To me it just did not have the receive that the older original model did I also have a cte lw-150 sitting in my backyard same wit ht hat one just no much on the receive side, maybe I was doing something wrong? I dunno
24, your story has an amazing resonance in my ears. Long ago I ordered three, what I though were Sigma 4, antennas from Charlies Airways near Houston. I had them sent to three guys, one that I knew personally.
The guy I knew, got his antenna and said it had a fluted bottom section as I understood it. We lost our friendship over that antenna...even though I offered him all of his money back, including shipping. He said this antenna has no ears, but it seemed to talk OK. However, he swore "...I can't hear a damn thing compared to my A99...that is mounted about 30' lower at the tip."
He never returned the antenna and I never refunded him his money. He died, way too young, hating me with a furry.
One of the other guy's also claimed the antenna was no good, but would not describe why, and he too would not agree to a return.
I often heard the third guy talking on his CTE antenna, but he never complained. I always figured he had nothing to compare.
I have though about this over the years, and have only one suggestion, based on what my one time friend Tex told at me as he described his problem.
I told him I had never physically seen the antenna he described, although it sounded somewhat similar to the Sigma4 which he wanted. He said it was about 31' feet long, and that he made it as long as possible, just because it was in the damn box. I told him I think the antenna was designed to work 10,11,12 meters, and I think it said that right on the box. So, that meant it was adjustable as to frequency and that length mattered. I then suggested that the length may be too long, but that pissed him off even more.
I often wondered if his antenna was just set too long, and I base that on an article that Bob85 posted some years ago to help him support his idea about varying the length of his modified Sirio Vector 4000. The article claimed that the current distribution of an open sleeve antenna with a length/sleeve ratio that was more than 3.2:1 wavelengths would begin producing the typical maximum high angle lobes for a 3/4 wavelength ground plane antenna.
24, maybe if your antenna is near 31' long it exceeds this ratio, and the gamma match adjustment used is not mitigating the problem for good resonance. I can't be sure, but this is what I've thought over time.
There is more considering reciprocal theory with antennas, but I'll leave that for another discussion.
I also agree with Robb. The antenna I describe above did not have the top hat circular basket either.
I believe what Sirio did was make the length of the radial cone longer, and make the radiator a bit shorter. Their claim was this provided the same gain/angle with a shorter length overall antenna. Some of the original models of this antenna were famous in parts of Europe for failing due to wind, so maybe Sirio wanted to help minimized that problem. They also made a much better set of instructions, that I think if followed to the tee, probably won't miss the mark of a good tune. Check it close, like Robb suggested.
We don't hear many reports from guys that own this NV4K, but the antenna should produce very good results.
Good luck and keep us posted
