Base Antenna ?

[BammBamm]

I recently put up a Maco 5/8 GP and like it but I'm a typical guy who spends to much on radio stuff, With that said I keep looking at the Sirio LW-150 and I'm thinking it would perform better but I am in Chicago area and have concerns of wind turning it into a pretzel pretty quickly. My GP does flex in the wind but hasn't bent and seems to do O.K. in winds but it hasn't seen a bad storm yet. I also am looking at a Gainmaster but the power limits are low on it although I barely use my amp anymore anyway (more fun to make contacts with lower power). I know many are going to say keep the GP I have but I have to take it down to fix a rain / SWR issue anyway and I have a friend who wants it anyway and will pay the price of antenna and install if I decide to go this route.

 

[Blackcat630]

I don't know if the quality of the V58 has improved but I had trouble about 15 years ago with a new Maco 5/8 staying together. I used to live in an area with NO wind breaks..basically all open fields in all directions. My Maco was 60 ft to the base and it did not fair well with the wind. It did perform well when it stayed together but the ground plane radials fell off multiple times. Then the ring that the radials connected to broke. After climbing the tower to fix it several times I got aggravated, took it down and sold it. Put up an Imax (no problems, no maintenance). My friend that bought it lived in town and mounted it at 30 ft. He ran it for years with no problems. I can say, when it stayed together, it did work well. When the wind picked up it would TWIST back and forth till it fell apart.... Just wanted to share my experience with a V5/8

 

[BammBamm]

It sways and flexes a lot and has only seen minor storms so I'm thinking I should replace it before winter. I had a Imax that was replaced by this antenna so I'm really leaning towards the gainmaster with just my 257hp.

 

[Blackcat630]

I have never run a Gianmaster though I hear great things about them. If your only running the 257hp then I say go for it. Then you can compare the performance of all three..

 

[Grogan]

If you have a vertical and like the way it works why not try a small 3 element beam with a rotor or a wire antenna on the flat side. Just an Idea.

 

[BammBamm]

I'm in Chicago and have a fear my vertical may become a horizontal with the storms we get.

 

[w9cll]

I'm in Chicago and have a fear my vertical may become a horizontal with the storms we get.

Ahh its not that bad here in Chicago

 

[BammBamm]

It would be my luck it would bend when I have like a foot of snow on the roof and it's 0 degrees out.

 

[space cowboy]

there's a nos antenna specialist's starduster on ebay right now. $145 is a little more than I paid, but still a bit below what it would cost just to buy the tubing.
mine had no problem with the record snow levels last winter, and has taken 70 mph gust without issue.

 

[hotrod]

if winds are a issue the gm would probaly be best bet. i think they handle 500 watts
on ssb so it,ll handle a little more than just a 257. the vector 5k mighy be ok
if ya can homebrew something to reduce the swaying.