Finally Got My Tower And The SPT 500 Up Today.

[Needle Bender]

I had a imax...I gave it to Snake doctor for putting up my tower n antenna.....I had the imax on mast pipe just slightly lower and was using new RG-213 coax....I did not have the cash to buy a 100ft of 213 so I used the new 100ft roll of mini 8 I had laying around....not as good as 213 but works.

so you added a longer length of lower grade coax and still see a big improvement? sounds like the penetrater is all that its cracked up to be

 

[Eastside]

so you added a longer length of lower grade coax and still see a big improvement? sounds like the penetrater is all that its cracked up to be

Yep...I did not like using it...but have you seen the price of the good stuff?
The mini 8 was belden...so it is prolly pretty good quality?

 

[Needle Bender]

Yep...I did not like using it...but have you seen the price of the good stuff?
The mini 8 was belden...so it is prolly pretty good quality?

about 1.6db loss now and about .8db before. if you had 75 feet of 213 and now have 100 feet of rg8x then you had 83.4 watts down to 70 watts now using this calculater for 1:1 swr and 27.2mhz Coax Calculator

 

[Eastside]

about 1.6db loss now and about .8db before. if you had 75 feet of 213 and now have 100 feet of rg8x then you had 83.4 watts down to 70 watts now using this calculater for 1:1 swr and 27.2mhz Coax Calculator

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

i wouldn't worry about the .7 db of difference myself . as long as its quality coax and the 259s are installed properly the needles worth of difference wont make or break a contact .

 

[Eastside]

i wouldn't worry about the .7 db of difference myself . as long as its quality coax and the 259s are installed properly the needles worth of difference wont make or break a contact .

Yeah....I just like the big coax....it seems to hold up better.

One thing the Imax does better than the SP500 is that you can go all over with it and the swr stays ok.....a very versatile antenna.

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

from what i read the gainmaster is even wider in usable bandwidth than the imax . but for the typical 40 your 500 should be more than adequate .

 

[Eastside]

from what i read the gainmaster is even wider in usable bandwidth than the imax . but for the typical 40 your 500 should be more than adequate .

Yep....and if you want more..just buy a antenna tuner.

 

[Needle Bender]

i had to switch to 75 feet of coax when i raised mine so i went with lmr400 instead of the 50 feet of 2 year old full size carol-columbia rg8 i had. i noticed a difference. saw everybody come up 1/2 s unit and thats nothun to sneeze at

 

[mackmobile43]

I put the antenna together on the ground on a section of mast pipe....set the swr...then the guys I mentioned in my 1st post come over and we leaned the tower up against the house and then he put the tower bracket on the side of my house and then we took the antenna on the section of mast and handed it up to him...he slid it in the top of the tower...tighten the set screw...then connected the coax....made a rf choke.....then we carried the tower up to the peak of the roof...put it in the bracket and tighten it....then drove a pipe in the base and its rock solid.

Awesome job

 

[Kamikaze]

i had to switch to 75 feet of coax when i raised mine so i went with lmr400 instead of the 50 feet of 2 year old full size carol-columbia rg8 i had. i noticed a difference. saw everybody come up 1/2 s unit and thats nothun to sneeze at

It would be interesting to take your old cable and measure it's loss.

 

[Eastside]

It would be interesting to take your old cable and measure it's loss.

The old cable was not that old....I only put it up last fall....its not even a yr old yet.....its in good shape...I will probably use it on my pdl-2 if I do not sell the pdl-2 and buy a moonraker 4 off a friend.

 

[Marconi]

The old cable was not that old....I only put it up last fall....its not even a yr old yet.....its in good shape...I will probably use it on my pdl-2 if I do not sell the pdl-2 and buy a moonraker 4 off a friend.

The Imax is very prone to allowing water to enter into the feed line. It does have a small drain hole in the base at the feed point, and that helps mitigate the problem if it is not blocked up.

So, that might be a good reason for doing as Kamikaze suggested, and check the input/output of your old feed line compared to the new.

When I purchase a feed line (old or new) I check the feed line's thru-put and record it in my notes, and then I check it ever time I use it. It's very easy to check, and the results can provide rewarding information.

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

i had to switch to 75 feet of coax when i raised mine so i went with lmr400 instead of the 50 feet of 2 year old full size carol-columbia rg8 i had. i noticed a difference. saw everybody come up 1/2 s unit and thats nothun to sneeze at

you dont think raising the antenna higher could account for the 1/2 s-unit increase ?

 

[Eastside]

The Imax is very prone to allowing water to enter into the feed line. It does have a small drain hole in the base at the feed point, and that helps mitigate the problem if it is not blocked up.

So, that might be a good reason for doing as Kamikaze suggested, and check the input/output of your old feed line compared to the new.

When I purchase a feed line (old or new) I check the feed line's thru-put and record it in my notes, and then I check it ever time I use it. It's very easy to check, and the results can provide rewarding information.

Excuse my non tech savvy...but how do you check the coax?