new 55 merlin base antenna

[unit_399]

Ole' Grampa, Corpus Christi, Tx was calling you, my handle on the air.

Eddie -

I have tried calling you several times when the skip from TX was rolling into Colombia. I will be on 38lsb this weekend and will be listening for you. Hopefully we can hook up. Looking forward to it. 73s.

- 399

 

[jazzsinger]

It is funny when I don't see much difference between an A99 and a Sigma4, all heck breaks loose, and when I hear guys say the Starduster will basically only talk short skip, while I'm talking to Europe from the Texas Gulf coast, that just doesn't make sense to me.

Eddie,
i wasn't inferring the starduster was only good for short skip, more that its exceptional at it due to its higher radiation angle, it will also do longer range stuff too with a slight bit less gain than longer antennas.

you also have to bare in mind not everything that appears to be long hop skip is infact that, it could just as easily be multi hop short range skip, especially on the haiwaiin path, as saltwater is an excellent reflector of radio signals with little attenuation giving a good chance of a second or even third hop.


Booty,

if both the merlin and the dipole were in the clear i'd expect them to be very similar, minus the coil losses in the merlin.the trouble with vertical dipoles is mounting them high enough in the clear without being too close to other conductors.

 

[Needle Bender]

I've been talking to Hawaii almost evey day lately with my Marconi 7x which is a version of the Starduster. I also had the M7x up when I talked to England, Ireland, and several other European countries coming to the US a while back, and that was when I had it on the 34.5' mast like I've been using until 02/27/11. It is funny when I don't see much difference between an A99 and a Sigma4, all heck breaks loose, and when I hear guys say the Starduster will basically only talk short skip, while I'm talking to Europe from the Texas Gulf coast, that just doesn't make sense to me. I believe other guys experiences even when I don't see the same results. Am I just lucky or unlucky?

Here is my recap averages for my test on the same mount @ 34.5', feed line, and radio so far.

The following AT's were all mounted on 34.5' mast.
6.9 Wolf
6.8 A99
6.7 S4
6.7 M7x

Both the GM & 7x are on the new higher mast by 9.666' feet to 44' feet.
7.3 GM
6.9 M7x

In previous comparisons side-by-side, the GM at various heights on the same 34.5' mast showed an average over 10 Signal Reports of:

7.3 GM

im not real good at math but i see .2 more on the mx7 at 44 fett then 34.5 feet so if you take of .2 from the gm you have 7.1 comparred to 6.7 up to 6.9 on the rest so the gm is the best

 

[Marconi]

im not real good at math but i see .2 more on the mx7 at 44 fett then 34.5 feet so if you take of .2 from the gm you have 7.1 comparred to 6.7 up to 6.9 on the rest so the gm is the best

To be fair NB, I probably need to do several more test in order for the averaging process I use to have its affect. I think we all see on my videos where condition changes are sorta' common around me. You might even hear the contacts on my list talking about changing conditions.

I have an opinion about height and longer antennas verses the 1/4 wave that is really responsive to the ground plane under it, so maybe the 1/4 wave just works better quicker on raising higher and thus the SGM in this case did not change as much when I raised both by 10' feet.

My being able to video things here has given me a whole new look at what I've perceived for some time now, plus I'm better able to prove some of what I say right or wrong.

BTW, where are you located in Texas?

Thanks for your comments.

 

[Marconi]

Eddie,
i wasn't inferring the starduster was only good for short skip, more that its exceptional at it due to its higher radiation angle, it will also do longer range stuff too with a slight bit less gain than longer antennas.

you also have to bare in mind not everything that appears to be long hop skip is infact that, it could just as easily be multi hop short range skip, especially on the haiwaiin path, as saltwater is an excellent reflector of radio signals with little attenuation giving a good chance of a second or even third hop.


Booty,

if both the merlin and the dipole were in the clear i'd expect them to be very similar, minus the coil losses in the merlin.the trouble with vertical dipoles is mounting them high enough in the clear without being too close to other conductors.

I understand what you meant George, but I was attempting to clarify that a 1/4 wave is a very viable antenna when given the correct ground plane to work against. Here an example of the Marconi 4x working Ireland.

YouTube - Marconi working Ireland on his Marconi 4x 030611

 

[Needle Bender]

i used to have a qaurter wave from radioshak and then i went and got a starduster and it was a whole world of diferrence- the stardsuter was alot better so i think you have downword radials and its a startduster mot a quarter wave

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

i had a radio shack 1/4 wave as a kid . i found a rusty piece of pipe about 1 1/2 inches in diameter by 12 or 14 feet long . i dug a hole about 2 ft deep and stuck it in it about 20 feet away from the house . didn't have a swr meter so just went by the measurements . i talked about 20-25 miles nightly on it with a old barefoot johnson base . it definitely worked ! when i was building my first wire antennas i was surprised by how much more effective in both tx and rx there was between a dipole and a wire starduster copy hanging at the same tip height from the pine tree . the wire starduster whooped up on the dipole .
of course the 5/8 spanked both of them .

 

[Marconi]

i used to have a qaurter wave from radioshak and then i went and got a starduster and it was a whole world of diferrence- the stardsuter was alot better so i think you have downword radials and its a startduster mot a quarter wave

IMO the SD'r is more like a slightly unbalanced form of a dipole, but I refer to my Marconi xx as a 1/4 wave just to make sure I convey it's only has a 1/4 wave radiator. I'm not trying to define antennas, just test and compare em'.

NB, if you have the manual for your old RS 1/4 wave GP, I sure would appreciate you sending me a copy. I can't find that one anywhere. I think it has a form of a wire hairpin matching device that shunts the radiator to ground and I would like to try and apply that idea to my Marconi and see if I can get the match and the resonance closer to the middle of the CB band. Both of my current Marconi's are not resonant where resistance is close to 50 ohms even with slanted down radials...all the elements are 102" and I don't want to cut em'.

BM, if your old antenna was a 1/4 wave, do you have the manual?

 

[hotrod]

well after reading several pages i was just curious if anyone else
has tried this antenna.i know what the books say and what theroy says
but ive seen antennas defy this in some situations.

 

[Marconi]

i had a radio shack 1/4 wave as a kid . i found a rusty piece of pipe about 1 1/2 inches in diameter by 12 or 14 feet long . i dug a hole about 2 ft deep and stuck it in it about 20 feet away from the house . didn't have a swr meter so just went by the measurements . i talked about 20-25 miles nightly on it with a old barefoot johnson base . it definitely worked ! when i was building my first wire antennas i was surprised by how much more effective in both tx and rx there was between a dipole and a wire starduster copy hanging at the same tip height from the pine tree . the wire starduster whooped up on the dipole .
of course the 5/8 spanked both of them .

Booty Monster, I left you a question above and I've sent you several PM's with no response. Are you mad with me or what? Just because I have questions about the effectiveness of the Merlin is no reason to get mad. It must be something else. Clue me in, OK?

Marconi

 

[Marconi]

well after reading several pages i was just curious if anyone else has tried this antenna.i know what the books say and what theroy says but ive seen antennas defy this in some situations.

Hey hotrod, what are you talking about. There are several 'AT's' being discussed here, can you be a little more specific?

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

sorry Eddie , my bad . i have absolutely no problem with you . lol , or any merlin comments you make . i got only 1 PM from you about this a moment ago . i dont have or remember what the manual said , i was a teen then and didn't keep any manuals , sorry .

 

[CDX-007]

IMO the SD'r is more like a slightly unbalanced form of a dipole, but I refer to my Marconi xx as a 1/4 wave just to make sure I convey it's only has a 1/4 wave radiator. I'm not trying to define antennas, just test and compare em'.

NB, if you have the manual for your old RS 1/4 wave GP, I sure would appreciate you sending me a copy. I can't find that one anywhere. I think it has a form of a wire hairpin matching device that shunts the radiator to ground and I would like to try and apply that idea to my Marconi and see if I can get the match and the resonance closer to the middle of the CB band. Both of my current Marconi's are not resonant where resistance is close to 50 ohms even with slanted down radials...all the elements are 102" and I don't want to cut em'.

BM, if your old antenna was a 1/4 wave, do you have the manual?

Hey Eddie, To the best of my memory, (from ~35 years ago ) I believe it was right about 6" - 6.5" long and about an inch wide.
You could start at about 8"-9" and make a 1" shorting bar to slide the shunt closer as you adjust the effective length until you achieve that elusive 50Ω.

 

[pro151]

I have read and re-read this thread from beginning to end 3 times and am just more confused than I was when I started and have a headache.

Guess I better keep my mouth shut about how well my "temporary" base antenna (Protron PT99) works since I have no data to back up any performance claims I might make.

One of these days, I will get my antique Hy-Gain CLR-22 up and running and not say anything about it as well.