How to tell the difference between Maco Alpha V5/8 & V5000?

[Pioneer621]

Hello everyone!

I have wanted to ask this for a long time now. Probably a silly question, but figured I would ask anyhow.

How can you tell a Maco Alpha V5/8 apart from the V5/8 V5000?

I am assuming the wire that connects the SO-239 to the matching coil might be different gauges between the two antennas, but what other differences are there & what gauge wire is used between the two?

I could not find much info regarding the difference of the two, & I have just wondered how to tell them apart specifically. Not really a big deal, just out of curiosity I suppose.

Why I am wondering:
My first base antenna I got about 9 to 10 years ago, it was a new in box Maco V5/8 V5000. I got the Maco from an old local that bought a bunch of them as he use to buy and sell a lot of radio equipment & he said it was the V5000. He was selling them for $90 & is what I paid. The shipping sticker on my box shows it came from Palco electronics. I wanted to get the best base antenna I could afford at the time & the V5000 seemed like a better choice over the Solarcon A-99 I was going to get, & slightly more heavy duty then the regular Alpha V5/8 & for the price it seemed like a good deal (I did not have a computer at the time & could only go by what copper electronics was selling them for in the catalog I had).

I have wondered if I actually have the 5000, but not exactly sure of the exact differences to look for; my box although was clearly brand new & never opened said Maco Alpha V5/8 on the sticker and the only thing that says V5000 is hand written in black permanent marker on the side of the box. Now I figured it was not uncommon for Maco to do that to save money on stickers when the two antennas were very similar & the fact they stated right in the manual they did not clean up all the burrs & rough edges on the tubing to lower the cost of the antenna, plus the manual seems to apply to both models. So I just figured the V5000 hand written on the box was normal, which it likely is.

The wire connecting the SO-239 to the matching coil on mine is about 15-gauge.

It don’t really matter which one I have, I am sure it’s the 5000, but was just curious on how to tell them apart from one another. Not a whole lot of details like that online about them, at least I could not find any while searching.

My Maco 5/8 antenna is in the house here and is currently being stored in its original box as the darn thing is just too big for where I have my antenna now & I would not be able to use the radials without it hanging over the neighbors yard & they probably would not like that. I am currently using an old Big Stick I got from a local, and it looks old! But seems to work ok.

Thanks for reading this & for any info you can share.

 

[Sonwatcher]

I was told that the only difference is the plastic material inside the base. I was told they are different materials which allows the 5000 to handle the heat created by the use of higher wattage.

 

[Pioneer621]

Hi Sonwatcher,

That’s interesting. That insulator always reminded me of black PVC pipe, haha, but I suppose it is probably something different. It may be hard to distinguish between the two if that’s the main difference, unless it is a different diameter or thickness tubing but I’d imagine it looks very similar between the two.

I wonder if that’s the only difference then?

 

[mackmobile43]

Hi Sonwatcher,

That’s interesting. That insulator always reminded me of black PVC pipe, haha, but I suppose it is probably something different. It may be hard to distinguish between the two if that’s the main difference, unless it is a different diameter or thickness tubing but I’d imagine it looks very similar between the two.

I wonder if that’s the only difference then?

most likely and btw that black pipe is delron.

 

[GnG8d]

^^delrin^^

 

[Pioneer621]

I appreciate the info guys! Is the Delron or Delrin used in both versions? Different types of it made, like different grades? Or does one use that material & one use a different type.

I really do appreciate the info on it as I was very curious for some reason about the differences between the two model antennas, as they do seem very similar other then there power ratings.

 

[office888]

I appreciate the info guys! Is the Delron or Delrin used in both versions? Different types of it made, like different grades? Or does one use that material & one use a different type.

I really do appreciate the info on it as I was very curious for some reason about the differences between the two model antennas, as they do seem very similar other then there power ratings.

It's spelled "Delrin". Mack needs to check his spelling.

More than likely, they're two different grades, and one is cheaper. They might even be different plastics entirely.

I got the V5000...I would have gotten the V58, but the 5000 was in stock, and only like $10 more.

 

[Pioneer621]

It's spelled "Delrin". Mack needs to check his spelling.

More than likely, they're two different grades, and one is cheaper. They might even be different plastics entirely.

I got the V5000...I would have gotten the V58, but the 5000 was in stock, and only like $10 more.

office888,

Yeah, I was not familiar with Delrin at all. I did a google search for Delron & most of the results were for Delrin, although there were one, maybe two that popped up for delron, but they may have misspelled it. One of the sites with antennas stated Delrin for most of them then maybe one or two antennas said delron, so I was not for sure if it Delrin & delron were two different materials or just misspelled.

Again, I appreciate all the info. Thanks again!

 

[Tony Williams]

Could be the thickness of the insulating material (delrin). It creates a capacitor between the hot side and the rf ground side of the antenna. I've had maco 5/8's and have wondered myself. I did removed the original wire from the tuning ring and replaced it with 8 Guage. I don't know if that was the cause of it being so broadband, but I could operate on the low end of 10 meters with no problem.

 

[Elliott Hart]

Could be the thickness of the insulating material (delrin). It creates a capacitor between the hot side and the rf ground side of the antenna. I've had maco 5/8's and have wondered myself. I did removed the original wire from the tuning ring and replaced it with 8 Guage. I don't know if that was the cause of it being so broadband, but I could operate on the low end of 10 meters with no problem.

Fyi...You are replying to post from 2010