gainmaster vs i10k a quick test with locals

[walterb]

GM I10K

edfiero,
The short answer is yes, I set my own goal and everybodys goals are different. Where I live i'm 15 to 45 car miles from the stations that I talk an listen to, my goal is to hear stations on AM ground wave 50 miles away, I'm still working on this goal, but I have made a lots of progress over the last 3 years. I live in Sun City, AZ and my Base signal has to be very clean, been here 7 year the first 4 year I spent setting up my HAM setup the way that works best for the size lot I have. Thought my CB setup would not take me not near this long, but I'm into my 3rd year now an loving every min of it, but CB ground way communitation has not been as easy as I first thought. Am getting help from people like yourself on these fourms that helps a lot, the more people that post the more ideas pop into my head!...........Oldtimer

 

[Needle Bender]

walter you know you could stick a gamma match on one of the penetrater radiasls and have horiz. i might even be tempted to buy 2 short pieces of tubing and bend them about 30 degrees, remove one radial and have three at 120 degrees with the gamma on the unbent one to get bi-directional horiz coverage for those rare 11m dx days

 

[walterb]

GM vs 10K

NB,
Had not though about anything like that, I do know the polarity sometimes does make a difference! What my goal with the HGP-500 is to see how it performs at the top height I can raise it. I have data from the I-10K to compare it against the reference antenna, also want to see how it will hold up in the Spring months at this location. I have a I-10K that I used for a year an that antenna performed very well but only could put it up 26' to the bottom with my setup, an feel safe about it, think it weighs 20 lbs, don't think it will ever break from wind unless the support mast came down. I would knot feel good putting it as high as the A99 is an use for a reference antenna, It would have to be on a tower......Oldtimer

 

[walterb]

GM I10K

As promised installed the HGP-500 today, the HGP is not as heavy as the I-10K an I could get it up to 30' to the bottom of the antenna, SWR was 1.3 for 20 channels, may play with the grounds radials down the road to see if it can get it lower. At 30' works very close to what I get out of my A99 at 38' to the bottom the signal strength on 80+% of stations on the meter is the same. but receives signal sound different, the HGP-500 sounds brighter, that may be why they called it Penetrator. ...........Oldtimer

 

[walterb]

GM I10K

As promised installed the HGP-500 today, the HGP is not as heavy as the I-10K an I could get it up to 30' to the bottom of the antenna, SWR was 1.3 for 20 channels, may play with the grounds radials down the road to see if it can get it lower. At 30' works very close to what I get out of my A99 at 38' to the bottom the signal strength on 80+% of stations on the meter is the same. but receives signal sound different, the HGP-500 sounds brighter, that may be why they called it Penetrator. The mesurment on 19' that comes in the manual with the antenna would be a starting point to use the antenna on 10 meters, for 11 meters the old mesurment of 22' would be the starting point for CB. I feel the HGP-500 is a lot of bang for your buck on 11, its built well fairly light, will take
a little power. and for $150.00 its a deal...........Oldtimer

 

[Needle Bender]

hey walter glad its an improvement. do you remember the p500 measurements and whats your swr on 1 and 40?

 

[wavrider]

edfiero,
The short answer is yes, I set my own goal and everybodys goals are different. Where I live i'm 15 to 45 car miles from the stations that I talk an listen to, my goal is to hear stations on AM ground wave 50 miles away, I'm still working on this goal, but I have made a lots of progress over the last 3 years. I live in Sun City, AZ and my Base signal has to be very clean, been here 7 year the first 4 year I spent setting up my HAM setup the way that works best for the size lot I have. Thought my CB setup would not take me not near this long, but I'm into my 3rd year now an loving every min of it, but CB ground way communitation has not been as easy as I first thought. Am getting help from people like yourself on these fourms that helps a lot, the more people that post the more ideas pop into my head!...........Oldtimer

Two element Cubical Quad, constructed out of PVC purchased at any home center store. Weighs next to nothing, can be rotated with a cheap small rotor. Spend less than $20.00 to build.Will out perform any Ground plane, rejection from the reflector is an added plus.

You want to talk 50 miles on a daily basis? Think of using a gain antenna, plus is your receive will also be enhanced.

 

[Needle Bender]

Two element Cubical Quad, constructed out of PVC purchased at any home center store. Weighs next to nothing, can be rotated with a cheap small rotor. Spend less than $20.00 to build.Will out perform any Ground plane, rejection from the reflector is an added plus.

You want to talk 50 miles on a daily basis? Think of using a gain antenna, plus is your receive will also be enhanced.

right and a dragster is faster than a van but it cant carry 4 kids to school. sorry not being a smart ass its just that sometimes you need an omni and maybe want to hear 4 guys each 30-40 miles away. one north one south one east and one west. a beam will do maybe two but your not having a round table with a beam

 

[gamegetter]

It takes time to build an arsenal of antenna's. some times a lifetime.

Height is might, spend money on tower for sure now what would I put on there...yup a beam on a self standing 60-70foot tower great for dx and great for local point to point.

Of course I would try to to run an omni on top of the beam at some point and hope there would be no interaction. Perhaps a gain master would be worth a shot there.

 

[walterb]

gM I10K

GM
CH 40 is 1.5
CH 1 is 1.4
CH 20 1s 1.3
Yesterday put guy lines on the support mast and grounded the mast to my grounding system, my take so far, it hears better than most of the antenna I have tested or used its quieter, still have the A99 up at 38' to the bottom that I am using as a reference antenna. The incoming signals using the meter are the same, except you see more incoming modulation on the the HGP-500 than on the A99, the same as when I tested the I-10K. The I-10K I used was only up 24' to the bottom but the carrier was down 1+ S units from the A99 at 38', with the incoming mudulation the signal were near the same on my Cobra 2000GTL meter. The only thing I can say about the HGP-500 is it has stopped my quest to look for another antenna. I'm HAPPY now!.............Oldtimer

 

[Marconi]

GM
CH 40 is 1.5
CH 1 is 1.4
CH 20 1s 1.3
Yesterday put guy lines on the support mast and grounded the mast to my grounding system, my take so far, it hears better than most of the antenna I have tested or used its quieter, still have the A99 up at 38' to the bottom that I am using as a reference antenna. The incoming signals using the meter are the same, except you see more incoming modulation on the the HGP-500 than on the A99, the same as when I tested the I-10K. The I-10K I used was only up 24' to the bottom but the carrier was down 1+ S units from the A99 at 38', with the incoming mudulation the signal were near the same on my Cobra 2000GTL meter. The only thing I can say about the HGP-500 is it has stopped my quest to look for another antenna. I'm HAPPY now!.............Oldtimer

Walter, are the figures above for a Gain Master (GM) or your new SP500? If these are GM numbers, I get less than 1.20 from 26.405 to 28.505. It is very broad banded according to everyone I've talked to that owns a GM.

What are your guy wires made of?

 

[walterb]

GM I10K

Marconi,
The numbers you saw in my last post are for the new HGP-500. I use black dacron guy ropes from HRO its good for 500+ lbs strength. Use a hose clamp about a foot under where the antenna is mounted on my mast. I wish I still had the RS .64 antenna to compared. The thing that jumps out most to me about the HGP is the tone of this antenna an its signal to noise ratio, the coax is a 100' of HROs house brand RG213U coax. I have not tried a GM as of yet. I still have more testing that I will be doing with the HGP over the next month or two. Will post if I fine any negatives with this setup.................Oldtimer:drool:

 

[Marconi]

That is good to know Walterb. The rope is a good idea also.

I notice occasional tone differences at times too. IMO, this is best detectable with two antennas side by side on a switch box.