Sirio Gainmaster 5/8 wave antenna.

[UDX-4570]

Question: If you own a Sirio Gainmaster 5/8 wave base antenna, what height do you have it mounted?.

I own a Sirio Gainmaster 5/8 wave antenna and currently have the base (feed point) 4' from the earth ground, the antenna is mounted on a cast iron patio umbrella stand, which sounds silly, but true, and have made contacts World Wide, well almost, and a true 1:1 match and are using a 75' loosely coiled length of Messi & Paolini Hyperflex 10 coax.

Lately I've been reading about mounting heights regarding this Gainmaster and are considering mounting the antenna on a 30'f aluminum push up mast to see if the performance will increase. Some say their Gainmaster performs better locally at high altitudes, but performance drops in the DX category, and vise versa for DX work.

Sirio states the Gainmaster must be atleast 5'f to 10'f above the roofline for "Optimal" performance.

With all that being said, for the current owners of this particular antenna,what is your best advice for getting the most out of this base antenna?.

Thanks for reading!
UDX-4570 Palm Springs,CA ️

 

[wavrider]

BEST height depends on how high you want to go and what the Wife , neighbors, and budget will tolerate.
most like to go one wavelength AGL 36'(ft.) for 11 meters.
27mhz is line of sight for local comms. higher is better for Local talk.
DX, mother nature is deciding factor for that. Whole nother topic..
Most important is install is safe and you are having fun.

 

[UDX-4570]

BEST height depends on how high you want to go and what the Wife , neighbors, and budget will tolerate.
most like to go one wavelength AGL 36" for 11 meters.
27mhz is line of sight for local comms. higher is better for Local talk.
DX, mother nature is deciding factor for that. Whole nother topic..
Most important is install is safe and you are having fun.

I can appreciate your comment,very well said!!!
Thank you!
73 UDX-4570 Palm Springs,CA

 

[Riverman]

Question: If you own a Sirio Gainmaster 5/8 wave base antenna, what height do you have it mounted?.

Can’t speak to the 5/8, but I ran the 1/2 wave version at 16’ and it worked great for both local and DX.

 

[Troy Gogan]

I have a 5/8th wave, its on a12foot pole on the chimney. Have talked almost all over the states - Canada - South America - The Caribbean - most of Europe - Middle East - parts of Africa - Australia and the Far East all from a Gainmaster 5/8th wave use 100 watts. I have also a 2TLT 5/8th antenna it’s with a 10 m telescopic pole a homemade version of the Gainmaster. I use it portable and mobile coverage is 12m 11m & 10m.

 

[roscoePcoltrane]

Can’t speak to the 5/8, but I ran the 1/2 wave version at 16’ and it worked great for both local and DX.
View attachment 65673

looks very clean

 

[hotrod]

Question: If you own a Sirio Gainmaster 5/8 wave base antenna, what height do you have it mounted?.

I own a Sirio Gainmaster 5/8 wave antenna and currently have the base (feed point) 4' from the earth ground, the antenna is mounted on a cast iron patio umbrella stand, which sounds silly, but true, and have made contacts World Wide, well almost, and a true 1:1 match and are using a 75' loosely coiled length of Messi & Paolini Hyperflex 10 coax.

Lately I've been reading about mounting heights regarding this Gainmaster and are considering mounting the antenna on a 30'f aluminum push up mast to see if the performance will increase. Some say their Gainmaster performs better locally at high altitudes, but performance drops in the DX category, and vise versa for DX work.

Sirio states the Gainmaster must be atleast 5'f to 10'f above the roofline for "Optimal" performance.

With all that being said, for the current owners of this particular antenna,what is your best advice for getting the most out of this base antenna?.

Thanks for reading!
UDX-4570 Palm Springs,CA ️

well i believe ya answered ya own question.. ideally 36 to the feedpoint or bottom of antenna is ideal..but also setup like ya currently got it is better for dx ..and higher is better for local...so the real question is do want better local or dx??far as dx i think it appears to me its working quite well.

 

[BC Coyote]

Hotrod is right, the minimum base station antenna height for ANY comms on 11 meters is 36 feet to the bottom of the actual antenna.
For DX you can mount it lower, and many people do, even using extremely short poles, but no antenna is working at full efficiency until it is one wavelength off the ground, which is 36 feet on the CB band.
If DXing is all you do, getting the antenna up higher than 36 feet won't make all that much difference unless it helps you get above a nearby blockage such as a large building, or a thick grove of trees.

For LOCAL comms the higher you can get it the better it will perform, 36 feet should be considered the minimum acceptable height. For local height is might.

All this is the reason so many folks have an antenna at around 40 or 50 feet to the base......It will work well for both local and DX at that height.

 

[w9cll]

Hotrod is right, the minimum base station antenna height for ANY comms on 11 meters is 36 feet to the bottom of the actual antenna.
For DX you can mount it lower, and many people do, even using extremely short poles, but no antenna is working at full efficiency until it is one wavelength off the ground, which is 36 feet on the CB band.
If DXing is all you do, getting the antenna up higher than 36 feet won't make all that much difference unless it helps you get above a nearby blockage such as a large building, or a thick grove of trees.

For LOCAL comms the higher you can get it the better it will perform, 36 feet should be considered the minimum acceptable height. For local height is might.

All this is the reason so many folks have an antenna at around 40 or 50 feet to the base......It will work well for both local and DX at that height.

It very common to ground mount a multi-band vertical antenna on the ham bands, but for 11 meter (VHF/UHF as well) ground wave comms higher is better