I've been scrolling through the "antenna" posts. I made it through the first 20 (of 212) pages and now my eyes are sore! I just can't look at any more! I found a few threads about A99 antennas, but most were from several years ago. I'm looking for anyone who has more recent experience with the A99. The reason is this. I've had one up for less than a year and have been pretty happy with it. Contacts on both east and west coast, Gulf coast, as well as NW Territories, Canada. Nothing closer or farther, so far. Always had great SWR ranging from 1:1 to 1:1.4. I recently built a ground plane for it, but the DX has been pretty slow ever since. So, other than the surprise that my SWR improved to 1:1 across all 40 channels, I haven't been able to give it a proper test for DX. I'm just dying to know what it might do for me. Has anyone added a GPK after using it without and found any noticable difference, good or bad? Will it help with more distant contacts? Will it hurt as far as the distance at which I was already having success? I'm pretty new to this DXing thing and honestly don't have any real knowledge on exactly what makes an antenna work or not work. Looking for someone with real world experience with this. Thanks in advance.
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A99
- Thread starter ND999
- Start date
Been running my A99 for years no problem and without the ground plane. Made contacts all over the world…
Ran a few in the past with and without ground plane.. saw no real difference. My only advice would be to get it up as high as possible.. it will work fine for what it is...
Are you located near a coastal area (salt water close by) or something else that gets you out to the rest of the world? I'm almost dead center of North American continent and all of my contacts form a ring on my map of very similar distances from my QTH. Nothing in closer or out farther. Or have I just not been at it for long enough to have hit the right time? I've always said that if I made a contact overseas, I would crack a beer. I'm still thirsty! Lol
I've often wondered if height was as important for DX as it would be for local. My thinking being that local relies on line of sight, whereas DX is skipping off upper layers in atmosphere. So, wouldn't an antenna reach "up" nearly as well whether up higher or not? I have it on a mast which puts the bottom about 16' off the ground. Any higher and I would need to invest in guy wires or a sturdier mast or something. Gets windy around here!
Well, no salt water there! Maybe I just have to hit the right day still. 73's!
I have never run a vertical at less than 40 ft at the feed point. Last cycle I ran a A99 at 40 ft. Worked the world on ssb without much work. Usually ran around 400-500 watts but also did it with 100 or less from time to time. Usually I chased DX above 27.405. Always SSB... I'm in the Midwest also and mornings are best for Europe and evenings best for south pacific.
I haven't invested in any extra power yet. So I may be somewhat limited to absolutely perfect conditions/timing.
I had an A99 year's ago, ground plane kit included and only made one contact outside the USA, and that was Canada. I built the co phased ground plain designed by Mower Junkie from U tube and it smokes the A99 in my opinion. I've made contacts from the East Coast to the West Coast and in between. Jamaica, and the UK. It's three feet shorter in height than I had my A99 but I do run a bullet proof 250 Amp at medium power, I didn't have an amp with the A99. I might be a little biased since I built the co phased antenna but I think it's a killer. I hope to homebrew a cubicle quad someday. But the A99 is a good antenna, I just prefer my homebrew. Get a good Amp and when conditions are good I think you'll be happy. Forgot to mention, I live in SE Oklahoma. I guess I should have mentioned the A99 was on a 30 foot push up pole, the homebrew is on the same push up pole but I had to cut 3 ft off the bottom of it because of damage.
ND999,
the term you want to search for in order to understand more about how your antenna radiates is "take off angle". different antenna designs have different take off angles depending on design and environmental factors can affect this as well.
I'll give you some "rules" about operating an antron 99 and i'll just have to ask you to trust me on this as i don't feel like typing out the years of reading and testing that's helped create them.
first things first!
the antron99 uses the first 9 feet of the coax shield/ metal mast coming down from the bottom of the antenna as a counterpoise, meaning it's part of the equation that creates the take off angle.
so, you should run the coax straight down the mast for at least the first 9 feet.
second, being a half wave end fed antenna, adding the ground plane kit won't do much for the antenna's performance, but it will help lessen the effect that those first 9 feet of coax have. (put another way, if you have the ground plane kit, you don't need to worry as much about the coax).
also, while 16 feet off the ground to the bottom of the antenna is ok, and will work, it most likely means that there are nearby obstructions like houses and trees that are affecting your signal.
if it's at all possible to get the bottom of your antenna up above these obstructions you will notice an increase in the antenna's performance.
hope this helps.
LC
the term you want to search for in order to understand more about how your antenna radiates is "take off angle". different antenna designs have different take off angles depending on design and environmental factors can affect this as well.
I'll give you some "rules" about operating an antron 99 and i'll just have to ask you to trust me on this as i don't feel like typing out the years of reading and testing that's helped create them.
first things first!
the antron99 uses the first 9 feet of the coax shield/ metal mast coming down from the bottom of the antenna as a counterpoise, meaning it's part of the equation that creates the take off angle.
so, you should run the coax straight down the mast for at least the first 9 feet.
second, being a half wave end fed antenna, adding the ground plane kit won't do much for the antenna's performance, but it will help lessen the effect that those first 9 feet of coax have. (put another way, if you have the ground plane kit, you don't need to worry as much about the coax).
also, while 16 feet off the ground to the bottom of the antenna is ok, and will work, it most likely means that there are nearby obstructions like houses and trees that are affecting your signal.
if it's at all possible to get the bottom of your antenna up above these obstructions you will notice an increase in the antenna's performance.
hope this helps.
LC
Thanks. That matches up with what I have read while trying to research the subject. I've seen several explanations of the take off angle. I've also read about the first nine feet of coax needing to be straight down the mast and just out of convenience, I already had that. It's zip tied to the mast for about 10' before I started routing it to where it needs to go. Maybe that's why it worked so well right from the get-go! I had also seen mixed reviews on the ground plane kit's effectiveness. That's why I decided not to shell out $100 for something I wasn't sure would do anything and decided to build my own. Not to mention, I felt it would be a fun project, and if it didn't work, I wouldn't be out anything. It's just pretty much an experiment. Something to keep a recently retired machinist with a lathe and mill in my basement occupied! The fact that it made my already good SWR even better is already worth my effort IMHO. That was just dumb luck, by the way! As for the height, sure I'd like to get it higher. Maybe someday. But I live in a fairly open area, so I probably won't raise it for the time being. Thanks for the response. Always good to hear from knowledgeable people when you're just getting into something. 73's!
DX seems to be coming back, at least a little. Very sporadic today but was able to make 4 quick contacts. They were all in parts of the country where I typically haven't made contacts before. Two were in the typical distance range I have seemed to be stuck in prior to adding my ground plane. The other two were considerably closer to home in what used to be a dead zone for me. Maybe my ground plane is opening up new areas? Looking forward to better conditions to try some more. But I am now more hopeful!
S&W357
$upporting Member KO4RJD....WDX-556
My A-99 is mounted 22’ to the coax feed point. No radials. Seems to work for me 11 meters and 10 meters both phone and digital modes. Put it up six years ago. If it goes bad I’ll replace it with another one.