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Base New Imax wont tune 11m....this sucks
- Thread starter 357
- Start date
Luckily i had 2 spares one of them on the roof now, coated wwith 2 layers of polyester paint, and 2 spare bottom sections and a top section.
Works nice on 10/12/15/18 for me.
Works nice on 10/12/15/18 for me.
Hi Everyone,
So as promised I have some additional information and I'll try to lay this out as best as possible and put everything in context.
First a starting point - 2009-2010 recorded measurements
My review around 2009 had these lengths for the Max 2000 and I measured including connecting pieces (includes threaded sections.).
Top - 95.50
Mid - 94.25
Bottom - 96.125
Length - 285.875 inches
Tech 833 also did his famous Imax exposed article around this same time -
Top - 96.5
Mid - 94
Bottom - 80 (he didn't measure to bottom of SO connector) but his bottom section should have been similar to mine.
There were some other people who also had measurements from Max's of this time period that were posted here on the thread and other places.
Top - 95
Mid - 93.5
Bottom - 96.5 + 0.25 washers
Length - 285.25 inches
Top - 95.25
Mid - 94
Bottom - 96
Length - 285.25 inches
Based upon these historical measurements and info provided by members here we know that 10 years ago the antenna was around 285.25 to 285.875 inches long / 23.77 to 23.8125 feet long. These measurements are also consistent with pictures posted by KD2G0E of his 2014 model.
A forum member (KneeBiter) posted the following measurements on a Sept 2019 Max 2000 - he didn't measure the threads so I'm going to add some rough estimates for the thread lengths.
Top - 94.75 (+0.5 threads) = 95.25
Mid - 91.5 (+0.5 threads) = 92
Bottom - 94.6 (+0.25 threads) = 94.85
Length - 282.1
From talking with the factory we know that -
A) The length is now different than what it was 10 years ago
B) They shortened it recently by a small amount for shipping purposes - this is what was explained in detail as the reason.
C) The recent small change (1") is the one we'd heard about but surprisingly there also were other length changes previously over the last 5 years to sections (as consumers none of us really noticed as the overall length has only changed slightly over the years). I'd expect these were due to simply changes in machines or processes but I didn't get info on those changes at this point.
Now for the current lengths as reported from the factory today 6-26-2020
Measurements are overall length for each section (includes threaded sections)
Top - 95
Mid - 92.5
Base - 94.75
Length - 282.75 (23.5625 feet)
So as you can see the antenna is now roughly 2.5 to 3.125 inches shorter than it was in 2010 (depending on whose previous measurements you're using). The interesting thing is that it seems the larger length changes happened previously and the recent length change was simply a 1" or so to get all sections to fit into the 95" box. I was told that the bottom coil section has not been changed.
NOW before you heavy thinkers say it - yes there is room in the box to make the middle section longer! AND because of this thread and my conversations with the factory they are now looking at lengthening the middle section of the antenna since there is room in the box. So while the antenna should still work perfectly at it's current length they are considering trying to lengthen it back closer to it's original length.
FINAL THOUGHTS
So if anyone asked me the difference in length today vs the 2010 model I'd say 2.75" shorter which is a pretty small amount considering the total length of the antenna. However I was told the the recent change was only around 1" so we can assume that 10 years ago it was 2.75 longer, and maybe 3 years ago only 1.75" longer.
We should also point out that the total length (then and now) is going to be slightly shorter than the total length of the measured sections as the sections screw together. I'd expect current overall length to be around 282.25 inches once assembled. Also - the factory mentioned that due to the way the fiberglass antennas are made there may be small differences from antenna to antenna but these would be very small.
As mentioned in my previous post a ton of these antennas are sold throughout the year and the factory (and DAS) have not had any reports of issues. Forum members have posted up here that the newer antennas are tuning as expected and performing well so I'm going to make the assumption that the current model has no issues other than it is 2.75 inches shorter which I expect is going to change its resonant frequency but again as explained in my previous posts the factory did sweeps and users aren't reporting SWR issues so the antenna should still tune perfectly for the CB band and be broadbanded like it always has been (but that also will have changed slightly).
Now looking at CB shops selling these I found that regardless of the new length the individual dealers seem to be running into some cost issues for shipping. It sounds like shipping costs for all antennas is getting pretty rough due to UPS and USPS rates going higher on oversize or long items like antennas. I noticed that a lot of CB shops only have a few models now offered. Copper Electronics seems to be the exception as they still have 40 base antennas listed.
Walcott Radio - They are selling in-store but are no longer shipping the Imax 2000 even though the antenna now comes in a box under 95". They told me that the total dimensional size is too expensive to ship with UPS/USPS so they aren't going to ship these anymore even though it's shorter than it was previously.
Bobs CB - They have it in stock and ready to ship but there is also a shipping charge of $25 in addition to the shipping cost ($182 to California) so the total cost was around $367.
Copper - Out of stock
Clays Radio Shop - In stock and shipping was via FEDEX for $44 + $3 insurance - this gave me a total of $197 which is about the best price with shipping I found anywhere online.
Bells CB - Stopped carrying the antenna due to the new length. I still don't have info on their particular claim - these antennas are sold to a bunch of other distributors and dealers so if there was a huge problem we'd be hearing/seeing about it. Bells may have looked at the original measurements and the new measurements and complained - but the idea that the antennas didn't tune for them seems strange.
Hopefully this info is helpful and as mentioned in my previous post I was very impressed with Tencom and their staff in helping to get me this information. I also liked the fact that our conversation led to them exploring lengthening the middle section again.
So as promised I have some additional information and I'll try to lay this out as best as possible and put everything in context.
First a starting point - 2009-2010 recorded measurements
My review around 2009 had these lengths for the Max 2000 and I measured including connecting pieces (includes threaded sections.).
Top - 95.50
Mid - 94.25
Bottom - 96.125
Length - 285.875 inches
Tech 833 also did his famous Imax exposed article around this same time -
Top - 96.5
Mid - 94
Bottom - 80 (he didn't measure to bottom of SO connector) but his bottom section should have been similar to mine.
There were some other people who also had measurements from Max's of this time period that were posted here on the thread and other places.
Top - 95
Mid - 93.5
Bottom - 96.5 + 0.25 washers
Length - 285.25 inches
Top - 95.25
Mid - 94
Bottom - 96
Length - 285.25 inches
Based upon these historical measurements and info provided by members here we know that 10 years ago the antenna was around 285.25 to 285.875 inches long / 23.77 to 23.8125 feet long. These measurements are also consistent with pictures posted by KD2G0E of his 2014 model.
A forum member (KneeBiter) posted the following measurements on a Sept 2019 Max 2000 - he didn't measure the threads so I'm going to add some rough estimates for the thread lengths.
Top - 94.75 (+0.5 threads) = 95.25
Mid - 91.5 (+0.5 threads) = 92
Bottom - 94.6 (+0.25 threads) = 94.85
Length - 282.1
From talking with the factory we know that -
A) The length is now different than what it was 10 years ago
B) They shortened it recently by a small amount for shipping purposes - this is what was explained in detail as the reason.
C) The recent small change (1") is the one we'd heard about but surprisingly there also were other length changes previously over the last 5 years to sections (as consumers none of us really noticed as the overall length has only changed slightly over the years). I'd expect these were due to simply changes in machines or processes but I didn't get info on those changes at this point.
Now for the current lengths as reported from the factory today 6-26-2020
Measurements are overall length for each section (includes threaded sections)
Top - 95
Mid - 92.5
Base - 94.75
Length - 282.75 (23.5625 feet)
So as you can see the antenna is now roughly 2.5 to 3.125 inches shorter than it was in 2010 (depending on whose previous measurements you're using). The interesting thing is that it seems the larger length changes happened previously and the recent length change was simply a 1" or so to get all sections to fit into the 95" box. I was told that the bottom coil section has not been changed.
NOW before you heavy thinkers say it - yes there is room in the box to make the middle section longer! AND because of this thread and my conversations with the factory they are now looking at lengthening the middle section of the antenna since there is room in the box. So while the antenna should still work perfectly at it's current length they are considering trying to lengthen it back closer to it's original length.
FINAL THOUGHTS
So if anyone asked me the difference in length today vs the 2010 model I'd say 2.75" shorter which is a pretty small amount considering the total length of the antenna. However I was told the the recent change was only around 1" so we can assume that 10 years ago it was 2.75 longer, and maybe 3 years ago only 1.75" longer.
We should also point out that the total length (then and now) is going to be slightly shorter than the total length of the measured sections as the sections screw together. I'd expect current overall length to be around 282.25 inches once assembled. Also - the factory mentioned that due to the way the fiberglass antennas are made there may be small differences from antenna to antenna but these would be very small.
As mentioned in my previous post a ton of these antennas are sold throughout the year and the factory (and DAS) have not had any reports of issues. Forum members have posted up here that the newer antennas are tuning as expected and performing well so I'm going to make the assumption that the current model has no issues other than it is 2.75 inches shorter which I expect is going to change its resonant frequency but again as explained in my previous posts the factory did sweeps and users aren't reporting SWR issues so the antenna should still tune perfectly for the CB band and be broadbanded like it always has been (but that also will have changed slightly).
Now looking at CB shops selling these I found that regardless of the new length the individual dealers seem to be running into some cost issues for shipping. It sounds like shipping costs for all antennas is getting pretty rough due to UPS and USPS rates going higher on oversize or long items like antennas. I noticed that a lot of CB shops only have a few models now offered. Copper Electronics seems to be the exception as they still have 40 base antennas listed.
Walcott Radio - They are selling in-store but are no longer shipping the Imax 2000 even though the antenna now comes in a box under 95". They told me that the total dimensional size is too expensive to ship with UPS/USPS so they aren't going to ship these anymore even though it's shorter than it was previously.
Bobs CB - They have it in stock and ready to ship but there is also a shipping charge of $25 in addition to the shipping cost ($182 to California) so the total cost was around $367.
Copper - Out of stock
Clays Radio Shop - In stock and shipping was via FEDEX for $44 + $3 insurance - this gave me a total of $197 which is about the best price with shipping I found anywhere online.
Bells CB - Stopped carrying the antenna due to the new length. I still don't have info on their particular claim - these antennas are sold to a bunch of other distributors and dealers so if there was a huge problem we'd be hearing/seeing about it. Bells may have looked at the original measurements and the new measurements and complained - but the idea that the antennas didn't tune for them seems strange.
Hopefully this info is helpful and as mentioned in my previous post I was very impressed with Tencom and their staff in helping to get me this information. I also liked the fact that our conversation led to them exploring lengthening the middle section again.
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I did shipping to California (West Coast) - so yes it definitely would be cheaper to ship somewhere on the East coast.
I put in mine at first and was a bit puzzled at your numbers....so I threw in an arbitrary west coast Cali zip and it came up the same as yours.
I was just surprised that it's about $100 difference.
I now know of 2 people that have bought them in the past 3 months or so and have had zero SWR problems on them, they all had very good match on them right out of the box
Big Kahuna, thanks for all of your work getting us your report on the overall length issues for the Imax 2000 / Max 2000.
If the middle section is extended just a little bit, then maybe the Imax will get back to where it all started at about 3 x 8' sections or 24' feet.
Below, Copper Electronics has added a note to their ad spec sheet...one line item talking about a new modification to the middle section. I think Big Kahuna also mentioned this idea in his report.
https://www.copperelectronics.com/cart/Solarcon-IMAX-2000
If the middle section is extended just a little bit, then maybe the Imax will get back to where it all started at about 3 x 8' sections or 24' feet.
Below, Copper Electronics has added a note to their ad spec sheet...one line item talking about a new modification to the middle section. I think Big Kahuna also mentioned this idea in his report.
https://www.copperelectronics.com/cart/Solarcon-IMAX-2000
Interesting - so the factory told me they were considering lengthening the middle section but that hasn't happened yet so not sure what Copper is referencing.
BK, the link above from your report is what I read from you about lengthening the center section of the Imax.
A few days earlier I was scanning the Internet looking for dealers selling the Imax. Coppers pop-up first and I read their ad. It looked like new information about making the center section for the Imax longer, so I posted #297 the ad link in this thread as noted below.
New Imax wont tune 11m....this sucks
I was surprised to read a note from Coppers about lengthening the center section.
Later you posted your report and I noticed you also made a comment about lengthening the center section. At that point it seemed like a bit of confirmation for the story you reported, but now I'm not sure.
Sometimes it feels better to be totally confused.
.....
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So I guess the bottom line is the Imax 2000 are ok, the SWR's are ok and they work fine.I know mine does as does others.
ZERO (!!!) on an SWR meter,.....
Yeah, "those" people really are never satisified.....................
Jus Sayin
Yeah, "those" people really are never satisified.....................
Jus Sayin
The IMAX is freaking broadbanded. Even with ose inches les, it will perform as specs on 11 meter.
Another dory is how it wil deal in another band which is told works fine with original length. No big deal.
A little bit of SWR is ok since it doe no surpass 1.5 SWR. After that, you must take a look at your SWR meter.
Another dory is how it wil deal in another band which is told works fine with original length. No big deal.
A little bit of SWR is ok since it doe no surpass 1.5 SWR. After that, you must take a look at your SWR meter.
An update, I am on the air with my 2020 edition "max 2000" that posted earlier.
My swr is pretty flat across the board, the needle barely moves on my daiwa. It's only 10feet off the ground to the feedpoint and in a tree in the backyard.
-Chris