Workman W-58 Help needed please!

[d1g1man]

I hope I have posted this in the correct thread, please accept my apology if I have not!

I just purchased a Workman W-58, and the instructions included were a Maco reprint.

I am having SWR problems, I cannot get it set. I am hoping that I have missed something, and someone can spot it.

The only way I can get the swr down to where the antenna is resonant is to totally collapse the second section up all the way into the lowest section, over-all measurement puts it at about 16 feet. SO it will tune as a half wave, but not as a 5/8's!

I have followed the directions for the length, measuring to the very bottom of the base assembley, I have tried it to the first hole, still very high swr, no matter where I measure it.

Before I continue, allow me to explain what I have done.

I have followed the directions perfectly, checked and rechecked to make sure that it is assembled correctly. (verified by two different hams too
)

The strap that connects from the vertical radiator is about 1 inch above the insulating material.

The ends of the gamma are 1 inch apart, I check this continuously to make shure I didnt change it by accident.

I do not have any corrosion any where.

With the gamma match REMOVED my fluke meter shows infinite ohms between the base and the radiator, dead short when the gamma is attached (to be expected).

My coax is Double Shielded RG-213 type with professionally installed connectors, it checks out with an ohm meter, on another antenna, and shows a perfect match with a dummy load connected on the far end.

The antenna gives identical results mounted on the 10 foot test pole, or on the tower.

Both test pole and tower have NOTHING near them whatsoever.

The ladder I use on my test pole is fiberglass.

The ground radials are attached when I take swr measurements.

I have used three different SWR meters, a radio shack, an Autek WM-1 and an old junky one... same results.

I am about ready to trash this thing and get an IMAX 2k.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

that antenna tunes by adjusting the point on the ring that the wire from the 239 comes from . did you try tuning it like that with the vertical at 248 inches ?

 

[d1g1man]

Hi, thank you for the reply.

I did try this, boths sides of the rings, when it would hit resonance with the radiator at 16 ish feet, the clamp wire was about an inch or two from the joint where the two halves join together, on the side that leads back to the so-239.

that antenna tunes by adjusting the point on the ring that the wire from the 239 comes from . did you try tuning it like that with the vertical at 248 inches ?

 

[hotrod]

Hi, thank you for the reply.

I did try this, boths sides of the rings, when it would hit resonance with the radiator at 16 ish feet, the clamp wire was about an inch or two from the joint where the two halves join together, on the side that leads back to the so-239.

why using 16ish feet?
start at 248 inces 21.5 feet [about] then use ring my understanding from manual
what are your swrs?
are they high on ch.1 or ch.40
when your doing swr checks is anything else inline other than radio/meter/antenna?
can you get a hold of a mfj antenna anylizer?

 

[Robb]

As BootyMon said, the overall length is the very FIRST thing you should adjust before you tune the coil/ring. Time to take it down and do it right - or you will never get where you want to go with it. If it too short, it won't tune for 27mhz/CB bands. Otherwise, it won't be a 5/8 wave antenna! 16 ft isn't even the length of a 1/2 wave antenna - let alone a 5/8 wave. So you definitely made a fixable mistake - no foul.

 

[fnkycoldmedina]

the most common mistake is to assemble the matching network incorrectly .double check your work in that area .
i have a pdf file of the maco v58 assembly instructions if you need them.very clear with pictures.you probably have the same thing over there .but if you want to compare just send me your email in a pm and i,ll be happy to send it your way.

good luck

 

[CDX-007]

...it's been a while, but I seem to recall the radiator was 19' 6" from the point where the 45° upper ring bracket met it. I also seem to recall the wire was about 1/2 way around the ring when it tuned to zero reactance.
Make certain the radiator is insulated from ground (check it without the ring attached) and isn't shorting to ground down inside the bottom.

 

[Marconi]

007, you mention the radiator shorting inside the bottom, do you know what stops the bottom radiator tube from going down inside the insulator and grounding out against the bolt that holds the PO8P bracket with the SO239 and the wire?

Is there a plug in there or a shoulder in the insulator that the tube sits on? I've seen an image of a V58 shorted and burned at this point where the radiator and this bolt where smoked.

 

[d1g1man]

Problem solved.

I got tired of it and gave it to a buddy, I put up a new I-Max 2000 and it works really good, plus no problems tuning and greater bandwidth.

Thank you very much everyone for helping me out!

 

[CDX-007]

007, you mention the radiator shorting inside the bottom, do you know what stops the bottom radiator tube from going down inside the insulator and grounding out against the bolt that holds the PO8P bracket with the SO239 and the wire?

Is there a plug in there or a shoulder in the insulator that the tube sits on? I've seen an image of a V58 shorted and burned at this point where the radiator and this bolt where smoked.

Hey there Mr Superstation - Wow you did put in a big signal, blanketed all the QRM on the channel!

Admittedly, I haven't crawled inside one in over 3 years, more like 4-5, it's been 3 since the last friend I put one together for, Darrin, went SK and it must have been a good 2 years before that I assembled it for him, so I am not super clear, especially since I've messed with a Ringo since then and may be remembering the Ringo, unless they are as similar as I believe... but I seem to recall there was a screw hole near the top of the insulator on one side which went through the top rubber cover/seal and held the radiator from sliding all the way down where it would stop & short out on a rivet holding the entire base assembly together.

When I received the used Ringo it tuned a nice low 1.3:1 SWR but was ~11dB down from the Penetrator at 10 miles on a Phil's Pro3 meter.
- I raised the radiator up off the rivet about ½" and ran a screw through the insulator hole to keep the radiator above grounding out, re-tuned and voilá, 4dB gain and now only 7dB down from the Penetrator on Phil's meter, like the A99DL.

Is that about what you recall?

 

[CDX-007]

I got tired of it and gave it to a buddy, I put up a new I-Max 2000 and it works really good, plus no problems tuning and greater bandwidth.

Thank you very much everyone for helping me out!

Wow, sounds like he's not a very good 'buddy' to place that kind of frustration on him...

You're not the first to upgrade your performance that way. A local kid, CJ, just did the same thing and golly gee, whadaya know, he saw a 1 S-unit improvement on both RX & TX as I have been telling him he would for months.

Definitely an upgrade, if you can deal with the increase in static. :glare:

 

[hotrod]

too much noise on the imax,... why i took mine down couldnt
copy anyone with less than a 1-2 s unit signal.id much rather have
better ears and and slightly less tx. signal

 

[CDX-007]

too much noise on the imax,... why i took mine down couldnt
copy anyone with less than a 1-2 s unit signal.id much rather have
better ears and and slightly less tx. signal

What would a ring match mod kit be worth to you to mod your Maco into a full .64 with not only better performance than an Imax and as little noise as is possible from a vertical omni but with performance equivalent to an I-10K with about a 6KW power rating?

 

[MadMeadster]

Thank You 007!

...it's been a while, but I seem to recall the radiator was 19' 6" from the point where the 45° upper ring bracket met it. I also seem to recall the wire was about 1/2 way around the ring when it tuned to zero reactance.
Make certain the radiator is insulated from ground (check it without the ring attached) and isn't shorting to ground down inside the bottom.

This is exactly what was giving me headaches with a w58... found there was NOTHING preventing the vertical radiator from dropping right down to the mounting screw for the so-239 mount. I fixed mine by pulling the radiator up so it was completely inside the insulator then placing a screw in the radiator so it could not slip back down the base tube!

 

[CHAINSAW]

So did we ever get an answer? I am having the identical problem....I am ready to recycle the aluminum!!!!!