BBT Delivered Hy-Gain Penetrator 500 Today

[tvrc18]

Mainly 28.3 to 28.5. I jump down once in a while to 27 mhz on channel 38 usb.

 

[KingCobra_CDX882]

Hey BOOTY MONSTER..
is that dog of yours going to AA meetings..... LOL
( that pic is TOO Funny )

How does everyone think it will compare against Jays Interceptor I-10K antenna

 

[VA3ES]

I use a small MFJ tuner with a bypass position. Since my antenna is tuned for 10M, I simply go to Ch 20, and tune the antenna there for 1:1, and just switch to "Bypass" for 10M operation.

I will measure the missing dimensions tomorrow.

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

Hey BOOTY MONSTER..
is that dog of yours going to AA meetings..... LOL
( that pic is TOO Funny )

How does everyone think it will compare against Jays Interceptor I-10K antenna

not my dog ... just a cut pic i saw on the WWW .

 

[Meglotron]

Mainly 28.3 to 28.5. I jump down once in a while to 27 mhz on channel 38 usb.

So about 21' 5" total from the coax connecter up to the tophat bolt for 28.4

I assembled mine but have not tested it yet. It is like 105 degrees out today and got worn down. I made it 19 feet over all length like the directions so it may be about 10" short of VA3ES mesurment. Do not over tighten the radial hose clamps or they will strip. I replace all 4 with bigger clamps after stripping about half of them. I could still twist the radials so more torque then wap they strip. They are pretty small clamps. Man they thing is tall and wide with those radials sitting out there 105".

I hate it when they use those cheap crap hose clamps. why even make something that doesn't tighten. what a waste. I bought a couple boxes of the brand used on the i10k and those are so tough I can almost crush the aluminum tubing with them. You wrote the instructions say 19' overall length? is that from the ground plain bracket to the tophat bolt or from the bottom coax connector?

 

[WA2SI]

I hate it when they use those cheap crap hose clamps. why even make something that doesn't tighten. what a waste. I bought a couple boxes of the brand used on the i10k and those are so tough I can almost crush the aluminum tubing with them.

What brand of hose clamps are those? I might as well grab some up front. Did you guys replace your u-bolts w/stainless steel ones? They're available from DX-Engineering.

Great info, tnx. I too want to tune it for 28.3 - 28.5 MHz with an occasional visit to 27.385 MHz for our local 11m net.

73, Bert

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

id be interested in some good quality hose clamps that are also inexpensive (im a poor duck) . got a link ? the ones i got from DXengineering stripped much faster than the ones from lowes , but im kinda heavy handed with a wrench . i have thought about making my own using 3/4 or 1 inch wide by 1/16 inch thick aluminum strip . they look nicer too IMO

this one is made with 1 1/2 by 1/16 strip

 

[Superidgit]

BM why not try the clamps that are used on automotive exhaust systems?

 

[tvrc18]

Well I got the sp500 up and tuned for 28.3 to 28.5. It is not very broad banded because it will not work down on 11 meters. The swr's on channel 2 are almost 3 to1 and up at channel 38 it drops some to about 2 to 1. It starts coming in about 27.6 mhz at 1.6 or so. I am kind of bummed because my 21 foot big stick would work from 26.5 up to 28.5 and never went above about 1.5. It also shows high swr's with power were my big stick did not change barefoot or power. I wonder if that is because it is dc grounded? I ended up with about 20' 5" from bottom of the mounting bracket to the top hat. It seems quiter or less white noise than the big stick.The best I could get was 1.3 to 1.6 from 28.3 to 28.5mhz

 

[Marconi]

You guys that want to work 10/11/12 meters might be a lot better off had you bought a 5/8 wave antenna that effectively and efficiently uses the full 5/8 wave radiator...like the Sirio Gain Master.

 

[Meglotron]

Well I got the sp500 up and tuned for 28.3 to 28.5. It is not very broad banded because it will not work down on 11 meters. The swr's on channel 2 are almost 3 to1 and up at channel 38 it drops some to about 2 to 1. It starts coming in about 27.6 mhz at 1.6 or so. I am kind of bummed because my 21 foot big stick would work from 26.5 up to 28.5 and never went above about 1.5. It also shows high swr's with power were my big stick did not change barefoot or power. I wonder if that is because it is dc grounded? I ended up with about 20' 5" from bottom of the mounting bracket to the top hat. It seems quiter or less white noise than the big stick.The best I could get was 1.3 to 1.6 from 28.3 to 28.5mhz

The hose clamps are Tridon but I bought there last boxes and they said they cant order more because there out of production now. looks like cheap china trash strikes again.
You should be able to get your penetrater down to 1-1 swrs if you have the right length. where does it go lowest? 20' 5" sounds to short and if you balance it between 38 and 28.5 it should cover it all under 1.5 swrs. they are suposed to go 2;1 about 2 megs wide so set it for 1;1 at 27.950. maybe your ground plains are to long. try shorting them to 8' 6"

HEY MAYBE NOT http://www.tridonclamps.com/
crap, I just noticed there now calling them IDEAL and those are the ones that just striped out before. maybe they are now all cheap china crap. whats the point if a tightener dont tighten???

 

[tvrc18]

I have a coax line isolator that is ferrite cores etc in a pvc like tube. I tried it at the amp output and it has lowered the swr to 1.3 or so from 27.3 to 28.490 bare foot. It still climbs some with power but less than 2 at worse case. I wonder if the radials are to long. I made them 105" like the instructions said. I raised the antenna about 5 feet before I installed the isolator but it made no difference. A few of the radials are probably 6 or 8 feet above the roof and the other 2 15 feet from the ground so there is some difference from one radial to another.

 

[WA2SI]

Update: Tom sent me another e-mail re. the type of aluminum alloy used. It is indeed 6063-T832. Fine by me - smile.

Btw, for tvrc18, what type or brand of line isolator are you using?

73, Bert

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

what's the difference between a "coax line isolator" and a coax choke . im guessing they a different animals since a coax choke on the output of a amp is useless for combating CMCs.

 

[tvrc18]

The isolator I am using is sold by Packet radio, a B2LISO. It seems to change the swr for the better and with it the antenna is resonant at 27.6. No meter deflection at all on the swr meter. This seems to make it below 1.6 from 11 meters up to 28.7 mhz. Not sure if this is a band aid or not. The ham guys seem to say it is an antenna design flaw but I am not smart enough to understand that reasoning. Without the isolator the sweet spot is about 28 mhz and down on 11 meters the swr is high about 2 till you get up to the high channels, pretty good on the freeband area. With power added the swr goes higher so I have been using the isolator. My coax run is short about 30 feet but it is rg8x and about 10 years old.