new Sirio Tornado review / update

[dave457]

There nice light antennas but very narrow banded

 

[Andrew McFadzean]

here it is if you don't want to read to 5 pages or so from my imax died thread:

so I had the maco 5/8 up for about 3 weeks, when I did the initial tuning of it before it went up on the tower it was misting rain out, swr was set very good, put it on the tower and started talking on it, results were good, but I noticed my swr had changed the next couple days when it dried out, so I climbed the tower and got the swr re-set, had to shorten it even more, the antenna was still working fine, but I noticed large swr changes when it was raining/damp out compared to other antenna's

I also didn't like the fact that after the final tuning the radiator was at less than 19' long, so I had some vaction time the last couple weeks, and had a sirio tornado 5/8 that I had ordered also.

so I set up the tornado and placed it on the tower that the maco was on, it tuned in very nice with the exact length given in the instructions and 22' long radiator with 4 6' ground planes, also this antenna is not dc shorted to ground/radials, it uses a nice open thick coil at the base. and rain does not seem to be changing the swr much at all

after using this antenna for the last week and a half I can say it works way better than the maco / imax / and (gainmaster that is tree mounted at 42')

and the proof:

my buddy that is around 30 miles from me has a grandson down the road from him that has a small radio set up, old un touched realistic ssb radio with a A99 about 10' off the ground only, on my imax and maco 5/8 I could here his grandson but with only 1 light lit up on my 2950dx, now with the sirio tornado I have him at 3 lights on my 2950 dx

and the guys that I have made contact with that are 100 miles south from me I have made several contact with and they are coming in with 1 more light than they used too, also with the maco / imax I could always here them talking to another guy on the iowa/Wisconsin border that I could not make out,, now with the sirio tornado I have the guy in iowa that is 130+ miles from me at 3 lights on my 2950dx and made contact with him no problem the last week several times in the evening.

Hi - How do you decide what length to adjust the ground planes please? Is there a calculation?

 

[222DBFL]

The ground plane radials are pre drilled on that antenna if memory serves me correctly. Just pull the inside length out and when it gets tight, or where it's supposed to be, you'll know. Then spin it to find the holes for the outer length of the radials and use the self tapping screws to put them together. Pretty sure that is how they go together. They are pre drilled on both outer and inner part of aluminum. The total length should be around 6ft. They aren't full 1/4 wave ones.
They are an Easy antenna to tune. Just takes some fine tuning to get it right. Start with the 1120mm measurement in the book and raise or lower tip for best match at desired frequency.
That and get it off the ground at least 30ft. or more and away from obstructions. JMHO's.
Also remeber that this is a very lightweight antenna and you will need to have a good plan in place for putting it up. Add a good 1:1 isolating balun and use good coax. Also a Low Pass Filter at the radio is a good idea. Again, just my experience with the Sirio Tornado. Good luck and be safe placing it up.

 

[Andrew McFadzean]

Thank you for the great advice - Im not familiar with a "Balun"!? and yes its going on a new 7m ali pole in my garden which takes it above the eaves - Great to know there is no adjustment needed on the radials. Its a brand new set up I have at my desk as I work from home on Trucks and Logistics just off A66 in Cumbria so want to keep in touch with truckers over as wide an area as possible, I did try some DX and CB in my younger days so its more of a play project that has already got out of hand and 5 times over budget!!! Hope the wife doesnt find out!! I just wend for RG58 coax as its only 5m required from my office window to Antenna - Look forward to posting some pics once it is up at weekend weather permitting. A

 

[Needle Bender]

Nope, not me. I'll never again use a non-DC Grounded antenna. I mean
WHY SHOULD I
when there's so many on the market which are DC shunted, and in being so, provide a pathway to ground for excessive atmospheric voltage build-up?

If a lightning strike hits only nearby - but close enough to heavily charge the local atmosphere, the residual post-strike voltage can be enough to damage a radio!
- The 1st IF & AGC are taking the brunt of the energy, how can this be good for a receiver designed to be so sensitive as to hear down to a 1/4 of a microvolt?

When there's a well-designed, well-constructed, DC shunted, full 1/4 wave radial, proven performance full 5/8 available, (namely the Penetrator SPT-500) WHY would anyone intentionally choose inferior performance?
- To $ave the equivalent of a half gallon of gas a week for a year, then have to live with the inferior construction, performance and shame of having done so for years to come, IF the whatever non-Penetrator hoozy-whachit antenna even survives that long?

We've often heard it said, "You get what you pay for",

but I've also heard it said,

"You deserve what you choose".

It's so awesome the Penetrator legacy has been resurrected and the SPT-500 makes it once again available. (...but for how long??? )

- How sad that people cheap-skate out for relative junk just to save the cost of a milkshake a month for a year

 

[camaro1]

yup my sirio tornado is packed away in the shed, it took out one radio ,,, during a snow storm the static build up from the snow/wind was enough for me to sit and watch the pl259 on the end on my coax arc and spark like crazy

you can add a shorted tuning stub to bleed of the charge, but I just took it down, other wise it did work very well

 

[Needle Bender]

yup my sirio tornado is packed away in the shed, it took out one radio ,,, during a snow storm the static build up from the snow/wind was enough for me to sit and watch the pl259 on the end on my coax arc and spark like crazy

you can add a shorted tuning stub to bleed of the charge, but I just took it down, other wise it did work very well

What are you replacing it with?

 

[camaro1]

its been down for a while now, that was before I got my ham lic. now I have 2m,6m and a A99 on the tower at about 50' and multiple wire antenna's and my sirio Gainmaster is still up in a tree about 40' to the base of antenna(going on 5yrs or so) so those are what I use now on 11m when im on

 

[Andrew McFadzean]

The ground plane radials are pre drilled on that antenna if memory serves me correctly. Just pull the inside length out and when it gets tight, or where it's supposed to be, you'll know. Then spin it to find the holes for the outer length of the radials and use the self tapping screws to put them together. Pretty sure that is how they go together. They are pre drilled on both outer and inner part of aluminum. The total length should be around 6ft. They aren't full 1/4 wave ones.
They are an Easy antenna to tune. Just takes some fine tuning to get it right. Start with the 1120mm measurement in the book and raise or lower tip for best match at desired frequency.
That and get it off the ground at least 30ft. or more and away from obstructions. JMHO's.
Also remeber that this is a very lightweight antenna and you will need to have a good plan in place for putting it up. Add a good 1:1 isolating balun and use good coax. Also a Low Pass Filter at the radio is a good idea. Again, just my experience with the Sirio Tornado. Good luck and be safe placing it up.

Got it assembled today and spent some time taping up every joint and screw/nut with the special black tape - Looked amazing but used some T-cut to get it extra shiney and set it up on patio -
SWR straight away...
Cept FM
C1 1:1.7
C20 1:1.4
C40 1:1.2
UK FM
C1 1:1.15
C20 1:1.0 - Perfect
C40 1:1.4
I could not be happier - Tomorrow it goes up on 7m ali pole so all going well will post pics soon
Thank you for your support

 

[undertaker]

I love my sirio tornado I live in west texas where the winds blows all the time. No problems at all..

 

[Andrew McFadzean]

Cant tell you how pleased I am with this antenna - perfect SWR 1:1 from installation - View looking East Across Cumbria on A66 - Its already been windy here today and although antenna sways nice in the wind the pole only moves slightly just outside my office window.

 

[dave457]

What kind of coax you got there? Rg58, looks pretty thin

 

[Andrew McFadzean]

What kind of coax you got there? Rg58, looks pretty thin

RG58 Military with sealed plugs - Its only 5m to rig so i guessed it would be fine - Only running standard 4w at moment

 

[Andrew McFadzean]

Sirio New Tornado 27 stood up to a battering in strong wind yesterday here in Cumbria

 

[543_Dallas]

A friend of mine has an old penetrator that has survived a tornado, been blown over twice, had the coax connector burned out with too much power, we dropped it on his van before it was blown over the second time.

He has a beam now and gave it to another guy that is just getting started. Even without the accidents just being put up in Texas for over 20 years says a lot for it.