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No ground plane base: Workman Saturn B100

JBDetroit

Member
Jul 23, 2013
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New member here, long into CB / SSB since a kid during the craze, now getting back into it.

Equipment: PC122 SSB, export Magnum 257, a couple of standard low-cost mobile CB units.

I'm trying to set up a 2nd floor simple base unit and obtained on another's advice the Workman Saturn B100 antenna. It's supposedly a "no ground plane" antenna. The seller told me I need coax measured to "9, 18 or 27 feet". Does that make any sense?

I can't get any reception, and I assume when I check transmit I won't get much or any either.

Is this antenna just a dummy load? Any advice?

Many thanks, all!

Cityboy in Detroit
 

it is a cb antenna and should work, what is your swr? but at only 36" long its not much and isn't going to give you much talk distance,, you said your on the second floor, ever tried just making a simple dipole and hang it out a window? probly work way better than that short antenna
 
New member here, long into CB / SSB since a kid during the craze, now getting back into it.

Equipment: PC122 SSB, export Magnum 257, a couple of standard low-cost mobile CB units.

I'm trying to set up a 2nd floor simple base unit and obtained on another's advice the Workman Saturn B100 antenna. It's supposedly a "no ground plane" antenna. The seller told me I need coax measured to "9, 18 or 27 feet". Does that make any sense?

I can't get any reception, and I assume when I check transmit I won't get much or any either.

Is this antenna just a dummy load? Any advice?

Many thanks, all!

Cityboy in Detroit

yea there way too short for a base antenna.goto dnjradio.com
they have a nice selection of antennas. they have a sirio dipole that can be
mounted verticle or on the flatside. i think this would be ideal for ya
 
I have had/used a couple of the Saturn antennas, you can do better.
They do "work", but it is a short range antenna, think from the shop to the house as working good.
Tell us where you have to mount the antenna.
Is it a roof?, Balcony?
There are other options like the 1/2 wave dipole camaro1 suggested above.

73
Jeff
 
It's supposedly a "no ground plane" antenna. The seller told me I need coax measured to "9, 18 or 27 feet". Does that make any sense?

Yes. The "no groundplane antenna" claim is rubbish. What it actually does is use your coax for the groundplane which is why it has to be a set length.

Any time an antenna needs a specific length of coax to work, walk away. The correct length of coax for an antenna is the shortest length needed to get from the antenna to the radio.

My advice? Get some wire, cut two lengths to 9ft and make a dipole. You'll need to trim each side a little to get it to tune properly.

10 Meter Technician Class Dipole - Build a Technician Class Dipole for 10 Meters!
 
The simplest way of making the SWR look better would be to adjust the length of the feed line until it does. Is that a 'good' way of doing it? Nope, but it'll make that SWR meter look nicer (nothing is actually changed, just what the meter thinks it sees).
That antenna should work about as well as any other 3 foot long antenna, sort of. Sorry, but if you shorten any antenna as much as that one is, then it's just not going to work very well.
- 'Doc
 
Junk antenna. A simple home brew 1/2 dipole will blow it away... A local gravel pit bought one so the office could talk out to their trucks. They soon found out they couldn't talk to any of the dump trucks out beyond 2 miles.. I talked the manager into getting a I maxx 2000 and now they can talk out up to 15 miles or better.
 
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New member here, long into CB / SSB since a kid during the craze, now getting back into it.

Equipment: PC122 SSB, export Magnum 257, a couple of standard low-cost mobile CB units.

I'm trying to set up a 2nd floor simple base unit and obtained on another's advice the Workman Saturn B100 antenna. It's supposedly a "no ground plane" antenna. The seller told me I need coax measured to "9, 18 or 27 feet". Does that make any sense?

I can't get any reception, and I assume when I check transmit I won't get much or any either.

Is this antenna just a dummy load? Any advice?

Many thanks, all!

Cityboy in Detroit
Matter of fact, it is a dummy load.
Well; practically anyway . . .
 
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Thanks. I should have read the reviews before I ordered it.
It's really too short to make a good fishing pole either.
Maybe I'll just let the grands use it for a Darth Vadar light sword.
Back to the piggy bank....
Perhaps next month, eh?
 
I have one in the attic, along with a full wave loop, and a wire Moxon.
Either the Moxon or the loop work better. The loop works best from the attic.

I have owned and used one in the past. Sometimes the SWR was greatly affected by the routing of the coax. The coax radiates as part of the missing part of the antenna. What it was near was critical. And just moving the coax around some could bring the SWR down nicely. I used it for a portable setup and worked it from a 50' coax letting the RF sort out the amount it needed for the antenna.
Were I to do that again I'd likely do it the same way.
Its performance was sub-par, but when conditions favored I could talk hundreds of skip miles and got a kick out of doing so with the thing.

The SWR is too temperamental to bother with on the one in the attic given I have better choices, so I just use it for a scanner antenna.
 
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JUNK

As with OST ALL Chinese made electronics this antenna is JUNK! Advertise all this and that...but in the real world less than half the signal at a distance than a regular antenna. I got one just to try it. The cox length is a scam. You'd be much better off with a wire strung around than this thing if you want to talk over 1/2 mile. IMHO! And from first hand use!
 
The antenna clearly says it needs a minimum of 50 feet of coax. I have seen people that have them 40-70 feet in the air with plenty of coax that have them work FANTASTICLY! That said any antenna at those heights would likely work great. How many people that need a compact antenna for use on a balcony are going to be using 50 feet or more of coax.

I do not disagree that it is not a good design but you have to at the very least use it in the manner in which the OEM has indicated before you just call it junk. Since 99% of people fail to use it with 50 feet or greater run of coax how can you just call it junk outright? If people could install a 18 foot tall or taller antenna or set up an antenna farm than they would not be looking at things like this.

No one really makes compact antenna's specifically for apartment renters and such. When soemone does make one it is usually some cheap turd never from a top OEM.

Give someone an affordable alternative they can buy off the shelf!
 

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