials will be impractical as many of us Londoners have small and narrow properties. So what I've done is ordered 3 x 0.5m aluminium extensions to slot into the ends of the existing ground plane "Twigs" to see if this will reduce the SWR further. I suspect it will and, even if they fall short of the optimum 1/4 length, improve the performance of it.
The weird thing about this and the (Thunderpole version) is that is only 5.85m long. Thats about 30cm or so shorter than a proper 5/8 wave length....but I guess a little less imposing and less prone to wind breakage. Most of my Ham friends say that the small 30-40cm spriral radials at the base are virtually useless and arent really helping a 5/8 wave to perform at its best. But for many, having 1/4 wave length radials will be impractical as many of us Londoners have small and narrow properties. So what I've done is ordered 3 x 0.5m aluminium extensions to slot into the ends of the existing ground plane "Twigs" to see if this will reduce the SWR further. I suspect it will and, even if they fall short of the optimum 1/4 length, improve the performance of it.