Procomm/Protron PT-99

[BammBamm]

I found online a PT-99 base antenna and after reading the page realized the shop was in Crete Illinois which isn't far from my home so I called and found that I could pick this up in person and save the shipping and he had 2 in stock. So yesterday I went and bought one for $55. Upon purchase I noticed how light the box was but after opening it I found the antenna is only 5 pounds and is a 4 piece antenna with tuning rings similar to the A-99. I gave it 2 coats of flat black enamel paint and installed it this morning with the included clamps. I mounted it on 1 3/4" Steel mast at about 40' to the base. I am feeding this with 75' of LMR-400 and it is connected to a switch box. After install I found SWR to be 1.4 on channel 1 and 1.1 on channel 40 close enough for me as I tend to use 38LSB. The receive is very quite and locals have told me it is about 1db less than my Sirio But where I showed 9db receive with the Sirio the PT-99 showed about 7-8. The Sirio is higher in the air though. The PT-99 is said to be 9.9dbi gain and able to take 2000 watts well so far I have put full power from my 500 watt amp into it and it is still going strong and the SWR doesn't change with or without my amp on! I feel this antenna is out performing my old A-99 and will continue to use it off and on until spring when it will be going to my cabin in Michigan to be mounted on a tower. Just thought I would share my findings. by the way the shop I got it from can be found on e bay it's abetterwaytobuy and the guy sells all kinds of electronic stuff. Thanks for reading and feel free to comment.

 

[Robb]

http://www.worldwidedx.com/cb-antennas/27661-procomm-proton-pt99-base-antenna.html

 

[TexasOutlaw]

I have one as well as an Antron 99. The Procomm did not hold up very well though. The third section broke after it was hit with some high winds. I also have some parts to an earlier Antron as well. Looking at getting an all metal antenna next.

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

the 9.9dbi gain is just marketing hype/lies . no omni base antenna will give you that much gain . you also went from a 5/8 wl antenna with ground elements to a 1/2 wl with no ground elements and the 1/2 wave is lower in height so its both an inferior antenna compared to your sirio 2016 and its also further disadvantaged because its at a lower height .

The Ultimate Guide to 11 Meter CB Antennas

dont be too concerned about s-meter readings , they can vary greatly .

 

[BammBamm]

I would like to put it up higher booty but we have about 2 foot of snow here in Chicago. And I'm a big baby about the cold!

 

[W5LZ]

Just keep in mind that you are comparing two different types/length antennas, they will not perform exactly the same. All things considered, what you are seeing is ~probably~ about normal.
Gain figures and advertising. That's not something you want to take as 'gospel' for most manufacturers. That 1/2 wave antenna is the 'size' that all antennas are compared to, the 'standard', so how can it have any gain when compared to it's self? Compare it to something else as the standard? Okay, but what's that 'something else'? See where that's going?
And power 'ratings'. That's another thing you don't want to put a huge amount of 'faith' in all by it's self. There are just too many things that affect how much power any antenna will handle. Those power 'quotes' are for the absolute best case kind of situations, tuning, resonance, impedance matching etc. Don't know about you, but I very seldom ever have 'ideal' situations.
- 'Doc

 

[W5DMG]

I just bought one of these antennas. I had been searching for reviews on this antenna and all searches led to this forum.
I live in an apartment that does not tolerate external antennas unless they are small and a small deposit is required.
However I have 3 small vhf and uhf antennas installed and they have yet to ask me for a deposit, so I am happy.
I was looking for a 10 meter antenna that I could quickly put up and take down with ease and very little time involved.
Most of the antennas I have looked at are made up of either 3 6ft pieces or 4 7ft pieces.
So I had been looking for one that had pieces that were shorter than me.
The Proton PT99 is the one that has shorter pieces. Making it a whole lot easier to set up and tear down on my balcony.
Seems most people think this antenna is a half wave. I was thinking it was a 3/4 wave. Since it is a half wave over a quarter wave coil.
I ordered the antenna yesterday from FTL Distrubiting and will arrive on Friday. I plan on painting it black.
http://files.qrz.com/g/w5dmg/2012_01_13_17_36_04_228.jpg

 

[W5LZ]

"I was thinking it was a 3/4 wave. Since it is a half wave over a quarter wave coil."
Sorry, there's no such thing as a "quarter wave coil". That coil at the bottom of the antenna is an impedance matching network just like an 'A99's. It does not add any length to the antenna. The length of the antenna starts where that impedance matching device ends, at the top of the coil/matching network. Your antenna is still a 1/2 wave length long and will act/radiate like a 1/2 wave end fed antenna.
- 'Doc

 

[AudioShockwav]

there's no such thing as a "quarter wave coil"

In the case of that antenna, and the A99/Imax 2000 antennas, yes it is used as part of the matching network.
It is a common misconception that you can unwind a ( for example) a coil in a center loaded antenna and the length will be the "missing " length of a 1/4 wave or 5/8 wave antenna.



This is From Tom`s (W8JI) Web page that can be found @ Mobile antennas, short verticals, loading coil loss,and loading coil current

Common myths about inductor behavior:


We often find inexperienced builders of 5/8th wl antennas think the "loading coil" needs to contain 1/8th wavelength of wire in order to make the 5/8th wave antenna a "3/4wl resonant antenna". They think, through wire length alone, the wire creates a low feed impedance by making the antenna three-quarters of a wave long electrically. In other cases claims are made one half-wave of wire wound on a compact form causes a 180-degree current delay, making a compact coil useful for phasing in a collinear array.

The basic flaw is the above ideas do not account for what actually occurs in a coil. The flawed viewpoint is current goes in one end, winds its way around through the physical length of wire in the coil, and after a time delay caused by the copper path length current appears at the other end. There is a physical mechanism that prevents what we might intuitively think happens from actually happening. A coil or loading inductor has magnetic mutual coupling between turns. The physical mechanism is the magnetic field in the coil!

What Really Happens

When current flows in the transmitter-end of the coil, a magnetic field is created. This time-varying magnetic field causes charges in the other turns to instantly move. This effect ripples through the length of the coil at light-speed, just over 186,000 miles per second. As long as the magnetic flux coupling is high, the delay through the coil is the speed of light over the physical length of the coil. In an inductor with good flux coupling from end-to-end, the electrical time delay in current is very close to the physical length of the coil expressed in degrees at the operating frequency. Note that this time delay is NOT the phase relationship between voltage and current, but the delay time of current appearing at each inductor terminal. More on this appears later in this text.

Tom Has loads of good reading on his Antenna pages.


73
Jeff

 

[W5DMG]

Ok well maybe I did not word it right. I have never taken any electronics classes so I don't know the proper terminology.
But it is theoretically possible to use a loading coil to electrically reduce the length of an antenna.
A friend wanted an 80 meter dipole in his back yard, but did not have the room for 2 65ft legs, so he opted for a shorter version that had 2 loading coils which reduced the overall length.
Tom W8JI needs an interpreter to put his info into laymans terms for us idiots that never took electronics classes.

 

[AudioShockwav]

I was quoting Doc, but don`t worry about the proper terms.
When I first started playing radio, I was convinced that a loading coil did "make up the length" of the Antenna, took me a bit to grasp the concept.
W8JI has some really good reading on his web pages.


73
Jeff

 

[W5DMG]

"Extraterrestrial Admin". So Jeff what is it AMSAT or SETI.? :drool:
I am an AMSAT member that also processes SETI data.
Actually I am the AMSAT Founder for SETI.

 

[AudioShockwav]

Lol, No I am not a AMSAT Member, and although I have visited Berkeley, and I have always loved science, I have never been to the SETI Institute.
Are you part of the SETI@home project?
If I understand correctly, it allows the project to use individual`s home computers to create sort of a giant "supercomputer" that is all connected together, and helps to analyze data collected from radio telescopes used in search of signals from other worlds.
Am I close?
As for Tom`s web pages......I read them and go away and try to wrap my head around it, and come back and read some more....I doubt I will EVER fully understand antennas the way some do, but I do my best to try.


73
Jeff

 

[Zman]

I just gave mine to a friend of mine who has it mounted on his garage. It works quite well.

 

[W5DMG]

I own that, and have assembled many of the Ringos over the years including the 10m model.

It does "work," but has serious common mode issues because it really, really needs radials! You might note that the 2m high-performance version of that same antenna, Cushcraft model ARX-2B, does have radials -- and boy, do they help...a lot.

They didn't use them on the 6m and 10m versions only to minimize cost and the amount of space required for installation; but with the 10m Ringo, the mast you mount it on becomes a single radial (which does help, to some extent) below the feedpoint. If the mast is 1/4-wave long (about 8-1/4 feet), the antenna acts like a offset-fed dipole and does pretty well. If the mast is some other length, the outer conductor of the coaxial feedline becomes an undesired radial and causes problems for most. If mounted on something non-conductive like PVC or wood, the feedline always becomes an undesired radial and the antenna can, depending on line length and orientation, have a lot less than 0 dBd gain. It could have -6 dBd gain, easily; and often does that.

I am curious if the Proton uses the mast in the same way as the Ringo, since the Proton has no radials.