Hello Kenn John & Audio Shockwave:
The Penetrator 500 5/8 wavelength ground plane antennas, yes I have rebuilt several of them. And replacement parts are still available.
However I never heard of a Penetartor 1000 ?!?!?!??!
Could that be a mobile antenna?
The Hy-Gain Penetartor 500, and later produced Super Penetrator 500 (this was model anodized, and made by Telex ) was advertised to take 1500 watts of power. I think this was the first CB Antenna to be advertised to take the full heat and steam of the then available Amateur Amplifiers, that could put out 1500 watts.
Before the Penetrator 500, was the CLR II came in both 3 and 4 ground plane radial verisons. But had the impedar matching coil made from a circuit board. I am sure Hy-Gain got bad mouthed over the matching coil easly being burned out, by the big boy's.
In 1962 Hy-Gain came out with the Super Collinear that was also a 5/8 wavelength ground plane antenna. These had only a "Single Point" mount to hold up the 5/8 wavelength vertical element, that was close 21 1/2 Feet. Just try to hold a 21 1/2 Foot long vertical element in you hands, hanging onto the bottom 5 inches not easy! So these Super Collinears had problems with the base assembly breaking. I have never seen one of these antennas, as it appears that they all broke or were not mass produced.
Avanti also put out a Sigma 2, a 5/8 wavelength ground plane antenna, that worked very well. But its a rare antenna compared to the Penetaror 500. The Sigma 2, is in my opinion a little bit over designed in the sense it uses a complex insulatutor that is machined and not what I would call a easy part to manufacture for production.
Jay in the Mojave
www.a1antennas.com/
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