Most antennas I have used outside of wire were sort of plug and play. When I opened the Maco box I was a little intimidated by the bag of hardware containing many screws, nuts, washers and other parts. I sat down and began reading the instructions for assembly and then started putting it together. Your first part to assemble is the hoop and attach it to the base. The nice thing about the instructions is that for each step there is a picture of the assembly and parts involved. One nice thing when checking the bag of hardware they let you know that it contains extra screws and nuts for the person that just may drop one. I've been there !:tongue: Once the hoop is assembled and attached they give the measurements for setting the matching system . After it was ready to tune I found their measurements were perfect.
From the living-room I hauled everything to the back yard to do the next step which was the vertical assembly. Each part is to be measured 6" from the end going in and marked. When you put the smaller tube in you stop at the 6" mark. When you get to the final tube it is only marked at 4". Then as you put them in place they are clamped. This part went easy and I put the rubber cap on the end.
I then did the radials. I grabbed a cinder block and placed the bottom of the base in the hole of the block and it stood up nicely as I assembled the radials to the base. Here was an interesting part. A friend of mine had assembled quite a few of these and they had trouble finding the correct place to put the spider on the base that holds the radials. They have to be just right or it messes up the matching. The guy I bought the antenna from called Tom Charles at Maco ( Son of the maker of the Gizmochy antennas) and let him know the trouble they were having locating the right spot for the radials to be under the matching system. He made the improvement right away. The antenna I bought has the leg ( brace holding the matching system to the base) of the matching system follow down the base and stop at the exact spot the spider needs to be located. You just butt up against it.
Seems like they are great for listening to the customer. The guy that I bought the antenna from stated that there had been a problem towards the end of Maco ownership of the company that the aluminum was skimped on. He said when Charles took it over they upgraded to commercial grade aluminum because of the complaints . Another step in a right direction.
After everything was assembled I mounted the antenna on 10' section of mast pipe. My wife steadied it as I went inside and checked the SWR. I should say that the instructions give the measurements for the length of the vertical according to which band you want to tune to. I wanted to tune it for 10m and made it a little less than the stated length to get close to my desired frequency . You tune by lengthening or shortening the first clamped section. They provide a hose clamp at this section to make it easy to loosen. It took me about 5 adjustments to get it almost flat where I wanted it to be. I then raised it up on the tower. The top of the antenna is at about 45-50 ft. I then check the SWR after it was raised and it stayed the same as it was at 10 ft .
The performance was outstanding. Several people that couldn't hear me before were now hearing me. I talked to a gentleman about 50-60 miles from me that I normally talk to and he stated I was giving him a reading of 8 s units barefoot where I use to give him 5-6. The man I bought the antenna from has never been able to hear me but as soon as I got on he was the first to come back to me. He couldn't believe it. It was that great of an improvement. My noise level is way down also.
The total time from beginning the assembly to being on air was around 3 hours. I was taking my time as to be sure I was doing everything correctly .
So I am very pleased with the performance of this new antenna and pleased how well the assembly went. I was given Tom Charles' phone # and was told that when you call Maco he personally usually answers the phone. I'll try to get a pic tomorrow of the antenna.
From the living-room I hauled everything to the back yard to do the next step which was the vertical assembly. Each part is to be measured 6" from the end going in and marked. When you put the smaller tube in you stop at the 6" mark. When you get to the final tube it is only marked at 4". Then as you put them in place they are clamped. This part went easy and I put the rubber cap on the end.
I then did the radials. I grabbed a cinder block and placed the bottom of the base in the hole of the block and it stood up nicely as I assembled the radials to the base. Here was an interesting part. A friend of mine had assembled quite a few of these and they had trouble finding the correct place to put the spider on the base that holds the radials. They have to be just right or it messes up the matching. The guy I bought the antenna from called Tom Charles at Maco ( Son of the maker of the Gizmochy antennas) and let him know the trouble they were having locating the right spot for the radials to be under the matching system. He made the improvement right away. The antenna I bought has the leg ( brace holding the matching system to the base) of the matching system follow down the base and stop at the exact spot the spider needs to be located. You just butt up against it.
Seems like they are great for listening to the customer. The guy that I bought the antenna from stated that there had been a problem towards the end of Maco ownership of the company that the aluminum was skimped on. He said when Charles took it over they upgraded to commercial grade aluminum because of the complaints . Another step in a right direction.
After everything was assembled I mounted the antenna on 10' section of mast pipe. My wife steadied it as I went inside and checked the SWR. I should say that the instructions give the measurements for the length of the vertical according to which band you want to tune to. I wanted to tune it for 10m and made it a little less than the stated length to get close to my desired frequency . You tune by lengthening or shortening the first clamped section. They provide a hose clamp at this section to make it easy to loosen. It took me about 5 adjustments to get it almost flat where I wanted it to be. I then raised it up on the tower. The top of the antenna is at about 45-50 ft. I then check the SWR after it was raised and it stayed the same as it was at 10 ft .
The performance was outstanding. Several people that couldn't hear me before were now hearing me. I talked to a gentleman about 50-60 miles from me that I normally talk to and he stated I was giving him a reading of 8 s units barefoot where I use to give him 5-6. The man I bought the antenna from has never been able to hear me but as soon as I got on he was the first to come back to me. He couldn't believe it. It was that great of an improvement. My noise level is way down also.
The total time from beginning the assembly to being on air was around 3 hours. I was taking my time as to be sure I was doing everything correctly .
So I am very pleased with the performance of this new antenna and pleased how well the assembly went. I was given Tom Charles' phone # and was told that when you call Maco he personally usually answers the phone. I'll try to get a pic tomorrow of the antenna.
