I am looking to up grade from my Patriot-12 to a better antenna (omnidirectional) what do you guys recommend and I am not looking to shoot skip. I live in the mountains and it's kinda rough to get out local.
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What is the best omnidirectional antenna-BASE
- Thread starter hammer0630
- Start date
the Vector 4000 is great, but seeing that you live in the catskills you may get some harsh weather you may wanna take a look at the 10K intercepter both the 10K & Vector 4000 will get you out well. but nothing is worse then being snowed or iced inside for a couple days and wanna be able to rag chew or talk dx but look up and your antenna is iced over on the ground,snapped in half or just plain broken.
i dont know how deep into the mountains you are so maybe a little higher toa then a vector i10k or penetrater will give you would be better for your location.
if your handy with tools you can build your own 1/2 wave like a starduster by using the guy wires as the bottom half radials and a real sturdy 8 foot 8 inch tube for the driven element. all you have to do is hook the center of the coax to the bottom of the 8 foot 8 inch verticle element and the shield to the top guy wires which go down about 9 feet to insulaters. make sure you use alot of liquid electrical tape to waterproof and seal the coax from the elements
you shouldnt need a matching network and your swrs should be close to 1:1.
some people make a tight 10 turn copper coil about 1 inch diameter shorting across the base of the antenna element to ground for static discharge which can help make it quieter to.
id use solid fiberglass rod to mount and insulate the verticle element from ground
if you just want to by an antenna then the penetrater for $150 or the gainmaster for $180 are my favorites but the gainmaster has to be well above any metal or non-insulated guy wires and well away from other antennas or big trees or it will not perform as good as the penetrater
if your handy with tools you can build your own 1/2 wave like a starduster by using the guy wires as the bottom half radials and a real sturdy 8 foot 8 inch tube for the driven element. all you have to do is hook the center of the coax to the bottom of the 8 foot 8 inch verticle element and the shield to the top guy wires which go down about 9 feet to insulaters. make sure you use alot of liquid electrical tape to waterproof and seal the coax from the elements
you shouldnt need a matching network and your swrs should be close to 1:1.
some people make a tight 10 turn copper coil about 1 inch diameter shorting across the base of the antenna element to ground for static discharge which can help make it quieter to.
id use solid fiberglass rod to mount and insulate the verticle element from ground
if you just want to by an antenna then the penetrater for $150 or the gainmaster for $180 are my favorites but the gainmaster has to be well above any metal or non-insulated guy wires and well away from other antennas or big trees or it will not perform as good as the penetrater
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Interceptor I-10K hands down the best..
Why..
Several antennas perform well to get signal out..
far fewer however are built like the I-10K and can withstand the type of weather it can..
as far as i know..it is currently the only antenna still made..that performs excellent and is excellent survival for even extreme weather
Why..
Several antennas perform well to get signal out..
far fewer however are built like the I-10K and can withstand the type of weather it can..
as far as i know..it is currently the only antenna still made..that performs excellent and is excellent survival for even extreme weather
Double ditto on N/B`s above post.
There are times when a Low TOA will result in LESS performance if that signal is simply slamming into the side of the Hills around your location.
I found that out while living down in a small valley up here in the Sierras...I have it posted in a different area, but running a 1/4 wave antenna and one of Jays I 10K`s at the same location often, the 1/4 wave had better performance, this was even more noticeable in DX than local conditions.
73
Jeff
You know, that 'TOA' is a slippery thingy. It's nice to have, but not all signals arrive at a low 'TOA', some of the time they sort of 'drop' in on you for whatever reason. I know that I like a praticular type of antenna that is purported to have a very high 'TOA'. It seems to have done about as well as any other, and in an instance or two it's certainly 'bested' them low 'TOA' antennas. It depends to a great extent on how/where an antenna is placed. Not all places are equivalent to each other, so you have to see what works for you (and what doesn't).
The only suggestion I can give is to try a few different 'kinds' of antennas, see what works for you in your particular circumstances. It doesn't matter who makes it, or what kind of antenna it is, if it works, it works.
- 'Doc
The only suggestion I can give is to try a few different 'kinds' of antennas, see what works for you in your particular circumstances. It doesn't matter who makes it, or what kind of antenna it is, if it works, it works.
- 'Doc