| Author |
Message |
    
Bullseye
| | Posted on Monday, January 28, 2002 - 1:46 pm: | 
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Well I actually won something for once in my life. As soon as Customer service contacts me to get the ball rolling the "307Special" will be up and running shortly thereafter. But I need some help with an antenna. The only base antenna I have at the moment is an old Shakespeare Big Stick and am looking for a better antenna.I am limited in what I can use so I've narrowed my choices down to;The Antron 99 w/gpk,The I-max 2000,or The Maco Alpha V5/8. Opinions and criticism's will all be welcomed and considered before my purchase is made. THANKS in advance for the input!!!!!!! |
Vernonott
| | Posted on Monday, January 28, 2002 - 7:47 pm: |
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Bullseye:The Big Stick is a very good antenna unless you just have the urge to spend some dough. |
Bullseye
| | Posted on Monday, January 28, 2002 - 11:53 pm: |
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Actually I would prefer to keep the big stick but alas I don't think it will last long. It has been a good antenna but it's getting to be 10 years old or more and sitting in the rafters in the shed did'nt help it any. It's starting to dry and peel bits of fiberglass. I am in cent. Fl. and it will probably not last through our first good storm. It's going up until I can choose and buy my next antenna but I just like to be prepared. |
Jpatt24
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 29, 2002 - 2:36 am: |
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the maco 5/8 best choice great antenna |
jyd
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 29, 2002 - 11:14 am: |
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i-max 2000 is better |
Vernonott
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 29, 2002 - 7:54 pm: |
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Bullseye :When you get ready to trash the old big stick just ship on to me C.O.D.I'll refiberglass it and talk on it for another ten years. |
RCI2990
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 29, 2002 - 8:18 pm: |
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I max 2000 great choice! Or if you can find one get a Hy gain Penetrator 500!! |
Bullseye
| | Posted on Sunday, February 03, 2002 - 10:13 am: |
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Has anyone tried the Signal Engineering Antennas. Particularly the Thunder 8XB omni/bi-directional base antenna. If so how do or did you like them and how is their performance 1 to 10? |
Marconi
| | Posted on Monday, February 04, 2002 - 8:57 am: |
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Bullseye, the SE antenna is probably a very good one. I talked to a guy in Calif that raved about it and he was giving me a very good signal here in the Houston area.
GP, from what I can gather the best choice is probably the Imax but my first preference would be the A99 for all around considerations. Some have problems with TVI but if you get a good one, they work great. The V-5/8 is very good but can be a little difficult to setup and get tuned.
Marconi |
151 S.E.I
| | Posted on Monday, February 04, 2002 - 6:17 am: |
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its about time....do your self a big time favor and buy it before someone with good intentions and
poor antenna knowlege tries to get you to buy some
off center feed, wire antenna wrapped in fiberglass.
youll love the reduction in noise and hear/talk to stations you wouldnt have been able to on a copy stick!
it bidirectional (north/south) and (east/west) and "omni directional" when swicthed to both. |
RCI2990
| | Posted on Monday, February 04, 2002 - 6:31 pm: |
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What is the bandwidth of the SEI lightning 4 moonraker 4 look alike? Anyone here know???? Inquiring CBers wanna know!!!!!!!!!!! ;-) |
bullet
| | Posted on Saturday, February 09, 2002 - 12:45 pm: |
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im thinking its in there specs,but you should be able to cruz + - 40ch "give or take" from the normal 40 and be at a 2 swr or less. |
richard
| | Posted on Monday, February 11, 2002 - 10:20 pm: |
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any beam beats ANY omni !!!!! if its not a beam then its a WASTE OF TIME ENERGY & MONEY !!!!! |
B
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 12, 2002 - 10:39 pm: |
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Richard,Your opinion is appreciated but your sentiment is not.Although a beam is usually better than an omni it is sometimes impractical or unfeasible. I recently moved back into my parents home and have my set in the shed and have no way or space to use a beam. It also would be difficult for me to be swinging it in circles to talk to people in several directions at once.Most everyone on this forum will appreciate different opinions but several of yours I have read have been narrowly thought out or mean spirited. If you cannot look at things and post objectively most here would rather you did'nt post at all. We all try to help one another here and if you can't do that without more or less belittling ideas or theories you don't approve of please post on another forum and let us continue to HELP each other. Remember what you were taught as a child "If you can't say something nice-Don't say anything at all" Thank you. |
409
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 13, 2002 - 4:31 am: |
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Beams are great antennas.....but the omni has its place too. Many times you use them to locate stations before you can swing those beams. For local talking...the omni is usually best. |
Bullseye
| | Posted on Monday, February 18, 2002 - 8:27 pm: |
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While I'm waiting to order my new antenna I have an old Antron I'm using. It seems to work but my mod. is very low. There seems to be something moving around in the aluminum section of the ant. base. Is this "normal" and could that be the reason I can't hear my base on my mobile 2.5 miles from the house? It seems to "hear" me fine just does'nt seem to get out. Hope someone knows whats going on. Would like to try skip to you guys when I get it straightened. |
Bill Mavrick
| | Posted on Monday, February 18, 2002 - 10:16 pm: |
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Just my opnion:
As 409 stated an omni antenna is a good antenna to use to locate a position to swing to for going flat side or horz. when using a beam.
This is what I used about 2 years ago before moving to Alaska for a year.
I used my A-99 for location and my PDL-II for talking. My A-99 did have a raddle in it but I am thinking that this is just the conductor in the center of the antenna. I now run a I-2 or Imax 2000 as they are reffered to. It seems to do a better job than the A-99 with the GPK.
As I said this is just my opnion. Some of you people on this forum have forgotten more than I will ever learn.
Ya'll take care
Bill (Mavrick) |
Bill Mavrick
| | Posted on Monday, February 18, 2002 - 10:21 pm: |
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Just my opnion:
As 409 stated an omni antenna is a good antenna to use to locate a position to swing to for going flat side or horz. when using a beam.
This is what I used about 2 years ago before moving to Alaska for a year.
I used my A-99 for location and my PDL-II for talking. My A-99 did have a raddle in it but I am thinking that this is just the conductor in the center of the antenna. I now run a I-2 or Imax 2000 as they are reffered to. It seems to do a better job than the A-99 with the GPK.
As I said this is just my opnion. Some of you people on this forum have forgotten more than I will ever learn.
Ya'll take care
Bill (Mavrick) |
Bullseye
| | Posted on Monday, February 25, 2002 - 6:54 pm: |
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Hey guys, Thanks for all the opinions and believe me I read each one over and over. I was going to go with the I-Max 2000 but I was given what I consider to be the best antenna you can get. A brand new in the box never seen by human eyes MACO ALPHA V5/8. Now you may ask what makes this antenna so special,more or less the fact that it was free. Now one more time Thanks for the input and we will be able to talk on air soon I hope. HonkyTonkman. If you see this drop me a post and let me know what channel and when. |
FRED
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 26, 2002 - 7:32 pm: |
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HAY BULLSEYE I LIVE IN SOUTH FL HAD 2 I MAX'S
AND BOTH HIT BY LIGHTING AND KNOW OF 4 MORE
I HAVE THE 99 UP NOW FOR 2 YEARS NOT HIT YET
FOR SOME REASON THE I MAX LIKES LIGHTING DONT KNOW IF ITS JUST A MISS HAP BUT TWICE FOR ME I
WONT PUT ANOTHER ONE UP.IVE HAD BEAMS QUAD 4 & 6
UP NO HITS BUT LIKE I SAID TWICE IN ONE YEAR IS
ENUFF FOR ME.BY THE WAY MY 99 IS 20 FEET HIGHER
THEN THE I MAX WAS.PEACE |
TrippleX929
| | Posted on Saturday, March 02, 2002 - 1:56 am: |
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Say man, I would go with the I-Max 2000 .Thats the best damn antenna you will ever find. Yeah there are alot of people telling you diffrent things, but im just telling you my opinion and im sure there would be alot of people that agree with me. |
GRUMPY
| | Posted on Sunday, March 03, 2002 - 9:03 am: |
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BULLSEYE
I HAVE A A99 AND IT DOES JUST FINE, I RUN A RCI 2990DX AND MY DELTA FORCE ON IT ALL THE TIME AND TALK ALL OVER THE COUNTRY. ALL THE ANTENNAS MENTIONED ARE GOOD ONES, I DO NOT HAVE THE GROUND PLANE KIT ON MINE. I ALSO HAD A SHAKESPEARE BIG STICK AND IT WAS A GREAT ANTENNA, I HAD THAT ONE UP FOR 18 YEARS. THE RATTLE IN THE A99 IS NORMAL. IF YOU TALK DX GIVE (GRUMPY 8220) A YELL ON 26.915 I AM IN PENNSYLVANIA. |
Taz
| | Posted on Sunday, March 03, 2002 - 10:48 am: |
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IMAX-2000 ALL THE WAY!!!!!!!! |
Taz
| | Posted on Friday, March 22, 2002 - 12:45 am: |
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ok there b, this is from richard
a beam is the only choice they come in all sizes !!! all ya need is 4ft !!! after 33yrs of exp in
cb and ham , i can make that remark in the forum !!! you have got to open
your mind and consider that thier are people out there that have been there
and done that !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and ive tried them all !!!!!! i dont know
what you have invested in your cb rig but mine is over 15,000.00 $ custom
beam , custom rotator , 10,000w amp , hardline 72ft tower , custom built
ns9500 rig hooked into a digital sound board and digital stomp boxes , mpx
100 , digitec 500 , my mic is a blue berry , the mic pre amp is an audio
buddy [ digital] ... a viking 10,000w hf tuner ... my pre amp tuner is a
marshall 3000 ... the whole point to this is to listen and observe find
out what the true big dogs run and how they conduct themselves on the raido
!!! take my advise and run with it you wont be sorry ! any beam is better
than any omni !! your rig is in the shed so what ... my best friends is in
the shed and he uses a pdl2 ! a very small beam but works good ! a v-quad
same size works good , and either beam can be turned by a cheep rotator !!
taz another cb'er is now getting a moonraker 4, the only omni that is worth
putting up is the astro plane or its look alike , its a top loader5/8 wave
... but it still dont hold a candle to any beam ! once you get one you wont
be satisfied until someday you get the big one ! its a whole nother
ballgame when ya use a beam !
thunderbolt - 911 phoenix az 27.125am
27.285 am [skip ] |
bruce
| | Posted on Friday, March 22, 2002 - 12:24 pm: |
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Lets see he needs 15,000 dollars in radios, 10,000 watts and a beam to talk on cb ?????
Now i would't argue the beam i dont think there is much question a beam works well and a PDL2 quad is a small antenna that a ar-33 style rotor will turn. I might not even question a good audio prosser board they work well on CW .... and somewhat on SSB and AM... but why all the custom stuff????. Taz i didn't need all that for moonbounce |
Taz
| | Posted on Friday, March 22, 2002 - 3:28 pm: |
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He said he did moonbounce with 1000 or 1200 watts I think. |
Bullseye
| | Posted on Friday, March 22, 2002 - 4:32 pm: |
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OK Taz,All that is well and good for him but I simply don't have the time,space,or money for all that horsepuckey. I never said that any or all of that stuff was bad or not needed. Truth be told would life permit I would have a set I could talk to astronauts on BUT that is'nt the point here. I will have a beam up in time but I will still keep my Alpha simply so I can talk to my brother south of me and my Dad on his way to and from work north of me and any other direction a conversation happens without wearing out a rotor trying do talk to them all at one time. $15000.00 and 10000 watts means nothing if the radio does'nt perform the way it needs to at the time your talking so anyone can invest their lifesavings in all that nonsense if they want. For me a simple 4 element beam eventually and my Alpha will be plenty sufficient for what I need or want to do. As for power a KLV550 is going on my set soon and that will be the end of that. If I can't do all I need with that setup I will simply turn off the radio and try again later. For me this is simply a hobby and not an "I can overpower you" contest. You like what you like I like what I like and Richard seems to be trying to impress people more than be a CB'er or ham or whatever he's trying to be. |
bruce
| | Posted on Friday, March 22, 2002 - 6:44 pm: |
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Taz in 1971 i played with EME or what is known as "moonbounce" to do it i ran a R4b reciver T4xb transmitter SC-2 reciving conveter TC-2 transmitting conveter a mast mounted reciver preamp and 4- 17 el KLM beams in a H frame mount the ant was rotatable horz and vert and a FULL LEAGUAL POWER HOME MADE AMP OUTPUT ON CW ALMOST 900 watts ... not 10,000. Not a big station for EME now i could transmitt 240,000 miles to the moon and recover a signal comming back. By the way its takes about 2.5 seconda for it to get there and back. Ok so i was somewhat nuts in thoes days but it was fun. By the way there is a guy in texas who has a 800 elem beam it has 30 DBD of measured gain ... REAL gain that a mult factor of 1000 to 1 |
Taz
| | Posted on Friday, March 22, 2002 - 10:43 pm: |
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800 elements?
can i see a picture of this? |
dcmoore5211@msn.com
| | Posted on Saturday, March 23, 2002 - 2:41 am: |
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Taz, are you the American International Radio 911, if so your the best sounding station i have heard, dc |
Taz
| | Posted on Saturday, March 23, 2002 - 11:52 am: |
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no, my numbers are 411. But t-bolt out here has the numbers 911. He posts as richard downs on the forum. If you look above you can see his setup. I posted his setup under my name. |
bruce
| | Posted on Saturday, March 23, 2002 - 3:40 pm: |
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taz i hope this will link you to his current antenna it looks to be the big one he had up
this is the largest ham antenna in the world
last i heard it was 44 20 elem beams in phase and the photo seems to show that no matter what it is realy cool!
http://web.wt.net/~w5un/qsl.jpg
bruce |
Taz
| | Posted on Saturday, March 23, 2002 - 5:22 pm: |
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does he run any power with that? |
Triplecguy
| | Posted on Saturday, March 23, 2002 - 9:11 pm: |
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I wonder what that guy is compensating for. I guess bigger is better, but that couldn't have been cheap. Well, somebody on the forum needs to out do this guy. Taz, Bruce, 2990, you guys need to band together and set a new world record. Maybe Copper could sponsor you. Maybe not, but damn that would something, especially if you did it for 11 meters instead of 2.
Dan |
RCI2990
| | Posted on Saturday, March 23, 2002 - 10:10 pm: |
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LOL!! Well i simply dont have the room for anything bigger than what i have up now!! I though about getting a moonraker 6 but i cannot put it up with all the trees around here i have!! LOL |
bruce
| | Posted on Saturday, March 23, 2002 - 10:32 pm: |
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i heard him durning a EME contest back 2 years ago..... now were talking MODEST STUFF im useing a 6 elm beam pointing at the moon a reciving conveter useing 40673 duel gate mosfets ( about 3db noise) into a ft-620 6 meter transciver on ssb he was peaking at S3-S5
can you even think what he sounds like to a well euipted station under the same conditions ???remember my antenna is good for about 10 DBD gain most stations use 20 or more
TAZ he runns the full limit on CW or SSB hie peak output is about 1000 watts which means he is running 1,000,000 watts ERP
trust me on this on if you are ever to here a EME station HIS is it |
Taz
| | Posted on Monday, March 25, 2002 - 8:11 am: |
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Richard: Even though I have the capabillity to run 10,000 watts dosent mean I do. I dont use it to key on people like a guy out here named trashbag. Trashbag likes to key on people. I simply dont use it for that or channel 6. Channel 6 is not my hangout. |
Warlock
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 26, 2002 - 5:24 am: |
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To respond to the original post....the Imax 2k is hard to beat for the $. Easy to put up, performs well.
Want more? go with a Cubical quad or Cubical 6 beam. Try it sometime, you won't be disappointed. |
Funtimebob
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 14, 2002 - 3:58 am: |
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The Best Antenna I ever had was a Radio Shack .64wave. And Of course I never ran power through it. If I could only find another one..... |
Funtimebob
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 14, 2002 - 11:06 pm: |
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Back in the 70's using a bone stock TRC-55 with a Rat Shack .64 wave Antenna mounted on a pole 10 foot off the ground I was able to talk to the Virgin Islands from Cincy. My Mom talked to Amsterdam. Really P.O.ed the big guns at the time that couldn't reach them.
Since the Sigma 4 is just a tad bigger I am curious how it would compare. I have found a site that carries the GAL27 clone of the Sigma, but they don't list any other specs except that it is a clone 3/4 wave. no power gain listing or db gain and want $80 for it. |
