New Sirio Gain Master 11/10 meter Antenna!!!???!!!

[W4WXP]

So, I've heard about this new 11/10 meter Sirio Gainmaster Antenna.... any of you know anything about it?

It's supposed to be a 'Center Fed Vertical Dipole' per the specs.... but still looks like an end fed vertical ala the Imax 2000..

http://www.scorpiontechnology.ie/ind...in-master.html <--- specs

I havent heard any reviews about it, except of course form "CBRADIOLOVER" on You tube (LMAO!) who says 'it can drop the maul on them there inferior ham antennas' or something akin to his usual redneck CB ham-bashing jargon... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhL2x52feUw

So how would this antenna work compared to an Imax? It's 5/8 length...

???

[WB2WIK]

If I had a snake who needed any oil...

[W4WXP]

If I had a snake who needed any oil...

I dunno. I saw a video a bit ago where I think m0ogy in the UK tested it and it outpreformed another vertical by quite a bit. Shouldn't a center fed Dipole work better than a Imax of the same length due to no ground loss?

[2E0OZI]

Dropping the maul eh? Dont they know the IRB Laws forbid this?!

[W4WXP]

Dropping the maul eh? Dont they know the IRB Laws forbid this?!

Tell that to the guys from the 'Channel 6 Superbowl' here in the states! Those guys run 10,000+ watts from their CARS, much less their Base Stations, and the FCC does NOTHING!

[W4AFB]

Some of my 11 meter constituents really are happy with the performance. Claim that they are out performing some of the popular 5/8 wave verticals out there. Only draw back is they are limited to like 500 watts.

[WB2WIK]

I dunno. I saw a video a bit ago where I think m0ogy in the UK tested it and it outpreformed another vertical by quite a bit. Shouldn't a center fed Dipole work better than a Imax of the same length due to no ground loss?

I can generally make anything outperform anything else if I try.

I don't see how it's a center-fed dipole. They say the radiator is "wire" encased in fibreglas tubing, with a coaxial RF choke at the bottom (which is the only thing you can see in the picture).

The only way to make a "center fed dipole" with a coaxial feedline that exits the bottom is to make the bottom half out of tubing, and run the coax up inside that. Otherwise, the coax would have to exit from the center. However, a 1/2-wave end-fed vertical, if you can match it and decouple it, would have exactly the same radiation pattern as a 1/2-wave vertical dipole fed in the center. The problem is matching and decoupling.

[W4WXP]

I can generally make anything outperform anything else if I try.

I don't see how it's a center-fed dipole. They say the radiator is "wire" encased in fibreglas tubing, with a coaxial RF choke at the bottom (which is the only thing you can see in the picture).

The only way to make a "center fed dipole" with a coaxial feedline that exits the bottom is to make the bottom half out of tubing, and run the coax up inside that. Otherwise, the coax would have to exit from the center. However, a 1/2-wave end-fed vertical, if you can match it and decouple it, would have exactly the same radiation pattern as a 1/2-wave vertical dipole fed in the center. The problem is matching and decoupling.

From the videos, it does appear to have a coax section you have to loop (or something) in the bottom, and it goes up the antenna. Thing is, this is supposed to be a 5/8 wave? O_o

[W4WXP]

I can generally make anything outperform anything else if I try.

I don't see how it's a center-fed dipole. They say the radiator is "wire" encased in fibreglas tubing, with a coaxial RF choke at the bottom (which is the only thing you can see in the picture).

The only way to make a "center fed dipole" with a coaxial feedline that exits the bottom is to make the bottom half out of tubing, and run the coax up inside that. Otherwise, the coax would have to exit from the center. However, a 1/2-wave end-fed vertical, if you can match it and decouple it, would have exactly the same radiation pattern as a 1/2-wave vertical dipole fed in the center. The problem is matching and decoupling.

Here you go, this seems to have an internal/electrical diagram and a radiation pattern as you scroll down the page. . . . . What do you make of it?

http://www.cbradiomagazine.com/Anten...r%20Review.htm

[WB2WIK]

Looks like a modified and not quite properly done coaxial vertical. "Properly done" wouldn't need the RF choke at the base and would use the coax run up inside tubing for the bottom half of the antenna, with the coax outer conductor bonded to that at the top of the tubing. That "skirt" decouples the coax fine and becomes an efficient radiator. Very old design, stuff like this has been around since the 1940s or 50s.

But they didn't do that.

What they did probably works fine; but consider that their "claim" is 0.6 dB more gain than a conventional end-fed 5/8-WL vertical. That may be entirely true. Who can measure or hear 0.6 dB? Second to second changes in propagation are greater than that. To compare two antennas for HF that are 0.6 dB apart would be such a close race, nobody'd know the difference.

The antenna seems a bit overpriced for what it is, also. It's only made from coax, a connector, a capacitor, and fibreglas tubing. I could make one for $30.