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Pole Cat CB base antenna

John Arredondo

New Member
Apr 19, 2021
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I have a old Pole Cat CB Base antenna that won't handle more than about 150 or so watts, mine is a mixture of different ground plane antennas but am wondering what i would have to do to get it to run a little more power through it, maybe 2 to 300 watts, i like this antenna, it tunes easy, has flat SWR across the band at least 120 to 140 channels, so i do not need to worry with SWR problems, but for now i need to take it down and replace the screws which i hate and replace them with hose clamps, cut a slot and put the clams on.
Thank you
Johnn Arredondo
Mighty Mite
 

lordy, i had one in 1975,, traded it off,,, it was ok ,, but the hi q matching coil was a turn off, afraid of burning it up,,, about the only way to fix up for higher wattage is to take all apart and build a better, stronger matching network,,,
 
Right but thats not my thing, i have no idea how to do that kind of mod, i have talked to people that ran those antennas with very little power and burned them up, i think they can only handle 100 - 125 or so but they were made when cb was only putting out if lucky 25 or so, there was really no reasons for them to take any more.
 
Right but thats not my thing, i have no idea how to do that kind of mod, i have talked to people that ran those antennas with very little power and burned them up, i think they can only handle 100 - 125 or so but they were made when cb was only putting out if lucky 25 or so, there was really no reasons for them to take any more.
Take a look at the Colossal 10 K Base Antenna.
 
I have a old Pole Cat CB Base antenna that won't handle more than about 150 or so watts, mine is a mixture of different ground plane antennas but am wondering what i would have to do to get it to run a little more power through it, maybe 2 to 300 watts, i like this antenna, it tunes easy, has flat SWR across the band at least 120 to 140 channels, so i do not need to worry with SWR problems, but for now i need to take it down and replace the screws which i hate and replace them with hose clamps, cut a slot and put the clams on.
Thank you
Johnn Arredondo
Mighty Mite

May I suggest using rivets before cutting slots and weakening your antenna and hose clamps that the screw and housing will rust unless you use marine grade all SS hose clamps.

1/8" "Closed-End Blind Rivets" with an aluminum rivet and a STEEL mandrel used on aircraft.

http://www.mcmaster.com/

97524A020 (1/8" .063 - .125 thick)
Used for double wall thickness (.058 x 2 = .116" thick) on all your standard element joints.

97524A021 (1/8" .126 - .187 thick)
Used for triple wall thickness (.058 x 3 = .174" thick) on main radiator joints.

97524A106 (3/16" .063 - .125 thickness)
Larger rivet used for double wall thickness (.058 x 2 = .116" thick) on large main radiator joints.

I use 3 rivets per joint which gives me over 900# of shear strength. On a 4" overlap I space the rivets at 0.25", 2.0", and 3.75" from the end of the tubing. This gives me a solid joint across ALL 4" as opposed to only the first 1" when using a clamp.

Notice the end is not like the regular pop rivets you get in the local hardware store. These rivets are weather tight and are designed specifically for applications with vibration. If necessary, they can be drilled out for repairs or transport and new rivets installed for re-assembly. The use of sheet metal screws tends to render disassembly difficult at best, since material from the inner tube is pulled into the hole and into the space between the tubes. Hose clamps can break or become loose and present a nuisance when erecting the antenna.

I use Morgan RF Systems M-602 anti-oxidant compound:

https://surgestop.com/mounting-hardware/m-602.html

on ALL my aluminum to aluminum joints which improves my conductivity plus eliminates air (oxidizer) getting into the joints. Much better than Penetrox or Noalox (lead powder in an oil bath).

Just my .02

Good Luck
 
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I do not know this for sure, but I suspect the bandwidth of your antenna will probably change when you change the matching network.
 
I do not know this for sure, but I suspect the bandwidth of your antenna will probably change when you change the matching network.
HomerBB, i do not know if you ever had a chance to check one of these antenna out, well for myself i manage to get a very low SWR across around 130 to what i remember 160, it was a while back but if i remember right i got from a 1-1.0 to 1-1.2 which i thought was pretty good but the one thing i did not like was that it was not a antenna for high power, what i heard was that it would only handle 100 to 150 watts this the reason i was wondering if it was possible to do something to get it to take a higher power but it might just be better to get a antenna that can handle more power, but thank thank for the reply, i was just curious about it.
John Arredondo
Mighty Mite
 
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HomerBB, i do not know if you ever had a chance to check one of these antenna out, well for myself i manage to get a very low SWR across around 130 to what i remember 160, it was a while back but if i remember right i got from a 1-1.0 to 1-1.2 which i thought was pretty good but the one thing i did not like was that it was not a antenna for high power, what i heard was that it would only handle 100 to 150 watts this the reason i was wondering if it was possible to do something to get it to take a higher power but it might just be better to get a antenna that can handle more power, but thank thank for the reply, i was just curious about it.
John Arredondo
Mighty Mite
Oh ya that was channels, 130 to 160 channels
 
It would not be difficult to put a bigger better inductor (coil) on the antenna. I have not run that antenna, but years ago I was given one that the inductor was burned out. These days, I would have replaced it with a better one, but way back then I just scrapped it.
 
1985 Copper Electronics catalog had the Polecat on sale for $9.99 plus shipping. I ordered one and used it for many years until I finaly did "something" to burn the matching coil up. It was literaly the same price as the Radio Shack "Back of the Set" antenna" and the best bang for the buck I ever got on a base antenna.
 
Shockwave I did not know that the Pole Cat antenna was out this late, my dad got his back in the 70's i think, maybe early 80's but i think it was a good 1/2 wave antenna but could not handle any kind of power, maybe not even 100 watts but if you only paid $10.00 then i guess you could'mt expect it to take much but man that was cheap for a metal antenna back then.
 
I think that coil would be pretty big for the tubing of the pole cat, well it looks like it would be, the Pole Cat is a 1/2 wave but looks like it's a 1/4 wave but isn't, just looks like it.
Any heavier inductor would improve the antenna. I've made them successfully from stripped Romex house wire.
Screenshot_20210426-083611_Photobucket-01.jpeg
 
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Homer i like that home made antenna, did you wind that copper tubing or did you buy from somewhere, but it looks good, how does it work and is it for 10 or 11 meter
 

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