Back into it after 25 yrs

titan · #72373

Have a few general questions since it's been so long. I was really into CB from about 6th grade until 11th grade. I sold my traded off my SBE Console II and all my other gear. I had always missed that SBE so two nights ago I found a mint condition one and picked it up on out of the blue. So now I need to get an antenna, SWR meter, etc. I used to run a 5/8 wave GP antenna and a Starduster at one point. Not sure what the newest stuff is?? The radio will be here next week, am I correct that I should not power it on unless there is an antenna hooked up?? I just want to ensure it works. I think I am going to also pick up a 40 channel radio also. My old SBE came to me with a 10k slider and extra channels including 24-40. I had a Turner Super Sidekick mic, but I have a line on one of those too.

Anything else I need?

thanks!

#72377

I wouldn't power that thing up w/out an antenna. If I was you, knowing what little I know, I would purchase an antenna from one of the forums sponsoring shops. I have found that they are all honest and very helpful!! Your product is only as good as the dealer that sells it!!!! Sparky, RadioActive, The CB Shop, all of these guys have countless reviews of praise! I'm sure that I have even overlooked some. (SORRY FELLAS)!! As you become more familiar w/ this site I believe that you will be happy that you purchased from one of these guys! Good luck and welcome back!! Fat Kat

#72419

Just turning the radio on won't hurt it, just don't key up the radio. As far as antennas go... The Imax-2000 is pretty hot and cheap at around $65.00-$85.00 it is a .65 wave antenna. You could spend some more money and go with a I-10K but, your looking at around $300.00. As far as meters go, it seems to be personnel preference. You will need to get some coax and coax jumpers. Good luck

#72428

Ya like KI says, you can turn it on but don't key the mike. Good luck with you new rig!

#72440

I second the IMAX 2000---(now called just MAX 2000) -- Get the Ground Plane Kit too and you won't need to worry about TVI and stuff according to my experience with it so far. It's worth the extra 40 bucks. Radioactiveradio.com offers them along with high quality coax. Michael and staff are quite helpful and easy to deal with.

Have Fun!

Tech307 · #72734

Leave the junk fiberglass antenna at the store and get you one of the new copy's of the astroplane or sigma4 hands down either one will out take anything else on the market today as far as groundplanes go.

titan · #72744

Where would I find a copy of a Sigma 4?

Tech307 · #72747

i think copper sells them

titan · #72753

Is **Sensored** store?

#72756

Did he mean cop-pers?

Tech307 · #72757

Yes i did mean that.

doctor · #73465

I would stay away from fiberglass antennas, get a astro plane ct astro plane it is better constructed, the pipe company is flimsy, and good coax from one of the sponsors.
Try your radio when you have the antenna up and coax connected..
doctor

KW KID · #83004

Don't bother with the sigma 4. Its too ugly/heavy/long vs. gain. I did a test back to back vs. a 5/8 wave and it was only less than .25 S unit better. Even the A99 vs. 5/8 was only 2/3S unit difference.

An A99 10 feet higher than a sigma will make up the difference, because height above ground makes more of a difference than the antenna difference does.

An A99 without a ground plane is very nice astetically.

Where in So cal are you!! I'm in Orange county!

fireball894 · #83544

I second the A99 as well.

MOONSHINER · #83554

get an imax 2000, and no, you dont need the extra ground plane kit. the antenna is already a .64 wave, the ground plane wont do a damn thing.

KW KID · #83776

I read up on the Imax, and it appears to be a pretty good antenna. Seems to be kinda long though (24 feet!), (A99 is about 17 feet). Here are some good articles to read..
http://www.video-observer.com ... ax2000.htm

http://www.eham.net/reviews/d ... 376?page=2
Antron ......................... average S-6

Imax 2000 .................... average S-8

Hy-Gain 500 Alum 5/8 ... average S-9 to S-9+3dB

lonewolf · #83901

Yeah i have the ground plane on my imaxx and don't see much if any difference.

Night Crawler · #83904

The ground plane radials in the kit for the imax 2000 are 6ft in length for 11 meters
they should be at least 104 inches or about 8 1/2 feet there not going to do anything.

JerryH · #83910

I was doing a search and found a place online that was giving out the full specs to build a Mooraker. As I recall, that was one of the best directional antennas around ever (Yagi-based design).

Someone thats a HAM would have no troubles throwing it together in a pleasant afternoon. Now that would be something to do if you had a bit more than a passing interest in CB... otherwise, I would say about any base antenna will do the job for what you would need.

Shakedown101 · #83913

titan wrote:Is **Sensored** store?

Without a Doubt Aluminum out Performs Fiberglass antennas , One of the best on the market is a Spectrum 1600
Groundplane ..Commonly referred to as a bicycle wheel antenna , These things hear unbeleivable and handle 2500 long winded watts . I can atest to that .. Dont fail to get the big coax , I prefer RG-213U Mil-Spec coax for the money
The loss of running long runs of the mini coax is too substantial , Go Big and Go Aluminum and You will Go Happy !
Thanks Shakedown 27.025

KW KID · #84409

Shakedown101 wrote:
titan wrote:Is **Sensored** store?
Without a Doubt Aluminum out Performs Fiberglass antennas , One of the best on the market is a Spectrum 1600
Groundplane ..Commonly referred to as a bicycle wheel antenna , These things hear unbeleivable and handle 2500 long winded watts . I can atest to that .. Dont fail to get the big coax , I prefer RG-213U Mil-Spec coax for the money
The loss of running long runs of the mini coax is too substantial , Go Big and Go Aluminum and You will Go Happy !
Thanks Shakedown 27.025

I would think then to go with simply the alpha v 5/8 or this antenna, but has anyone compared this one against the alpha V? Do they have the same performance? 7db is optimistic. I think 5/8 is 5/8 and will have the same gain, regardless, which is around 3dbd, or 5-6dbi. That I'm sure, will be the reality of it.

In regards to coax, its based on distance, in reality, even at 100ft. loss is still quite low, even with the crappy coaxes...
http://www.w4rp.com/ref/coax.html 30 mhz is very low and the advantage is very little loss.

The math says even 100ft of rg58 and using only a 1/2wave antron, vs. a 5/8 + rg213 would be less than 3db difference. Seems not much to worry about, but 3db is equivelent to 1/2 power loss. In other words if you run 100 watts with the good set up, you'll need 200 watts to equal it (tx), not to mention the better receive (max distance which cannot be recovered by any power etc.)

I used to have tons of rg213, and gave it away!! Now I'm on this site, I'll try to hook up members next batch I get!

Sheriff Bart · #84428

Of course any aluminum antenna will perform better than a fiberglass antenna. The element in the A-99 and Imax 2000 is a 16 ga. stranded c-o-p-p-e-r wire. The elements on an aluminum antenna are 1/2 inch or wider

here's a quote from a link forum member BootyMonster posted in another thread:

So what is the TRUE gain of the Imax 2000? Assuming a .64 wave shunt fed dipole in free space, minus the losses associated with the series capacitance and inductance, and minus the necessary counterpoise, according to my math, the Imax 2000 has 2.9 dBi gain. That is to say, the Imax 2000 has 2.9 dB gain on the horizon over an isotropic radiator. Referenced to a center fed 1/2 wave dipole, which is the industry standard, the Imax 2000 has a gain of 0.8 dB. This could also be stated as 0.8 dBd gain. Although adding the Antron GPK-1 ground plane kit will not add much gain to the Antron 99, the ground plane kit would add significant gain on the horizon for the Imax 2000. A .64 wavelength radiator is much more efficient and will have a much lower angle of radiation (keep the signal down on the horizon instead if wasting it up in the sky) with a proper counterpoise system. Adding the GPK-1 to the Imax 2000 (according to my math and previous .64 wavelength test range plots) will result in a 0.3 dB gain improvement. This will bring the Imax 2000's actual gain up to 3.2 dBi (or 1.1 dBd).

73's

CB Radio Talk

CB Radio Talk

Back into it after 25 yrs

Back into it after 25 yrs

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