| Author |
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Honkytonkman593
| | Posted on Friday, January 04, 2002 - 11:43 am: | 
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well im definatly not getting rid of my antron 99 but i want to put up a maco 103 beam. for 100-120$ is it a good one. 3 elements. was wondering really what kinda of output directional ill get verses my antron 99. say if i run 200 watts . in other words what db on the meter might i get?? if i put a signal of 5 with my antron to a another base station what will the maco 103 produce respectivly if aimed at the other station? just curious anyone have one or better yet how long one of these might last as my antron is 10 years old. ok thanks. |
Chanalthrasher
| | Posted on Friday, January 04, 2002 - 11:15 pm: |
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ok i have had several beams and if your look ing at talking local i my luck wasnt that good even runing 400 watts i had the same db with my a99 and i have never tryed this antanna good luck |
Taz
| | Posted on Friday, January 04, 2002 - 3:15 pm: |
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well if you want do direct all your signal toward one direction then a beam is for you.
but if you talk to alot of people that are in all directions all at once then its different because you only receive on the sides that you transmit! |
Marconi
| | Posted on Saturday, January 05, 2002 - 10:28 am: |
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HTM593, I assume that you have not installed a beam before. However, if you have, then you probably already know about all this.
A beam does not always act the same way from day to day. There are times and directions where the beam responds differently also. There are times where I see no improvement in signal and times when I see doubling of the signal. It works that way for DX and even at times with local work, although local work may be a little more consistant.
I think you will find the M103 to be a very effective beam. I am mostly interested in the DX work with my beams so I put them horizontal. This also helps me with installation, as I can handle them by myself. I like to tune at installed height and the horizontal gives me an edge at doing that also. I also feel you get a real advantage during good skip if you are on the flat side.
I have several buddies that run the M-103's flat and one that tried his vertical. He later turned his back flat because he felt his contacts fell off. A couple of these guys have also attempted to make changes in their antenna settings, but they always go back to what the instructions show.
I ran the M-103 setup using my Yagimax design software and it showed about as good as I could get using Maco's three element setup.
The M-103 can be a big talker. Just get it right and they will hear you. You may find this antenna to be a bit more narrow banded than you might expect. In 11 meters I work SB only, so I tune to 27.385. I show some reactance if I work the bottom of 11 meters or go out of band into 26.000 very far. My antennas tend to show a bit longer, lower, and smoother SWR curve above resonance, so I do not have quite that much problem going up.
If you have a favorite frequency in 11 meters then I suggest you tune it there and then just get what you get with the other frequencies above and below. If you take the time to make yourself an SWR curve below 2:1, it can help you in setting your match. The match is something the instructions cannot give you specific details about. Use their suggested starting point and go from there. If you make this SWR curve right off the bat, you will be able to see which direction you need to go with your tune. Keep some notes, that will help you keep you focused and from getting out in left field. Don't forget to leave a turning loop for you coax around your rotor.
BTW, also watch for the responsiveness of the antenna to improve somewhat after it has been installed for a while. So be patient if you don't sense the beam is, right off the bat, working as you expected.
Keep us posted if you do get the M-103.
Good luck!
Marconi |
Honkytonkman593
| | Posted on Sunday, January 06, 2002 - 1:14 pm: |
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looking to set it aound 26.500-27.00 mhz hope itll tune this low. i mainly work 26.915 but florida locals i talk to every other day run 26.505 so this is where i like to hang out. i plan to leave my antron up as i dont have any locals that i wish to talk to!! to mch power makes enemys fast!!! closest id even talk to is 30 miles or so away. i must say you really gave good info. i lke more informative responses. ill be using it on flat side aka horizontal only. just trying to separte some of the big stations on 26.915 am side. i could care less really about ssb. been there talked that just not to fun for me i guess. but im really hoping that if i get the beam itll be worth it. just dxing with it i really hope to increase that db signal at least 3-5 db. ok thanks for the info looking at purchasing the beam ether next saturday at the hamfest here in new york or from copper. hey ill take one used if itl work for me. oh i never had a beam before you are right about that. ok have a good one later. |
Marconi
| | Posted on Sunday, January 06, 2002 - 10:11 pm: |
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The M-103 will tune to the area you want to work. There is enough element material to reliably get that long, so you should be OK.
You should be able to work the range you note above if you center your tune correctly. Since the docs have always been reliable for me, I suggest you follow them very closely for 26.500/26.999.
Let me suggest something to watch for during tuning. It is nice to have a low SWR at or near resonance, but the antenna should show a SWR rise as you go up or down frequency away from your true resonant frequency. If you get the SWR to show very low and there is not much change as you go up or down frequency say 20 channels or so, you may have some heavy losses working on you system.
Marconi |
Honkytonkman593
| | Posted on Monday, January 07, 2002 - 3:19 pm: |
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wow thanks for that info! i sure hope not to have horrible loses!! again thanks and i hope to get me beam as soon as possible. have a good one. |
Jyd
| | Posted on Monday, January 07, 2002 - 9:52 pm: |
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y-quad |
Marconi
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 08, 2002 - 12:12 pm: |
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Hey HTM, let me add something to the following statment in my post to you that is noted above.
Original posted states: "Let me suggest something to watch for during tuning. It is nice to have a low SWR at or near resonance, but the antenna should show a SWR rise as you go up or down frequency away from your true resonant frequency. If you get the SWR to show very low and there is not much change as you go up or down frequency say 20 channels or so, you may have some heavy losses working on you system."
It should state: "...change as you go up or down frequency say 20 channels or so above and below the 11 meter band, you may have some heavy losses working on you system."
Marconi |
Marconi
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 08, 2002 - 8:58 am: |
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Jyd, I have had two YQ's up and working and helped several others with theirs. I do not have a very high opinion of this antenna performance. They probably talk fine for what they are but I just never saw the rejection response out of them that I was able to see with the M-103 or the PDL II. If I was going with dual polarity, I would pick the PDL II if you can find one.
The YQ and PDL are both dual polarity, so that may be an advantage if you have DX and local needs for a beam. But, I think if you have room and can install an A99 or Imax above or out away from an M103 you will see some real performance advantages over the YQ for sure. Plus, the M103 is much easier to install, tune, and maintain, and I don't think it cost as much as the others either.
I think there is a point in adjustment of the Quad Wire Reflector on the YQ that may possibly produce a better rejection than we were able to achieve. But, I never found that point during the tuning and tweaking process with them some years back. I am not sure but I think the YQ dimensions of twenty plus years ago is about the same as today, driven elements 17'5" and the total overall reflector wire should be 39'4" or 9'9" per side with 2" per end left to attach for an effective wire length of 39'. My old docs show we tried wire lengths of 38' or 9'6" per side like the Shooting Star and the two big Lazers called for, but that was no help. A note on the docs also show we tried 39'7" of stretched 16 gauge wire on a YQ in 1994 and that did not seem to help either.
We even tried a reflector mod for the Avanti PDL II that was a 5 wire mod designed by Midland Communications. This design was based on adding 4 wires every 18" out from the hub with additional wires. No 3 wire was shorted to wire 2 at 38" from the hub. To us, this mod only made the antenna transmit omni-directional and of course it did not help the rejection at all.
Marconi |
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