Maco V58 so-239 bracket.

[rumblefish]

I recently bought a maco v58 It won't tune to the 11 meter band until it's under 19 ft. The bracket with the so239 on it appears to be put on upside down. All the pictures I can find online of the maco show the so239 mounted the other way. Anybody else run into this problem?

 

[Needle Bender]

Can't you just spin the bracket over 180° so it points the solder side & wire UP?

BTW, there's a kit available that modifies the MACO V5/8 type GPs into a full .64, adding considerable improvement in performance.

ema!l wimpyradios [at] gma!l com for info.

 

[midnight special]

pictures?

 

[rumblefish]

Can't you just spin the bracket over 180° so it points the solder side & wire UP?

BTW, there's a kit available that modifies the MACO V5/8 type GPs into a full .64, adding considerable improvement in performance.

ema!l wimpyradios [at] gma!l com for info.

If I flip it over the coax connector is facing up. The bracket itself is flipped in relation to the so239.

 

[rumblefish]

pictures?

I'll try to post some pictures of it. The only thing I have to take pictures is a crummy web cam. I still have to remove the bracket from the antenna

 

[Needle Bender]

If I flip it over the coax connector is facing up. The bracket itself is flipped in relation to the so239.

The bent and slightly curved short end of the coax connector mounting aluminum piece should have the threads of the coax connector on the same side as the short, bent part through which the screw/bolt goes for attaching it to the antenna base.

 

[rumblefish]

I'll try to post some pictures of it. The only thing I have to take pictures is a crummy web cam. I still have to remove the bracket from the antenna

The bent and slightly curved short end of the coax connector mounting aluminum piece should have the threads of the coax connector on the same side as the short, bent part through which the screw/bolt goes for attaching it to the antenna base.

I think the bracket should be flipped around. If you google some pictures of the v58 you will see that bracket mounted the other way with the coax coming out of the bottom of the bracket. sorry for the poor pictures.

 

[midnight special]

ok looks like mine except the wire and clamp is on the other side,,,,i think you have the wire and clamp on the wrong spot,, mine is on the other side,,,,,

 

[rumblefish]

ok looks like mine except the wire and clamp is on the other side,,,,i think you have the wire and clamp on the wrong spot,, mine is on the other side,,,,,

The pictures are in reverse, I'm not sure why that happened. You can see my hartke bass amp letters look backwards. I guess I did put this antenna together correctly.

 

[midnight special]

what mine looks like,,,,,,



http://www.worldwidedx.com/attachments/v58-jpg.3589/

 

[rumblefish]

what mine looks like,,,,,,



http://www.worldwidedx.com/attachments/v58-jpg.3589/

Yes, thats what mine looks like. Now I know this antenna is not a true 5/8 wave on 11 meters. An 18ft. radiator on 11 meter is much closer to a half wave. I thought for sure the maco would perform better than the imax. Stations 30 miles away and further said I dropped half an S unit with the maco. I couldn't detect any reduction of static with the maco either. I'm probably one of the few who had better results with the Imax than the maco v58. smh.....73's folks.

 

[rumblefish]

what mine looks like,,,,,,



http://www.worldwidedx.com/attachments/v58-jpg.3589/

These pictures are from the assembly instructions. The first picture is how its installed currently. The second is a picture from the instructions showing that bracket mounted the other way. I was just trying to figure out if it mattered which way the so 239 bracket came from the factory. Both of these pictures are from the same manual.

 

[rumblefish]

These pictures are from the assembly instructions. The first picture is how its installed currently. The second is a picture from the instructions showing that bracket mounted the other way. I was just trying to figure out if it mattered which way the so 239 bracket came from the factory. Both of these pictures are from the same manual.

I found this picture on the this site, pretty much explains it. I've got the newer version. My results certainly didn't live up to the hype I've seen on reviews. I thought maybe I had assembled it wrong because it didn't "blow away" the imax. The maco I have performs like a 1/2 wave antenna.

 

[Needle Bender]

Yes, thats what mine looks like. Now I know this antenna is not a true 5/8 wave on 11 meters. An 18ft. radiator on 11 meter is much closer to a half wave. I thought for sure the maco would perform better than the imax. Stations 30 miles away and further said I dropped half an S unit with the maco. I couldn't detect any reduction of static with the maco either. I'm probably one of the few who had better results with the Imax than the maco v58. smh.....73's folks.

I disagree that you're one of the FEW who have those results, I believe you're one of the MANY.
I've been involved in many swaps in both directions, always the Imax was right about 1 S-unit stronger than the Maco (extended 1/2 wave) V-58.

...and when comparing to a Penetrator P500, I saw 2 S-units improvement when switching to the P500 from the Maco V-58, and 1/2 S-unit less on the P500 compared to the modIfied Sigmaco V-64.
After tuning my friend's Sigmaco V-64 the 2:1 swr point was TWO MEGS wide, considerably more than was the Penetrator's 1.4 megs.

*EDIT*
As far as the flipped bracket, I seriously doubt that will make more than a negligible amount of difference if any, and you were probably down a full S-unit on the Maco V-58 compared to the Imax and they just didn't want to hurt your feelings any worse