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Workman W-58 Help needed please!

Workman W 58 HHHUUUGGGEEE HEADACHE!!!!

OK I am having the identical problem. I do not see an actual answer or solution to the problem just helpful suggestions with no real outcome.
I put an ohm meter right on the SO-239 coax connector and it is a dead short!!! Call me an idiot, but the antenna cannot work this way????Correct or can it??? Is there suppose to be some sort of insulation between the ring and the radiators or the ring joint itself???
PLEASE REALLY SOMEONE HELP!!!!
 
I put an ohm meter right on the SO-239 coax connector and it is a dead short!!! Call me an idiot, but the antenna cannot work this way????Correct or can it???

you will see that on antennas with matching networks... it may be a short for your multimeter, but it's not a short as far as RF is concerned ;)
 
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OK not a short

What am I doing wrong??? I've done everything that you've suggested in the past at least 10 times and the result is always the same
 
The Workman W-58 is a copy of the Maco V-58 5/8 wave length antenna. Not the easiest antenna to set up - especially if you have never done it before. First of all, your ohm meter is not wrong. It will read a dead short with this antenna. But that is because your ohm meter is using DC current to measure resistance. But radio frequencies use AC current; not DC current. What appears as a dead short using DC resistance isn't a dead short when presented by radio frequencies/AC current. This is not always true for all antennas; but it is true for your antenna. The Imax 2000 or A99 antennas will also show a dead short; but a dipole antenna won't.

Just follow the assembly instructions to the letter and then adjust the slider on the ring until you get the right SWR on channel 20. 1.1 to 1.5 is acceptable; but shoot for the lowest SWR number that you can get. It should go as low as 1.2; remember to re-calibrate your SWR meter each time you make an adjustment on the antenna. A 'must'.

That help at all?

http://cbradiomagazine.com/Antenna Reviews/Maco V 5-8/Maco V 5-8 Antenna Review.htm

http://www.macoantennas.net/files/MACO_V58.pdf
 
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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).

if the antenna is gamma matched surely a dead short wouldn't be expected, been a long time since i worked on gamma matched antennas mind. would explain why it ain't working.

most antennas that show a short are inductively tuned, a coil is seen very differently by AC than it is by DC.
 
never read about a gamma match on a workman 58 or it's maco counter-part . i wonder if d1g1man got his used and parts from other antennas were accidently included ? or maybe he just used the wrong term for the tuning loop ?

CHAINSAW , what is your vertical and ground element length ? what is your vswr ? how high is it in the air ? is your coax in good condition ?
 
never read about a gamma match on a workman 58 or it's maco counter-part . i wonder if d1g1man got his used and parts from other antennas were accidently included ? or maybe he just used the wrong term for the tuning loop ?

CHAINSAW , what is your vertical and ground element length ? what is your vswr ? how high is it in the air ? is your coax in good condition ?

not an antenna i'm familiar with Booty, i could only go on what the original poster said, but you might well be right that he's referring to the coil or its tapping link as a gamma match when it isn't. one things for certain, if a proper 5/8 wave gp isn't blowing an i max away,something is wrong with it.

most antenna problems turn out to be coax or plug install problems. there's not much can go wrong with a 5/8 wave except a blown coil or serious corrosion. i've known them to lose radials, have the top section slide inside and they still work reasonably well.
 
not an antenna i'm familiar with Booty, i could only go on what the original poster said, but you might well be right that he's referring to the coil or its tapping link as a gamma match when it isn't. one things for certain, if a proper 5/8 wave gp isn't blowing an i max away,something is wrong with it.

most antenna problems turn out to be coax or plug install problems. there's not much can go wrong with a 5/8 wave except a blown coil or serious corrosion. i've known them to lose radials, have the top section slide inside and they still work reasonably well.

Jazzsinger, I disagree that a proper 5/8 wave GP will blow away an Imax without radials, based on the typical Internet report. The GP may show a slightly better signal in some cases maybe, but blow it away...is like an Alice in Wonderland fantasy. I wish I have done a video of this test, but that was before I got my camera, that showed the forum some of my tests.

I didn't test my Imax with one of my 5/8 wave ground planes, the only test I did using my Imax was compared to my new Gain Master last year right after I got it up and working.

If I had allowed any personal bias into this comparison at the time, it would likely have been in favor of my brand new GM, plus I've always said I didn't particularly like my Imax, so I don't see any bias that favors either?

Imax vs. Gain Master at 38.8' (495x640).jpg

I posted the only other evidence I have, a group of 4 Eznec models, that suggest, again, that you might be wrong making such a bigggggggg claim as noted above.

If you have a video, an anecdotal link by another comparison on the Internet, or an article from a reputed big dog in antenna work that proves or suggest that you're right, then I would like to see it if you could provide link(s). I would even like to see some evidence of your own testing of an Imax vs. 5/8 wave ground plane, that supports your claim...besides just your words.

Here are my models showing an Imax without radials, both isolated and not, at 40' feet high. Next are models of the same antenna with 4 x 8.5' ground plane radials, isolated and not, at 40' feet high. These are over Eznec's real Earth feature.

View attachment Jazzsinger's idea comparing Imax with and without radials.pdf
 
Interesting, my real world test showed about 1.5 s units gain when I switched to the Gainmaster from the Imax on the same mast, coax and radio about 1.25 wavelengths above good ground, and with less noise.
About 1.5db over the Penetrator. I always test on the same mast and compare readings over several days and nights to make sure I have a good average I can trust.
Believe me, it's more important to me to know the real story than to offer an opinion on a forum, so I make sure I am certain and convinced enough for ME before I accept any results and post them for others.
 
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Well NB, my antenna signal reports always seem to show about the same signal differences, far less difference than we more often hear about.

However, I was mostly referring to Jazzsinger's report that a regular 5/8 wave with a ground plane would blow away an Imax, so I published my report showing what happened in my case. You know the rest. I can't question the other reports, but I don't think the difference is in the category of being "blown away." That was my only point.
 
A year or two ago I might have agreed with him but I've seen that damn Imax perform surprisingly well in the right installations.

And please understand, I wasn't implying that you or others don't take the same level of care in testing and comparing.
I was just referring to how I do it. :redface:
 
The IMAX?????

I have worked EU on 10,12,and 15 meters with that IMAX 2000.

I also have a heck of a time hearing a station 30 miles away with the IMAX 2000.

Some times I have S-7 noise on that IMAX, I also have S-7 noise on the yagi sometimes.

It is just a ground plane with a lossy matching network and a VSWR curve that will allow multi band operations. Nothing more nothing less.

As far as comparing it to other antennas?
I built a .64 WL antenna for a friend of mine, it is installed 30' to the base, he talked to Australia on it with 12 watts on 11 meters. That antenna is made out of EMT conduit and an inductor tapped for resonance. Nothing special there.

A ground plane is a ground plane is a ground plane, it does not matter what your S meter says the laws of Physics can not be bent or manipulated to have one out perform the other to such an extent as 1.5 S units (9DBD).

Marconi's real word tests are about as in your face as anything I have seen, the results he post speak for themselves. A 5/8 wl antenna is not going to blow away an IMAX, unless it is a JO GUNN and you believe the advertising hype:oops:

Doing antenna A to antenna B comparisons to a receive station is only going to work IF you never tell the receive station what antenna you are using.
 
Marconi's real word tests are about as in your face as anything I have seen, the results he post speak for themselves.

really, so your familiar with Eddies testing techniques?


A 5/8 wl antenna is not going to blow away an IMAX, unless it is a JO GUNN and you believe the advertising hype:oops:

not when it comes to causing and picking up rfi it won't, i'll agree there.


Doing antenna A to antenna B comparisons to a receive station is only going to work IF you never tell the receive station what antenna you are using.

yet they are fine for you to say Eddies right and I'm wrong? you didn't even bother to ask Eddie how he came to those results, I have,and i can tell you right now in my opinion his testing methods are seriously flawed especially when propagation is involved. And to quote something Eddie once told me, he has no-one local to give him honest accurate readings, because those around him can't be @rsed helping him come to more meaningful results. not all those test were done on the same mast,with the same coax in as short a timescale as possible to counteract effects of propagation or multipath signals. thats not even accounting for human error or human ego. oh and i nearly forgot, if i recall correctly most if not all Eddies tests were done whilst receiving ssb or am signals whilst being modulated, and not a constant carrier mode like the fm we use here, make your own conclusion from that.

no disrespect meant to you Eddie, just my "honest" opinion, if i have made any errors feel free to put me right.

@ wavrider, i'll bet you think an i10k will blow it away though, hmmm whats an i10k, oh thats right just a 5/8 gp. theres 5/8 gp's and 5/8 gp's not all are the same,you guys buy your crappy fibreglass rfi generators, i'll stick to properly designed aluminium antennas.


p.s. if you see a 1.5 s point increase on any vertical base antenna comparison (not counting crappy shortened radiators), which incidentally isn't 1.5 db but a 9db increase, it tells you your s meter is shite and not a lot about the actual antenna gain. but i'm sure you'll tell me i'm wrong on that too.

when i say blow an i max away, i couldn't give a f@ck how different signal is, if you have 7 s points of sh!te in your receiver, how the f"ck can you talk to anyone at a decent signal comparison level to justify your claims? most s meters are most accurate mid scale,especially the ones on a cb or amateur radio that aren't digital, most of the digital ones suck too, a calibrated attenuator is the one of the best ways to check signal level accurately, but if you can't hear it you can't work it, no matter how good your tx signal maybe, oh and if the fcc kick your door in and liberate your radio due to interference caused by a poorly designed half an antenna you certainly won't be working anyone.
 
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The IMAX?????

I have worked EU on 10,12,and 15 meters with that IMAX 2000.

no shit, i've worked australia on 20w with a magmount antenna, so by your reckoning does that make a magmount antenna superior?

on all of those bands in good conditions you could work the eu on a coathanger, god its been done on handheld radios with telescopic antennas and indoor antennas.

ever consider the fact the guy with the decent antenna on the other end was working you and not you him, i bet you havent, just like all those fools who pay a dollar or two for qsl's from some guy running an 8 element yagi, but hey, he told you you were s9r5 so you must be booming out,lol.
 
You are about as dependable as my old chainsaw, pull it one time and it fires up, sure enjoyed the replies cheap entertainment:tongue:

no shit, i've worked australia on 20w with a magmount antenna, so by your reckoning does that make a magmount antenna superior?

on all of those bands in good conditions you could work the eu on a coathanger, god its been done on handheld radios with telescopic antennas and indoor antennas.

ever consider the fact the guy with the decent antenna on the other end was working you and not you him, i bet you havent, just like all those fools who pay a dollar or two for qsl's from some guy running an 8 element yagi, but hey, he told you you were s9r5 so you must be booming out,lol.
 

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