CB Antenna accessory: "Zing Ring"

[KiethS]

Back in the mid-1970's, I got a used Antenna Specialists mobile base loaded antenna with a grounding ring added to the whip a few inches above the base loading coil. The guy I got it from called the device a "Zing Ring", and said it helped to provide a better ground plane, which may be needed for vehicles with smaller rooftops.

The modified antenna is now long gone in the pages of history, but I took the time to draw the concept onto a similar antenna for posterity's sake (no, the photo below is NOT a genuine "Zing Ring", and the dimensions may be off as it was drawn from a somewhat faded memory).

By my estimation, the Zing Ring was about 3.5~4 inches in diameter, with the chrome plated wire being about 3~4 mm diameter, and mounted to the whip with two support wires (wires were same diameter as the ring / spot-welded onto the ring), held to the whip using a small screw tightened hose clamp (not drawn).

My questions:
1) Was this a commercial product (who made it?)
2) Is such a ring beneficial (for lowering VSWR*, some improvement to grounding)?
3) Does anyone have more information about this product or design (old ads, drawings, specs)?
4) Has anyone ever used a Zing Ring (or another very similar product, by another name)?

* Clearly, adding conductive metal to the whip would affect the antenna's resonance and could also have an affect on the resultant wave pattern. Plus, having an added ring may also encourage Saturn-eans to make first contact, etc. My antenna's VSWR was quite low years ago, and I never had to adjust it upon installation, but I assume the whip may have been shortened to offset for the added material.

 

[bob85]

I have seen folk using these hat loading gizmos
yes they can lower vswr by making the whip electrically longer,

its not connected to ground so calling it a grounding ring is not correct,

a local had one on a bullwhip antenna & swore it worked,
we swapped his bullshit for my uncut bullwhip without the ring & saw a small improvement in bandwidth & performance,

your mileage may vary.

 

[midnight special]

smoke and mirrors,,,,,

 

[KiethS]

smoke and mirrors,,,,,

Perhaps, but in some parts of the country they were popular back in the day. I never tested mine when I had it vs. a stock A/S with no ring, but it did seem to have good local coverage and a relatively flat VSWR across all 40 channels. Perhaps it was more of a bug catcher than a signal grabber?

 

[w9cll]

As was said smoke and mirror but there is something similar that does work.

http://www.k0bg.com/caphats.html

 

[Staybolt]

Bullshit right up there with those asanine Star Gunn crap antennas.

 

[KiethS]

As was said smoke and mirror but there is something similar that does work.

http://www.k0bg.com/caphats.html

Thank you very much for the info.

I've honestly never heard of the device shown in your link being called a, "Cap Hat", but I have seen a similar device sold as an accessory for CB antennas to improve "ground radiation" (especially for magnetic mounted antennas), and to improve reception (the description was a bit ambiguous but that's basically their claim). Per the article you linked, it would seem that by lowering the Q, the Cap Hat may effectively widens the bandwidth (in some cases, this may potentially improve the VSWR).



Unlike the "Cap Hat" above which connects to the outer grounding shield, the so-called "Zing Ring" was electrically attached directly to the driven whip element itself, and would have enhanced / detracted / reshaped / malformed the wave pattern emitting from the radiant element, or so it would seem.

For the record, I'm not convinced that the "Zing Ring" wasn't the product of charlatans looking to replace revenue lost at the absence of Snake Oil. Still, it would be interesting to learn more about what the "Zing Ring" was/wasn't, was meant to be, and how it did/didn't perform.

 

[fourstringburn]

Thank you very much for the info.

I've honestly never heard of the device shown in your link being called a, "Cap Hat", but I have seen a similar device sold as an accessory for CB antennas to improve "ground radiation" (especially for magnetic mounted antennas), and to improve reception (the description was a bit ambiguous but that's basically their claim). Per the article you linked, it would seem that by lowering the Q, the Cap Hat may effectively widens the bandwidth (in some cases, this may potentially improve the VSWR).

View attachment 22464

Unlike the "Cap Hat" above which connects to the outer grounding shield, the so-called "Zing Ring" was electrically attached directly to the driven whip element itself, and would have enhanced / detracted / reshaped / malformed the wave pattern emitting from the radiant element, or so it would seem.

For the record, I'm not convinced that the "Zing Ring" wasn't the product of charlatans looking to replace revenue lost at the absence of Snake Oil. Still, it would be interesting to learn more about what the "Zing Ring" was/wasn't, was meant to be, and how it did/didn't perform.

It is definitely not a ground plane enhancement device of any kind.

The Zing ring is sort of a cap hat but by definition, a cap hat goes on top of the antenna. With this design being made to be put on a whip, it would have to place it where the whip is most rigid. This will change the tuning of antenna after it's installed but not necessarily where you would want it.

Cap hats on mobile antennas work best if used on screwdriver or coil tap antennas because the cap hat will cancel out some of the inductance losses in the coil requiring less coil to get a better match. The screwdriver and coil tap types make this coil adjustment easy. With a non-adjustable coil antenna like a CB whip, this isn't so easy to do where any small benefit from this particular coil would be worth the effort.

The other thing is a 1/4 wave whip either loaded or not isn't going to benefit as much from a cap hat like a 40 meter mobile would because it doesn't take no where near the coil loading.

I wouldn't spend the money on this.

For the OP, this is my mobile HFscrewdriver antenna with a cap hat.

 

[undertaker]

Nice truck my friend............cool antenna too.

 

[fourstringburn]

Nice truck my friend............cool antenna too.

Thanks, I just wanted to show what a true cap hat would look like.

You can see how much coil is in the body of the antenna that is remotely tunable from inside the cab so it can use the right amount of coil for any band between 10 and 80 meters. With the cap hat, it will use less coil than a straight whip. The antenna at 80 meters will raise up and expose about a foot of coil to get a good match. It'll raise up even more without a caphat.

This is what makes screwdriver antennas the best for multiband mobile operating.

 

[BOOTY2]

don't forget , if you put a coil under the top-hat it pushes more current up the antenna to radiate and will make you king of the CB band in your hood . it's real magic named after a real magician , or so i was once told ..... a few hundred times

 

[Marconi]

Booty2, here are some models I have of the GR45 at this link: http://www.lightningantennas.com/mobile/

It is a top hat mobile antenna over 4 slanted down radials. Maybe this is sorta' what your buddy Magician was telling you about.

I took a model of the GR45 that I made several years ago and made three other models configured a little different. I added the attached overlay of the antenna patterns so you could check compare with Magician and see if they confirm his claim to you. Sounds like he was predicting the top hat would help him be the bid dog in town. I figured a few models might be easier to check out rather than you building and testing, as I know you're driven to do. Hope this is helpful and supports your ideas about the effectiveness of mobile top hat antennas and shortened antennas with coils and top hats or NO.

The models below.

1. is the GR45 to specs noted here as "GR45 GP top coil IOS 36' x"
This model is the green antenna pattern in the overlay.

2. is using #1 and setting the coil in the middle of the antenna. It is noted as "GR45 center coil ISO 36' x" Here I just moved the coil down and tuned the model back to a good match. The color of the pattern is black.

3. is using model #2 where I removed the coil. It is noted as "GR45 no coil ISO 36' x" The color is red.

4. is the model with no coil and no top hat. I extended the radiator to a resonant 1/4 wavelength. It is noted as "GR45 GPncoilnTH R100.75" 36' x" The color is blue.

As usual, I don't see much difference. I have heard folks claim that this GR45 will not perform with the coil so close to the top hat but as usual...they did not say how much of a difference it made.

 

[KiethS]

Marconi, from your attached file, it appears the top hat somewhat lifts and separates the wave, perhaps shifting horizontal range.

The original "Zing Ring" I recall was perhaps electrically connected to the driven element / whip, but it was placed just about the spring coil. I'm not imagining that would affect grounding, but it seems the placement may have sculpted the waveform more towards an upwards pattern. The typical Top Hat is placed at the top (per the name and examples), reflecting the signal downwards towards the base. Does that sound right?

 

[KiethS]

It is definitely not a ground plane enhancement device of any kind.

The Zing ring is sort of a cap hat but by definition, a cap hat goes on top of the antenna. With this design being made to be put on a whip, it would have to place it where the whip is most rigid. This will change the tuning of antenna after it's installed but not necessarily where you would want it.

Cap hats on mobile antennas work best if used on screwdriver or coil tap antennas because the cap hat will cancel out some of the inductance losses in the coil requiring less coil to get a better match. The screwdriver and coil tap types make this coil adjustment easy. With a non-adjustable coil antenna like a CB whip, this isn't so easy to do where any small benefit from this particular coil would be worth the effort.

The other thing is a 1/4 wave whip either loaded or not isn't going to benefit as much from a cap hat like a 40 meter mobile would because it doesn't take no where near the coil loading.

I wouldn't spend the money on this.

For the OP, this is my mobile HFscrewdriver antenna with a cap hat.

View attachment 22468

Thank you for the photo of your HF Screwdriver Antenna with Cap Hat added.
Your Cap Hat appears quite similar to the 6 element grounding add-on base I showed above, but instead of wedging between the coax and antenna coil, yours is somehow mounted on top. For the grounding star, it has a PL259 pass through, connecting the elements only the the outer shield, electrically. But if used as a cap hat, for THAT item, it would expose the SO239 (underside) pointing straight up, collecting rain.

Where did you buy your cap hat, or was it fabricated using a modified grounding base?

 

[Tallman]

The Zing Ring as I understand from what is posted above would actually be a capacitive loading device. From the radiator to the surrounding ground plane would capacitive.