The Defpom Forum, for RadioMods, S&M Software and Music by The Defpom

Hi Guys.

gave up with the Avanti Sigma 4 i had up - it could only be bolted to the back wall of the flat where i live, and when the wind blew, it made a horrific wailing noise and that in turn woke the xyl which in turn meant i had to take it down - no place to store it, so i sold it.

I put up an old A-99 dummy load up temporarily (deaf as a post and all my regular contacts are at least 3 s-points down and some are now unreadable) so i'm thinking of something else.

A long while ago i had a golden penetrator and although it sounded like something my wife may find interesting (lol) it was an amazing antenna and really worked well on both local to medium distance groundwave as well as dx.

The Maco 58 looks a bit similar, is it?

Ive considered an I-Max but i'm not paying that much money for a fibreglass resistor with rattly innards, so i may invest in one.

I also have a Shakespeare big stick in the garage, but when i tried it the SWR was a bit mental and i cant see any way of adjusting it - not like on the antron. It also has what looks like an earth wire coming out of the bottom of it - i grounded that to the mast but it made the swr WORSE! Its in two long sections, i dont thin its the super big stick. Any ideas?

Also i see over in US they are still selling the Startduster (M400), and i remember that to be my third best antenna of all time back in the 80's - and theyre cheap as chips - anyone used one of these lately?

so to recap - i want a 5/8ths antenna with nice big groundplanes, that wont make a noise like a timber wolf in season during a gale!!!

suggestions / comments please!!

Jimmy 26CAT23 / 26FB023 / 26TM023

...ok. not a lot of joy there then.

I have been doing some research - and it appears that the old Hygain Penetrator was a .64 wave antenna, slightly longer than a 5/8ths wave and the largest apparently you can go before no more appreciable gain.

I then did a search on google and came accross Wolfbay antennas, who make a selection of rather nice looking base aerials.

has anyone heard of / used them? I have contatced the manufacturer to see if he can ship to the uk.

checkoput sirio base antenna at
hyelectronics.com
copper.com

mrcoily.com

hey, thanks for the links guys.

Try the Sirio 827 (or even the 2012/2016) with optional anti-vibration ring.

It's a terrific performer & built like brick out-house.

I've also used the Imax 2000 too - it is more aesthetically acceptable to the XYL & performs well, especially with the optional couterpoise but it whips around something wicked in the wind!

Good luck!

i know this post is a bit late but as far as i no 2016 are like rocking horse sawdust i do rate them up until recent i used a 2020 but if you are still intrested then phone this number as they do get a small amount of 2016 in special. abut the only uk cb shop that does? 01403-864912.

oh forgot to say a Shakespeare big stick strange ariel- on the uk bandwidth the tuneing thread has to be all the way out if you place the Shakespeare big stick on a 10'' pole from the ground the swr is as you say crazy andyet over 20'' plus' the swr drops to 1.5 mids,cepts 1.1. the ariel built more for mids than the uk market. ssb performed ok.

soundmanjim wrote:...ok. not a lot of joy there then.

I have been doing some research - and it appears that the old Hygain Penetrator was a .64 wave antenna, slightly longer than a 5/8ths wave and the largest apparently you can go before no more appreciable gain.

I then did a search on google and came accross Wolfbay antennas, who make a selection of rather nice looking base aerials.

has anyone heard of / used them? I have contatced the manufacturer to see if he can ship to the uk.

Hey Jim, What did you end up doing for an antenna? ic751a(a)gmail.com is my email addy if you want to let me know via email what antenna you ended up with.

10m & 11m are still awaiting the sun to breath life into DX conditions, so I guess you don't have to hurry, not like so many of us thought.

I'm also thinking of letting go of a couple of my old Hy-Gain Penetrator 500s since I only need one and have four in storage.

I sure wish that old sun would start it's sunspot cycle so we could chat 'round the World like back in '89.

73zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

hey all.

only 2010 now two years after i posted the original thread!

i found this guy on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT

He makes these things called 'super CLR' antennas which according to him is a rework of the old penetrator. They look very nice. Bit pricey you get what you pay for, thats for sure.

I'm still on the antron! to be fair to it, it's been up there for years and bnever given me any aggro, and the nieghbours totally dont see it. thats good enough for me.

soundmanjim wrote:hey all.

only 2010 now two years after i posted the original thread!

i found this guy on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT

He makes these things called 'super CLR' antennas which according to him is a rework of the old penetrator. They look very nice. Bit pricey you get what you pay for, thats for sure.

I'm still on the antron! to be fair to it, it's been up there for years and bnever given me any aggro, and the nieghbours totally dont see it. thats good enough for me.

Yeah, Jim is real meticulous and does an excellent job of rebuilding those and other old-school antennas, but they're definitely at 2010 prices!

I've also been making 3-radial Penetrators for about 7 years, same performance, one fewer radial. I haven't seen a difference at all when I turn a radial directly toward the receiving station or between two of them. I've checked with a guy 85 miles away and even he doesn't see a difference.

Dump that antron99 and get a real metal 23' 5/8 or .64 and you'll hear more with less static and overall cleaner receive, plus you'll gain about 1-2 s units on transmit.

Take the chance and join the believer's club! - Those who know say, "Friends don't let friends use antrons".

I am curious. What did you ever do for an antenna?
I make my own, and although crude by pro standards, they work well.
Do you still have the V4k? If so, you have plenty of good material for remaking it into a 5/8 wave vertical.
.

Dump the a99 and grab a Sirio Gain Master while you can!! put it up nice and high and use insulated guy wires, keep it away from everything metal except the mast beneath it and you'll have ears and transmit performance from another world!

I also used the IMAX 2000 - This is the more beautiful and the good performance of xylose acceptable, especially in optional, but the things around it couterpoise wicked whip in the wind!