sirio 827 5/8 vs gainmaster

[bob85]

an old radio friend about 20 miles atcf from me was using his sirio 827, sirio's best performing and by far strongest 5/8wave groundplane,
he told me he'd bought a gainmaster and wanted to know what i thought about them,
been a 827 devotee he was not expecting better performance just a lighter neater antenna, something he could safely handle without assistance,

the antenna sits on a 20ft scaffold pole fixed to a shed in a small field on flat ground.

i asked him to do an impromptu test swapping antennas on the same ( pole /coax/ ft857@ full power ) before he bought new coax for the gainmaster,

his signal to me was between s-4 and s-5
he swapped to the gainmaster, his signal has increased to a solid s-6,
some of my other radio friends who usually struggle to hear what he's saying when im talking to him now receive him with increased signal and perfectly readable modulation,
the happy owner reports similar improvement in his receive.

as always your mileage may vary

 

[Marconi]

That is remarkable Bob. I don't radio much any more, but I've still got mine up and working just fine.

 

[bob85]

yes it is eddie, i can't be sure of the 827's state of health but he had no known issues with it.

 

[cbradiomagazine.com]

Thanks for the story. Always interesting to hear what peoples experiences are in these cases.

I definitely found the Gain Master to be an excellent performing antenna so in some ways I'm not surprised when it beats out other antennas although in this case it's fairly interesting as the 827 is considered one of Sirio's best.

 

[hotrod]

not the results i think he should have seen. seeing how the 827 is rated
with better db gain. id think he had a issue with the 827. for a antenna
made of coax and covered with fiberglass poles ,to beat a real antenna
made of allumin. did he tell anyone that he swapped out antennas or told
them excatly what he was using?

 

[bob85]

where did you hear that gain claim? the 827 is rated lower gain than the gainmaster by sirio, most peoples tests indicate the gainmaster outperforms the 827,
the guy is a friend, he did what i asked him, swapped the antennas using the same pole/coax/radio/power, i can't be sure the 827 was in perfect health but my own and others tests indicate the gainmaster beats the 827 and my 827 is in perfect health,
the 827 is nothing special, it can't equal my i10k

 

[Marconi]

not the results i think he should have seen. seeing how the 827 is rated
with better db gain. id think he had a issue with the 827. for a antenna
made of coax and covered with fiberglass poles ,to beat a real antenna
made of allumin. did he tell anyone that he swapped out antennas or told
them excatly what he was using?

Hotrod, you may be right about the condition of the 827 antenna. I don't know and Bob mentioned he didn't know either. But, you have to know how the GM is designed and constructed...in order to ever understand how it might perform better, and it has nothing to do with the fact that it uses fiberglass as part of its construction.

I don't know about the reported gains either. People talk bad about published antenna gains all the time, and here you're using such information to support your claim.

I also hear folks talk bad about fiberglass antennas all the time, but comparing FG to an all aluminum has little to do with the issue of performance. FG vs. Aluminum is not what makes the difference.

Your last question is reasonable, but I trust Bob to fully understand how that could influence the results.

 

[hotrod]

my claims are FACTS stated by sirio they list the 827 with 1.5db or 3.65DBI
as for the gain master im not using other hear say and maybe im not sure
what it is but to me it appears to be a center fed dipole and diploles as
far as i know dont have any gain.now im not the smartest on here by any means
this is only what ive found/understood by reading fourms mostly this one

 

[gamegetter]

The sirio 827 is advertised or rated at 1.5dbd and3.65 dbi with a 2 mhz bandwidth at 2:1.

The sirio gainmaster is advertised or rated at "at least 1-2 db better than competing antenna's" according to Sirios website.

Hope this helps out. So far what bob and friends saw is falling in line with Sirio's claims.

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

as you all already know ...... the fiberglass is just viagra to hold the copper wire inside that is actually the antenna . i think i remember some comments about the matching network used in the 99/2K doesn't make efficient use of ground elements added to them . i know the GM doesn't use ground elements and its said to not need them ....... but i wounder how it would react to having four 9 footers added to its feed-point horizontally or sloped ?? has anyone thought of trying it on theirs ?

 

[gamegetter]

Being that the gm "works as" a central fed dipole, i would think that it has all the counterpoise needed.

 

[Marconi]

The sirio 827 is advertised or rated at 1.5dbd and3.65 dbi with a 2 mhz bandwidth at 2:1.

The sirio gainmaster is advertised or rated at "at least 1-2 db better than competing antenna's" according to Sirios website.

Hope this helps out. So far what bob and friends saw is falling in line with Sirio's claims.

Well gamegetter you're right that what Bob and his friend produced are falling in line with what Sirio shows, but not exactly. Bob described his results in Sunits and Sirio's numbers are noted as db, which is not the same. Bob's numbers are close to what other's have claimed as real world results however, and IMO Sirio's numbers for gain are all in Free Space and noted in dbs not Sunits.

I think this is also what may be confusing hotrod in his claims, while trying to mix apples and oranges and claiming......

 

[Marconi]

Being that the gm "works as" a central fed dipole, i would think that it has all the counterpoise needed.

In order for guys to know there is a difference gamegetter, maybe you should add that the GM is a center fed 5/8 wave dipole, and that balanced antennas don't need an additional counterpoise, that is the nature of any dipole.

 

[gamegetter]

good catch marconi...Bob and friends are seeing a better than advertised db gain,,, for 1 s unit is about 6db if i remember right!

 

[Marconi]

as you all already know ...... the fiberglass is just viagra to hold the copper wire inside that is actually the antenna . i think i remember some comments about the matching network used in the 99/2K doesn't make efficient use of ground elements added to them . i know the GM doesn't use ground elements and its said to not need them ....... but i wounder how it would react to having four 9 footers added to its feed-point horizontally or sloped ?? has anyone thought of trying it on theirs ?

Booty Monster, the GM is a center fed 5/8 wave dipole and dosen't need radials, all the antenna is already there. All end fed 1/2 or 5/8 wave verticals are not balanced, and can use radials.