Shakespeare 5223 Marine CB Antenna

[Rick330man]

Does anyone have any experience with these? I have two of them.

The top section of my A99 got knocked around pretty well and stripped the threads. Compliance with property and zoning regulations here pretty much require that a stick antenna be used. I had a Radio Shack Archer crossbow 1/2 wave for many years. After just under 40 years of use that antenna gave all it could. The A99 replaced it. Performance was solid but my environment wasn't friendly to it. I decided to go with something a bit more rigid and solid feeling, so the 5223 just went up. I have another one on my boat.

The one thing that stands out is how narrow banded this thing is. Truly a pain to tune. The SWR curve is steep.

The specs say unity gain end fed half wave. I'm curious to see how this holds up in the elements of my Florida Keys environment.

Any experience anyone has had with these antenna is appreciated.

 

[Alexis Mercado]

I think it is the best base antennas for CB. By chance, did you analize it with an antenna analyzer? It’s to see how the reactance is.

 

[AudioShockwav]

I have used other Shakespeare antennas in the past and they were very rugged.
We used to install them on Bayrunner and Westcoaster boats all the time.

73
Jeff

 

[Rick330man]

I have a Rig Expert AA-35 analyzer, so "yes".

 

[Alexis Mercado]

I have a Rig Expert AA-35 analyzer, so "yes".

Can you give us the numbers? ( frecuency , SWR, R&X, J )

 

[Rick330man]

Can you give us the numbers? ( frecuency , SWR, R&X, J )

Unfortunately, not any more. When I set it up, the antenna gave me an almost flat SWR on 27.330. It went up to 2.64 on channel 1 and 1.34 on channel 40. Resonance was at 27.435. Keep in mind that those figures came after several hours of tweaking. I was not going to mess with it any further. Things went bad within 24 hours. The day after I installed the antenna, SWRs were in the 7 range.

I'm pretty disappointed and will be taking down the antenna today. I'm just going to replace it with a simple, reliable and resonant 102" whip with a counterpoise.

 

[AudioShockwav]

Unfortunately, not any more. When I set it up, the antenna gave me an almost flat SWR on 27.330. It went up to 2.64 on channel 1 and 1.34 on channel 40. Resonance was at 27.435. Keep in mind that those figures came after several hours of tweaking. I was not going to mess with it any further. Things went bad within 24 hours. The day after I installed the antenna, SWRs were in the 7 range.

I'm pretty disappointed and will be taking down the antenna today. I'm just going to replace it with a simple, reliable and resonant 102" whip with a counterpoise.

Interesting, did you buy it new?
Have you contacted Shakespeare about this?
I worked for Hulls Inc when I was young and we often installed Shakespeare Marine antennas on bigger boats like 22' Bayrunner's and I can't remember any that did not tune properly.
As much as they cost the manufacturer should make it right if it's not working properly.
I know that the marine antennas had two year warranty back then because we sent the paper work with the boats.

73
Jeff

 

[AudioShockwav]

Here is the web site

Marine Antennas Limited Warranty – Shakespeare Marine

Contact – Shakespeare Marine

73
Jeff

 

[Crawdad]

When I set it up, the antenna gave me an almost flat SWR on 27.330.

What is a flat SWR on a single frequency??

 

[Rick330man]

@Crawdad

1.02:1

 

[SuperLid]

Does anyone have any experience with these? I have two of them.

The top section of my A99 got knocked around pretty well and stripped the threads. Compliance with property and zoning regulations here pretty much require that a stick antenna be used. I had a Radio Shack Archer crossbow 1/2 wave for many years. After just under 40 years of use that antenna gave all it could. The A99 replaced it. Performance was solid but my environment wasn't friendly to it. I decided to go with something a bit more rigid and solid feeling, so the 5223 just went up. I have another one on my boat.

The one thing that stands out is how narrow banded this thing is. Truly a pain to tune. The SWR curve is steep.

The specs say unity gain end fed half wave. I'm curious to see how this holds up in the elements of my Florida Keys environment.

Any experience anyone has had with these antenna is appreciated.

I have some of them here. Very much a compromise, loaded 1/2 wave, no ground plane antenna.

 

[Rick330man]

Interesting, did you buy it new?
Have you contacted Shakespeare about this?
I worked for Hulls Inc when I was young and we often installed Shakespeare Marine antennas on bigger boats like 22' Bayrunner's and I can't remember any that did not tune properly.
As much as they cost the manufacturer should make it right if it's not working properly.
I know that the marine antennas had two year warranty back then because we sent the paper work with the boats.

73
Jeff

The antenna is over 10 years old. I purchased it new and had it stored away until recently because of some health issues.