Sirio 5000 and Wilson 5000

[Tucker442]

Got my new Sirio mag mount yesterday, hooked it up yesterday and couldn't talk skip worth a damn but did talk ground wave pretty far like over 50 miles on ssb. Maybe these 5000 sirio antennas are not designed to talk skip

 

[Lil'Yeshua]

They do. Conditions have to be right though. I talk skip on mine.

 

[Tucker442]

here it is

 

[Tucker442]

SWR still in the 1.2 to 1.3 range I heard a guy like a signal 9 from Florida yesterday and he never heard me. Today I am taking the old Wilson with me, park on a hill and actually do a swap if the skip is rolling, I'll be honest and I know conditions change from minute to minute but this guy from Florida was loud for about half an hour, but I did talk to Red Bank NJ from where I was that was about 50 air miles so it does work maybe just radiates the signal different compaired to the Wilson

 

[Blackcat630]

Got my new Sirio mag mount yesterday, hooked it up yesterday and couldn't talk skip worth a damn but did talk ground wave pretty far like over 50 miles on ssb. Maybe these 5000 sirio antennas are not designed to talk skip

If you are getting out 50 miles local than I would think the Sirio is working. I ran Wilson 1K and 5K (pre barjan) for years and switched over to Sirio about a year ago. I have had great results with mine....quieter receive and slight increase in transmit. Sirio is also more broadbanded. I talk ssb about 90% time and I can work about 95% of what i hear. Worked all over Europe with a 2950 and 200 watts last year. Now i have an old connex 4800 installed in my truck and worked Hawaii earlier this year and that was with about 25 watts....

 

[M0GVZ]

Got my new Sirio mag mount yesterday, hooked it up yesterday and couldn't talk skip worth a damn but did talk ground wave pretty far like over 50 miles on ssb. Maybe these 5000 sirio antennas are not designed to talk skip

Conditions have been dire.

Go here.

HF Propagation and Solar-Terrestrial Data Website

On the left is the solar data/propogation report. If the SFI isn't much above 100 or the A index is above 4 or 5 and/or the K index is 3 or more then conditions will be crap. SFI needs to be well into 140s and higher for great conditions on 12-10m.

12-10m has been poor for most of the last month or so. 12-10m are autumn to spring bands.

Someone asked me why I got into amateur radio. As someone who is into DX, this speaks for itself:

 

[GnG8d]

And if you've wired the negative wire directly to the battery, if there's ever a fault on the main battery to frame/body negative cable, that braided ground strap ensures that the total current of all electrical devices in the car, including the starter motor when you crank the engine, will go straight through your radio turning the insides into charcoal.

That's hogwash. The board and chassis are isolated at DC, coupled at RF, but isolated at DC.

 

[hotrod]

SWR still in the 1.2 to 1.3 range I heard a guy like a signal 9 from Florida yesterday and he never heard me. Today I am taking the old Wilson with me, park on a hill and actually do a swap if the skip is rolling, I'll be honest and I know conditions change from minute to minute but this guy from Florida was loud for about half an hour, but I did talk to Red Bank NJ from where I was that was about 50 air miles so it does work maybe just radiates the signal different compaired to the Wilson

measuring performance by dx isnt really telling ya anything at all. your better off do
this test BUT talk to those locals perferbly on am or even better fm [if ya can]
something with a constant signal measuring performance on ssb is vague at best
signal changes too much. ONLY use ssb if ya cant make the contact on am.
also 20 or 30 miles or closer ya wont see much change if any.retry ya test

 

[M0GVZ]

That's hogwash. The board and chassis are isolated at DC, coupled at RF, but isolated at DC.

No they're not. Put your continuity tester on the negative cable and touch it to the chassis of the rig.

Here's a Cobra 148. Top right corner. Look at where the screw that holds the PCB onto the tabs on the metal case is connected to. They even put solder on the tabs to ensure a good connection.

http://www.cobraworxshopz.com/images/JD_CUSTOM_SX-1_PRINT_SIDE_PCB.jpg

Next go to the bottom right corner. Notice the pads for other components on the same track the pcb retaining screw is electrically connected to.

Galaxy 959..similar thing.

http://www.netdestiny.com/radio/DVC00067.JPG

Magnum S9

http://i820.photobucket.com/albums/zz128/astradyne1/omega007.jpg

Want me to go on?

And then there's the fact the chassis is also electrically connected to the body of the car, the same thing that all the electrics in the vehicle use for a connection to ground.

 

[222DBFL]

I spoke with NJ yesterday from down in Vero Beach, FL. Don't remember the the numbers. But conditions have been sporadic here as well.

 

[Tucker442]

Just came back from my wide open parking lot at my Church with the Sirio 5000 and the new mag mount, I have my Anytone 5555 set for 60 channel banks with channel 1 being 26.965 and channel 60 being 27.565 on the band that I use. I calibrated both my old meter and new meter on channel 30 then did the channel 1 and channel 60 reading. Both meters read the same 1.2 on channel 1 and 1.2 on channel 60 with channel 30 being almost flat it just wiggled the meter with 55 watts going out the antenna on AM. So as far as I am concerned there sure isn't any issue with the antenna or the mount and if I did talk over 50 air miles ground wave on SSB probably doing about 30 to 35 watts I would guess to say the Sirio is doing it's job. Now to catch some skip one of these days.

 

[Tucker442]

How about 348 Central Jersey could have been me

 

[GnG8d]

No they're not. Put your continuity tester on the negative cable and touch it to the chassis of the rig.

And there is NO continuity there. You're looking at pictures and it's got you confused. Connect the ground of you meter or scope to the chassis and try to set DC voltages on the board and get back to me.

 

[bob85]

older exports like 148gtl dx are dc isolated chassis, early jacko's are isolated, later jacko's omit the caps and use wire links,
some exports do have the chassis connected to the board negative,
you need to look at the component side of the three rigs in the pics to be sure,
sometimes s-meter sockets ground the chassis.

 

[GnG8d]

I've never touched a Cobra, Uniden, Galaxy, Ranger or General that had the chassis and board tied together at DC ground. The link Connor shared months ago from W8JI showed exactly what I'm talking about and he refused to see it. It just isn't there.