just purchaced a maco v-58 , cant get below a 2.0 swr tried both methods of tunning it with length and the ring, any advice thanks
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maco v-58 swr problems ????
- Thread starter bruiser606
- Start date
Been there and seen that! I bought one and it was the same issue. We tried everything with that antenna and could not get the match down. I ended up selling the antenna and the guy who bought it off of me said all he did was pull the bottom section out of the base some and he was able to get a good SWR. He said it was shorting to the bolt that goes through the insulator but when I tested it it did not show it. Im thinking maybe it was to close to it but who knows. Try pulling it out some and see what you come up with.
try it without the ground radials and let me know if the swr goes down.we had the same problem with one .it showed a good 1.3 without the radials.when we put the ground plane on it shot up over 2.go figure .we sold it.
Whta kind of meter are you using ?
Does the ground plane have at least 10 ft of clearance all aroud it ?
Did you check the match from the radio or bottom of antenna ?
Did you make it even "more" shorter ?
Unless you plane on using power , your 2.0 should be OK to go , Did you try it ?
What are the readings from freq to freq ?
Did you do a search on this antenna on this site ? There's a lot of good write ups and how to fixes on that antenna.
You can stop trying to drive yourself nuts in search of that magical mystery tour 1.1 , but you should at least get around 1.5 and slightly lower then that depending on where you want to be.
http://www.worldwidedx.com/showthread.php?t=25935&highlight=Alpha+V-58
http://www.worldwidedx.com/showthread.php?t=28540&highlight=Maco+wave
http://www.worldwidedx.com/showthread.php?t=22636&highlight=Maco+wave
Does the ground plane have at least 10 ft of clearance all aroud it ?
Did you check the match from the radio or bottom of antenna ?
Did you make it even "more" shorter ?
Unless you plane on using power , your 2.0 should be OK to go , Did you try it ?
What are the readings from freq to freq ?
Did you do a search on this antenna on this site ? There's a lot of good write ups and how to fixes on that antenna.
You can stop trying to drive yourself nuts in search of that magical mystery tour 1.1 , but you should at least get around 1.5 and slightly lower then that depending on where you want to be.
http://www.worldwidedx.com/showthread.php?t=25935&highlight=Alpha+V-58
http://www.worldwidedx.com/showthread.php?t=28540&highlight=Maco+wave
http://www.worldwidedx.com/showthread.php?t=22636&highlight=Maco+wave
Wavin a hand there 606. Hope you get your issues squared away.Ill be listening for ya.Tried calling ya but no answer.
I put one together a few weeks ago with the same problem. I wound up moving the clamp on the ring almost straight across from the coax connection and SWR went down to 1.3 across the band......40+ and 40-.
Check from channel 1 to 40 and see if the reading is the same. If so you need to concentrate on the ring tuning. Not exactly the way the instructions say to do it but it has worked on several for me. Also the 1" spacing between the ends of the ring needs to be pretty close to exact.
BC
Check from channel 1 to 40 and see if the reading is the same. If so you need to concentrate on the ring tuning. Not exactly the way the instructions say to do it but it has worked on several for me. Also the 1" spacing between the ends of the ring needs to be pretty close to exact.
BC
thanks for the info , tried some of the suggestion , wavin right back there stringbean, im needing to get atleast a 1.3 swr to run power , ive tried tunning it 6' off the ground and at 45' same results ive tried diffrent radios, this things frustrating , hey bionic chicken did you have the over all length maco suggested? im still not gettin under a flat match of 2.0 on 1 and 40 . i was able to get a 1.5 on 40 (27.405) but on 1 it was over a 3.0 swr. thanks
bruiser606,
Well, there's always the old standby method. Take the @#$ thing apart, re-read the instructions, then follow them putting things back together. Do any measuring it says to do. Keep any of the suggestions given here in mind, but follow the directions, even when they might seem wrong. I'm assuming that you do have the instructions. If done that way, you are at least at the recommended point to do any adjusting to the 'tuning' thingy. That 'tuning' thingy has a fairly wide tuning range because no two installations are ever the same, so where the tap point ends up can be different than is expected.
(Wish I had a nickle for every miss-measured measurement I've done!)
All the time you're doing this keep your eyes open for something that isn't exactly as it should be, or that doesn't 'seem' like it ought'a be that way. Any "why did I do that?" thingy, sort of.
If things still aren't right, then I would contact 'Maco' and ask for advice (that ought'a be fun all by it's self
).
Never having been in your 'exact' position with this antenna, I can't offer anything except 'general' advice.
Good luck.
- 'Doc
Well, there's always the old standby method. Take the @#$ thing apart, re-read the instructions, then follow them putting things back together. Do any measuring it says to do. Keep any of the suggestions given here in mind, but follow the directions, even when they might seem wrong. I'm assuming that you do have the instructions. If done that way, you are at least at the recommended point to do any adjusting to the 'tuning' thingy. That 'tuning' thingy has a fairly wide tuning range because no two installations are ever the same, so where the tap point ends up can be different than is expected.
(Wish I had a nickle for every miss-measured measurement I've done!)
All the time you're doing this keep your eyes open for something that isn't exactly as it should be, or that doesn't 'seem' like it ought'a be that way. Any "why did I do that?" thingy, sort of.
If things still aren't right, then I would contact 'Maco' and ask for advice (that ought'a be fun all by it's self
).Never having been in your 'exact' position with this antenna, I can't offer anything except 'general' advice.
Good luck.
- 'Doc
As W5LZ said you need to verify the measurements are as the factory states. The way I always do them is break Maco's measurements down to a wider range and pick the one that is closest to the channels I am going to talk on the most. Also the correct measurement is from the top of the antenna to the bottom...not to the tuning ring......complete overall length.
BC
BC
I know mine had to be shortened more than the instructions say to get 1.1 to 1.2 match on 11 meter, it can be done though just keep at it. You will love it when you get it working.
just as w5lz & airplane say....MEASURE MEASURE MEASURE and remember, the tuning coil is the final 'tweak'. put the tuning ring, wire & bar where it should roughly be & adjust the length of the antenna to get your best swr. adjust the tuning ring & wire 'in the air' for 1.1:1 EVERY TIME! mine has nearly 1.7 mhz bandwidth UNDER 1.5:1! 27.3=1.1:1, 29=<1.7:1, 25.6=<1.7:1. oddly, 29.6=1.5 & 24.950=3:1.......the mfj259b answers the 'why' for that.
to tune most ANY antenna 'in the air'-take a LARGE truck tire, monuted on a rim, make a 't' from 2x4's & bolt through the lug holes. experiment with YOUR best way to mount a pice of pvc tube, or galvanized pipe to the 2x4 't', mount your antenna on 10' or more of mast & put it on the 'tire-mount'. a beam may need to be 'guyed', the v5/8 never has on my 22" truck tire test mount. a wooden extension ladder does not skew the swr for 20-10 meters-though a 20 meter yagi needs a bunch of guying! if you can get an antenna such as the v5/8's feedpoint 12' off the ground, it usually doesn't change once on the roof. even if only 6' above the roof!
to tune most ANY antenna 'in the air'-take a LARGE truck tire, monuted on a rim, make a 't' from 2x4's & bolt through the lug holes. experiment with YOUR best way to mount a pice of pvc tube, or galvanized pipe to the 2x4 't', mount your antenna on 10' or more of mast & put it on the 'tire-mount'. a beam may need to be 'guyed', the v5/8 never has on my 22" truck tire test mount. a wooden extension ladder does not skew the swr for 20-10 meters-though a 20 meter yagi needs a bunch of guying! if you can get an antenna such as the v5/8's feedpoint 12' off the ground, it usually doesn't change once on the roof. even if only 6' above the roof!
check the hoop ring
ridge runner waving a hand i had the same problems with the maco v5000 was ready to junk it could not get the swrs down at all . so i done a search on google and found the maco website and called maco. and got ahold of the man called TOM the owner . he bought maco out in memphis TN. and i told him the problem i was having and he had me fixed up in 2 mins SWRS at 1.3 it was the hoop ring it has to go counter clock wise from bottom to top. i had mine clockwise from bottom to top . i just looked at the picture and thats the way it looked . as soon as i changed the direction boom it was down i just had to tweak the wire alittle. and by the way only buy a maco from a autorized dealer . there is fakes out there
and if you need help call tom he is great and will get it working for you he said thats what he is there for ridge runner out
ridge runner waving a hand i had the same problems with the maco v5000 was ready to junk it could not get the swrs down at all . so i done a search on google and found the maco website and called maco. and got ahold of the man called TOM the owner . he bought maco out in memphis TN. and i told him the problem i was having and he had me fixed up in 2 mins SWRS at 1.3 it was the hoop ring it has to go counter clock wise from bottom to top. i had mine clockwise from bottom to top . i just looked at the picture and thats the way it looked . as soon as i changed the direction boom it was down i just had to tweak the wire alittle. and by the way only buy a maco from a autorized dealer . there is fakes out there
and if you need help call tom he is great and will get it working for you he said thats what he is there for ridge runner out