New antenna from Sirio Gain-Master

[simonradioman]

There is something in the pipeline but for sure cannot guarantee it will come out to market. Sirio have taken on board all the comments from customers and are testing now a higher powered version of the GM. I know this directly from them, so wait and see i guess.

** Neighbour of mine runs 700w all the time on his antenna and no issues with melting has happened so far so seems can take a little more than 500w which they have tested themselves in the lab on there station, which includes a BL1000 Amp.

Enclosed my photo taken at the factory of there test station. On the roof they have a telescopic tower they raise the antennas on for tests and then zap them with the amps
(( SORRY could not add photo, PM me if you want it ))

 

[hotrod]

Hi from Northern Ireland. Man this thread is rough!!! ^^ ab v c^^ I've owned a GM for almost 6 months now and it's situated on a 15ft pole on the eves of my house here in Bangor, Co Down by the sea in Northern Ireland. I've been DX'ing for 30+ years and have owned most omni's in that time. The GM outperforms all of them except perhaps for the Avanti Sigma iv. I've owned a few siggys over the years and they were hot but the GM is hotter than a pepper pudding for sure!!!
I've had some great contacts on 10 metres into Canada and UAE, Iraq and South Africa with the GM and even into Indonesia all on less than 100 watts(I never use more than 100 w) and I truly LOVE this omni. I love the build quality which is second to none. The fibreglass is TOUGH and light, the RF choke fits like a glove and shouldn't move, and at only 3kgs it's just fantastic. It's also quite a quiet antenna imho. I'm listening on 27.565 USB at the minute to some locals talking about static at S7+ and I've got a little noise peaking at S3
As for Sirio, their customer service is second to none! I had the misfortune to buy a Vector 4000 a few years ago and during a night of not overly heavy winds, my Vector 4000 died the most terrible death. It was like a piece of chocolate melted by a hot hairdryer and I sent an email off to Sirio with a photo of my wrecked Vector 4000 and they answered within 24hrs and allowed me to CHOOSE A NEW ANTENNA COMPLETELY FREE OF CHARGE. I ordered a 827 which was a damn good antenna but I couldn't(well. my wife couldn't)cope with the noise from the wind whistling through the radials. So, I put up an old original Solarcon Antron 99 which had served me well for many years as a spare until I bought the GM for £135 GBP in november last year.
I do rate this antenna. We've had a few stormy nights on my coastline since it went up and it's been rockin' n rollin' like Bill Haley and The Comets on occasion but I can tell there's more chance of the gable wall coming down before the GM does and my Icom IC 706 mk11 shows a low SWR from 12 meters to 10 meters so it ain't goin anywhere soon.
Now for God's sake stop being nasty to each other here. Take a chill pill and RELAX <can not stand it>

Best 73

Keerzo

how would you rate the GM against the sirio 827 seeing how you had that antenna too

 

[camaro1]

So after 75 pages of posts I don't know how much more can be added to all this but here goes.

I will be doing a comparison test of the A99, Imax 2000 and Sirio Gain Master.

I plan to spend a Saturday in a open field and set up using a temporary 20' mast. I'm going to use the same radio, coax and mast and tune and mount each antenna one at a time.

I'll have my MFJ analyzer handy.

I'm just going to go with a Uniden Grant for the radio, 50' of simple mini 8 coax for the test since it's the most common used by CBer's. This should put my vehicle roughly 30' away from the antennas and it will remain in the same position throughout the testing so hopefully it will not be considered a variable.

I'm going to record the meter at my home station on video and have two other stations take readings as I do the testing.

Not the most exciting way to spend a Saturday but maybe it will shed some light on the subject.

I think I'll also take the chance to put a 10K and 102" SS up against each other as well for some perspective.


Since I'm taking the time to do this if anyone has any suggestions prior to my setup that they believe will help eliminate any heresay afterwards please let me know

did this test ever happen?

i currently have a 102 ss whip with 4- 9' copper wire radial ground planes, mounted on the peak of my house and its workin great, the Sirio Gain Master looks like a good antenna, but living in town i couldnt put it up where i have the 102 whip(you can hardly see the antenna now). if i even thought about getting the sirio it would have to be high tree mounted in my back yard and would probly add another 75' or more of coax easy to the 50' run i have now. would it be worth the effort to even try this type of antenna.

or should i just be happy with the 102 ss whip, i dont have any problems talking local and skip with no power adder. just always looking for the next best thing,,lol

 

[Marconi]

did this test ever happen?

i currently have a 102 ss whip with 4- 9' copper wire radial ground planes, mounted on the peak of my house and its workin great, the Sirio Gain Master looks like a good antenna, but living in town i couldnt put it up where i have the 102 whip(you can hardly see the antenna now). if i even thought about getting the sirio it would have to be high tree mounted in my back yard and would probly add another 75' or more of coax easy to the 50' run i have now. would it be worth the effort to even try this type of antenna.

or should i just be happy with the 102 ss whip, i dont have any problems talking local and skip with no power adder. just always looking for the next best thing,,lol

I'm a Starduster fan camaro1, so you can guess what my opinion might say...even with your limitations. You can see the basic parts of my Marconi antenna in the image below my name. It uses either four or five 102" whips, a mirror mount L bracket, and the hub off of a A99 for the radials.

I get this one up high, like the image below, and it will work as good as any other vertical antenna I have. Being low to the Earth is a handicap however.

 

[Craig]

It's been over a year since I first purchased the Sirio Gain-Master and it's worked flawlessly. Other than it's power handling rating I don't have a complaint. I'm continually amazed how well the antenna performs noting there's undoubtedly better antennas on the market yet considering it's footprint and resilience in high winds I'm completely satisfied.

 

[camaro1]

looks like a test was done, looks good!

CBRadioMagazine.com - Sirio Gain Master Antenna Review

 

[W5LZ]

And as the author has indicated, this review is a subjective one, not an objective one.
- 'Doc

 

[northern35s]

Ther are a number of flawed tests carried out with regard to the GM, the number one flaw being that the test isn't blind, the well intended helpers should be unaware as to which antenna is being tested, additionaly their results shouldn't be broadcasted for all the other testers to hear, the results should be collated later by the tester, these steps will eliminate a number of potential errors.

The other issue being a 1 S point increase, assuming a reasonably accurate scale, would equate to a 6dB gain over the Imax, but not so on receive, there is definitely some magic going on there, 6dB gain on transmit, yet nothing on receive, impossible :closedeyes: and could be indicative of flaws in the testing as outlined above.

All the above said, I'd expect the GM to be better than an Imax, it is after all a complete antenna, whereas the Imax is only half an antenna, relying on mast and coax to make up the other half, and there in lies the potential variable performance of the Imax.

I recall many people stating the GM being so much better than their previous antenna, however this isn't a surprise, the potential for their previous antenna being in need of a bit of TLC was high, how often do people take their antennas down for a service, it's something that should be done regularly to ensure all joints are good, any corrosion is removed / treated, identify any components that require replacement and to ensure its performance is maintained. For many this isn't the case, and the first time their antenna is taken down is when it either breaks or they are replacing it, of course they'll see an improvement.

I like the GM, it's a fresh look at the 5/8WL antenna, it's very clean, in that it doesn't require radials, it already has its own RF choke, and as a result has a lower visual impact, very neighbour friendly, however I don't buy into it being a miracle worker

 

[Mudfoot]

Technical issues aside...

I like mine.

 

[Shockwave]

I'd consider any HF omni that can easily provide a 4 Mhz. bandwidth with gain to be somewhat of a miracle worker. It's certainly something that was never done before the GM. The absence of RFI is just the icing on the cake for me. Hurricane Sandy really put the design through some physical stress testing here too. We had hours where the storm was producing peak wind gusts reaching over 90 MPH. Between antenna and mast flex there were several times I observed the antenna tip being nearly horizontal rather than vertical.

Most antennas would snap before this point or present enough wind load on the mast to permanently bend it. There is no sign of any damage. The antenna held a perfect SWR even while flexing in the wind. The only thing I noticed inside was some signal fluctuations when the strongest winds would push the top of the antenna far enough from the vertical plane. If it did break, I'd replace it based on how it has worked over the last two years.

 

[Marconi]

Shockwave, have you by chance ever RX and TX tested other areas of this wide bandwidth for performance, even if only up in the 10 meter band?

I don't think I have heard it reported.

 

[Shockwave]

I've not done extensive testing to determine if the gain is close to flat over the entire spectrum. I can say it works better on 10 than a Vector that was tuned for 11. I realize it would be a better test if the Vector were tuned on 10 also but mine favored 11.

 

[Zman]

This is disheartening considering the advertised power is:

"Max Power 500 Watts (CW) continuous, 1000 Watts (CW) short time"

- So that should allow at least 500w pep, if not a full Kw @ typical 30% SSB duty cycle.

- Now I can't use my SB-200 on 10m without turning it down to 400w pep?

- It's still a good design, but they need to get the pep up to 10m USA General Class power rating of 1500w pep, especially since the price has gone up to ~$200 shipped.

Geez, just when I thought I'd solved my tree-mounting issues of no P500 due to radials and no Imax due to noise, now no SGM due to no power!

GRRRRRR

For what they want for it and for the power it can/cant handle its not worth the $$ to me..:sad:

 

[Shockwave]

For what they want for it and for the power it can/cant handle its not worth the $$ to me..:sad:

The first production run did have a slight issue that caused some failures at a relatively low power level. Many of us had a look at the burnt cap pictures online within the first few months of the antenna being sold. Those who had trouble got them replaced for free and the new ones easily handle a pair of 572B's. You may also notice we no longer see any posts from people burning the new ones up. If you want full legal limit all you have to do is replace a few inches of coax as outlined in the high power mod. Unless you can build a better mousetrap yourself, the first place you want to spend money in this hobby is on the antenna.

 

[Mudfoot]

I had a little billfold shock when I got mine, but would buy another if I had too.