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Maco Laser 400 vs Maco Laser 500

F

fourty2

Member
Apr 28, 2013
5
1
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40
I am in the market to put up a beam. I have the room for both antennas, they will be around 45-50 feet in the air, a laser 400 with 10k gammas is $805 shipped and a 500 is $1170

Has anyone used these antennas or know someone who has? Is it worth the extra money for the 500?

The 400 is rated at 17db and 50x multiplication and the 500 is 18db and 60x multiplication. thank you!
 
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Not really worth the money.

The DB gain figures are not true. Hype in advertising.

Do some more research on yagi's then decide what you want to spend that type of money on.

http://www.laselki.net/download/Yagi-Antennas-HF.pdf

Do some reading, good link up above.

the antenna is 95% of your signal so going to a yagi is a great improvement.
 
Last edited:
Welcome to the forum fourty2.

I am not saying anything except to do some more research on yagi's.

Those are some hefty price tags for hype in advertising on the gain factors.

There are many sites on the WWW to read and research.

The difference between a 4 element and a 5 element in gain does not mean squat. It is the length of the boom and the spacing of the elements that give the gain of a yagi..

Perhaps Henry will post in this thread he is an expert IMO on yagi's and one of the best to seek advice from on yagi's.
 
Captain Kilowatt said:
I'd go with a company that quotes realistic gain figures and doesn't throw in all that ground reflection gain hype that typically adds another 5 dB or so. Sometimes. And sometimes not. Mostly not but sometimes yes. ;)
Click to expand...

CK, do you think it possible this ground reflection factor could have been brought to our attention by a claim that W8JI made in one of his many articles on his website? That is not to say it is in error however.

And as usual with W8JI writings IMO, he is making his claim in some contorted sort of way...that might be easily misunderstood as to his exact and full meaning?

Read the highlighted part as noted here: End-fed Vertical and J-pole
 
WR (tnx..but to much credit m8) and CK are right.

There are few who advertise with "real" gain figures.

Always ask the manufacturer to provide "freespace" elevation and azimuth plots.
Compare those....(or put them up here for debate)
and then you know who is best in "real live"

Simply cause any negative influence in "real live" will be equal for all the different antennas your interested in.

In other words...
Yagi nr 1 of manufacturer nr 1 with have the same "problem" as yagi nr 2 from manufacturer number 2.

If those plots cant be provided by the "designer"...and believe me...they can...
The advise is to stay away from it...as there can only be one reason why they wont provide it.

In aspect to the "reflector quad" type..
Well..that has been under investigation by quite some people.
And were still searching for the one who can proof: its an improvent in any way.
without a doubt were not getting close to the data provided by the designer.
(and neither is he)

With that said...im not trying to downtalk the antenna.
Im confident it will be a great beam ...
But just not as good as advertised as others have already pointed out.
Heck..why does it always take so many words for me hihi.

Kind regards,

Henry 19sd348
 
Marconi said:
CK, do you think it possible this ground reflection factor could have been brought to our attention by a claim that W8JI made in one of his many articles on his website? That is not to say it is in error however.

And as usual with W8JI writings IMO, he is making his claim in some contorted sort of way...that might be easily misunderstood as to his exact and full meaning?

Read the highlighted part as noted here: End-fed Vertical and J-pole
Click to expand...


Maybe some people first heard of it from W8JI but the theory surrounding it has been around for a lot longer.EME'ers have long taken advantage of ground reflection gain when the moon is low on the horizon. The problem with ground gain is that it depends a lot on the terrain and any nearby obstructions. It is also the reason why Antron claim 9.9 dB gain from their A-99. Take 5 dB away and you get a much more realistic figure of 4.9 dB and take another 2.1 dB away from isotropic figures and you end up with a very realistic 2.8 dB over a halfwave in freespace.
 
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Captain Kilowatt said:
Maybe some people first heard of it from W8JI but the theory surrounding it has been around for a lot longer.EME'ers have long taken advantage of ground reflection gain when the moon is low on the horizon. The problem with ground gain is that it depends a lot on the terrain and any nearby obstructions. It is also the reason why Antron claim 9.9 dB gain from their A-99. Take 5 dB away and you get a much more realistic figure of 4.9 dB and take another 2.1 dB away from isotropic figures and you end up with a very realistic 2.8 dB over a halfwave in freespace.
Click to expand...

I agree. I think you're probably right on point about the A99 business, but I don't know much about the gain numbers.

The history is for sure probably right. I guess not much as really changed for a long time.
 
I agree Marconi.

We have both been playing with, building, comparing antennas for decades.

I have the yagis up on the tower.

I have the verticals up.

I have the wires up.

It is nice to get the 5-9+ reports on the yagi.

It is good to get the 5-9 reports on the vertical.

The wires get 5-7 to 5-9.

What it comes down to is what it is worth in the wallet to get the BIG signal report.





Marconi said:
I agree. I think you're probably right on point about the A99 business, but I don't know much about the gain numbers.

The history is for sure probably right. I guess not much as really changed for a long time.
Click to expand...
 
thank you for all the replies,

you are talking about spacing, the 400 spacing is as follows

x = yagi reflector + = elements

laser 400
X 5' 5" + 5' 4" + 6' 2" + 6' 6" + 7' 0"

laser 500
X 7' 10" + 5' 3.5" + 5' 3.5" + 5' 3.5" + 5' 3.5" + 5' 3.5" + 5' 3.5"

I want a beam with switchable polarity, vertical and horizontal because I will be using the beam to talk local as well...

What beam is recommended? Theres so many out there, and I havent found muck info on Google about the laser 400 and 500, shocking because its been around for so long.


I just want to make sure I am making the right purchase the first time!
 

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