CB Radio Homebrew Vs Sirio GainMaster - Lockdown activities Part 6
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- Опубликовано: 11 май 2020
- Build your own CB Radio Homebrew Gainmaster 5/8 wave Antenna using the DX Commander pole, Big saving on the price of a Sirio, Coverage 26 to 30 MHz and below 1.5:1 SWR or better... now for the test and the bands go wild......
How to build your own GainMaster. • CB Radio Homebrew Gain... 
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The most restful and relaxing voice on RUclips.
Wow, thank you!
I think homebrew antennas are a big part of what hobby radio is all about. They cost very little compared to commercial antennas, and you can keep making them better and better, or modify their functionality to suit your personal needs.
I recall a friend who had a homebrew J-pole antenna he had built out of old conduit pipe for zero dollars. After using it for a couple of years he spent the money on a $150 Diamond to replace it. He proudly showed me the new antenna, and I helped install it where the J-pole had been. When we were done with the install he checked on how it was doing with a fairly distant ham friend who had an accurate signal strength meter and who had previously logged his signal strength. He found there was exactly no difference between the 2 antennas. About all a commercial antenna might do better than a carefully built homebrew antenna is last somewhat longer between maintenance occasions. Metal is metal, and the company label doesn't have much effect on RF.
UPDATE: Yesterday 21/6 spent about 2 hours making one using some ‘scrap bin’ new RG213 (picked up a 100m roll for £35 on marketplace!) plus 14 AWG Silicone coated wire for higher P rating and checked the tune today with feed point only at approx 4m up. I had expected perhaps a minor trim on the tuning stub or top wire however no need as it was sub 1.5:1 swr 26.9 to 29.5MHz. I plan on doing some extensive hill-top testing within the next 7 days and perhaps a comparison vs A99 and a vertically polarised Delta loop. I hope to video and stick on my channel. Tnx for inspiration Mike. Total cost inc connector £7.00. At least 3 guys in U.K. supply/homebrew these ‘copy’ units for between £30-£99 depending on ‘neatness’ of construction and power rating. Top tip for sanity is to use 65mm plastic downpipe for choke former and leave it in place. Secure the top and bottom winding with tie wraps drilled thru. When/if I make another then I would look at a better engineered solution for the stub splice. I think Sirio use a piece of ‘circuit board’ to allow easy connection of centres and braid with better integrity. 73 M1DDD
Enjoyable couple of videos on this project thanks. Pleasing results too, well done 👌
Thanks 👍
Hi Mike. I am really enjoying the lockdown stuff. Nice friendly content. Thanks a lot
Glad you like them! cheers
I feel you've done a fantastic job on that antenna build, I think it works just as good as the Commercial Sirio!!!
defo on pair with the original both signal 7 from the station.
Good Job mate
For a Homebase application the Sirio option presents less hassle to install .. However your home brew 5/8 wave . Clearly performed just as well considering the height advantage in the comparison.. Overall if you want a decent 5/8 wave for a few quid . Its a no brainer... Great content.. subbed..
Hi Mike,
Following your instructional video I have also made a gainmaster with a stud of 62 cm. It works absolutely great. Prior to installing the antenna at my friend, I did a fair comparison between the mobile wilson 1000 and the homebrew gain master. The signal difference is +2 S points on the gain master vs the mobile wilson 1000. Both antenna's are at the same level starting from the base. Maybe the gain master was half a meter higher, but just to make sure the RF choke was higher than the metal rooftop of the small van on which I have the portable wilson 1000 antenna. I was doing this comparison in a field with my mobile radio.
I have built this antenna for a friend who has severe restrictions regarding antenna's he can set up at his home QTH. He uses 2 fishing poles for a multi band dipole, but he wanted to also have a vertical areal for 11m. When I opened the back of the truck when I arrived at his apartement and took out the wire antenna, he looked at me like I was telling him a joke. He thought I forgot the actual antenna back home as he saw me grabbing only just some cables. LOL. He was expecting a fancy, sexy antenna!
After we went up in his apartment on the highest floor, we took down one of the fishing poles and mounted the gain master. I just used one of the fishing poles he currently uses for his dipole antenna. So he can use the gain master in a vertical polarization and his dipole for the other bands.
After installing, I made one single call on t5 and boom, a station from Poland came right back. His face was still like very skeptical, but after firing up the lincoln radio and have a polish station coming back after one single call, he fell off his chair. So, let me confirm that this antenna really works well and is comparable to a Antron 99 or any other antenna out there that has no radials.
Thanks for the video and I hope to hear you on the air some day.
2S units is 12dB... roughly equivalent to putting a 100W on a 4W CB radio. Not a bad one to take portable rolled up, then put up on site, strapped to a squid pole.
Then you also have the 250W amplifier on stand by... naughty 😂
Nice radio also lovely garden great vid 👍
Many thanks
Good video , even better i heard my call sign when you were going up and down the band , have a home made ssb 58 does a great job , had to pay for it to be made , but cheaper at the the end of the day.
it was working quite well for being almost on the ground, but sometimes they do. One thing for sure is it cost a lot less than a bought one for very little extra performance. Thanks for doing that. EDIT: The Charlie Tango Club was on the go on SSB, but as long as they were not on the Ham Band.
welcome... :)
Had the Gainmaster 5/8 for 8 years. It was excellent but got wacked. Replaced it with the HW version.
Performance seams about the same. Part of Sirio’s special recipe is the coax. The antenna is the best I have ever seen for keeping RF out of ones shack.
that would be in part because it doesn't earth out to the mast and their choice of choke.
Also you might be making the RF situation even better by chance of the length of cable you're using. It can all help in ways not fully understood, but practically observed 👍
I had my home brew Gainmaster up for a bit yesterday evening and was able to pic up a group of buddies on base stations. They were just out of my transmit range though.
With it laying in my haul way it had an SWR of 1,31 on the high and low side of the 11 meter band and 1.15 in the middle after repairing the SO 239 crimp on connector below the coil.
The shield came loose from the sw 239 and SWR went off the scale last weekend when I had it up for its initial trial run.
I'm not a fan of those crimp on SO 239 connectors. I ended up soldering the shield to the shell of the so 239 with a very hot butane soldering iron.
Great video (and the original construct). Nicely presented. Subscribed 73
Awesome! Thank you!
Hi dr op. Nevertheless I'll build the HB one. Because I cannot have a fixed antenna on the roof sadly. So I have to put the 'cable' on a 9m rod in the garden. I can use a Wimo portable alu mast maybe. But that's it then. I'm on 11m cept band only. So I hope this helps me a bit. Now I'm using a HB T2LT.
Nice job on both the build and your test, though I was a little confused which antenna, 1 or 2, was your *_home-built_** GM.*
I found the best overall performance was achieved when the choke on my GM was right at 41' above ground.
- I did extensive testing and comparisons with a 1976 Hy-Gain Penetrator 500, I-10K, Imax, Maco V58, A99 & *Proton99.*
It won best performer hands-down, but the real surprise was the Proton99. It's not the best build quality but what a fantastic A99 & Imax-Beating 4-piece wonder. Perfect for mobile-remote ops as it breaks down into four 4.5' pieces and fits any automobile's rear seat, floor or trunk/boot.
The Imax performance was between the full-size metal 5/8 and the Maco, the Maco being between the A99 & the Imax in performance but a distant 3rd compared to the 22' metal 5/8 and an additional 2dB lower than the overall winner - the *GainMaster.*
The only time the lesser performers favorably compared was with higher angle short DX or backscatter.
My only beef with the GM is it's hatred of other antennas or large metallic items in it's near field. It's performance dropped to A99/Maco level when within 1/2 wavelength, laterally, of another antenna. It dropped from 2dB over S9 down to S6.7 until the metal 5/8 was removed from it's side-near field then right back up to S9+2 vs S9 ( Penetrator 500 ) and S-8.5 ( I-10K w/top hat) or S9 ( I-10K w/o Top Hat* ).
The New Vector 4K when compared with the Penetrator and the better performing *_Top-Hat-free_* I-10K was neck-n-neck. No perceivable improvement over a metal 5/8 on the same mast, coax, etc. but a noticeable 1/2 S-unit lower at ~60 miles than the 22' metal 5/8.
The GM high in the sky & away from everything else is basically unbeatable for an omni, and that held true at every TOA except perhaps nearly straight up - lol
With higher power handling and better construction, it would be my pick for most installations where it wouldn't be interfered with by nearby trees, antennas, buildings, etc.
[EDIT] *Some Trombone match mods were necessary with top hat removed.
At least your making some new friends Mike, LJH & Logan sound like good folk :). Proves the homebrew is working well.
oh Yes
The Discord tones kept making me check mine haha
Great video
KC9FJE
i love the 27.555mhz❤
Parabéns amigo pela antena muito boa antena vertical
Muito obrigado
What would you say is a good base homebrew and mobile SOTA homebrew, was thinking local base a skylab or the 5/8th and sota the mag loop or a delta?
Really good results. OK may not look as pretty as the commercial antenna but the homebrew held it's own in performance even on an un-level playing field. I'm sure with some tweaking yours may have even exceeded the commercial antenna. Apart from the cost, there is benefit in the fun and satisfaction of broadcasting on something you built yourself.
Not many people can say they are broadcasting from an antenna made on the same worktop as their breakfast!
It could be fun to co-phase these. You only need 1/4 wavelength of 75 ohm coax and make the rest up from equal lengths of 50 ohm then 50 ohm coax back from the Tee.
If the top 1/2 is a little long the Take Off radiation Angle will be more toward downward, if it's cut a little short then the TOA will rise.
Best to pick a beacon, rather then waiting on qsos to start/finish, plus you have a pre amp on??
Great tip.. Thank you. :)
Honestly if the homebrew was as high as the commercial I think it may have out preformed. You took more time in building it with better class materials in mind. I would love to know the wattage the homebrew can candle though.
Thanks mate, cheers from Mexico! this couple of videos were really well explained even for non native english speakers. Considering the small fortune that brand antennas cost in the 3rd world, this design seems to be very affordable. Do you know if i can use the cheap RG58a available in here?
Cheyo Pimienta RG58a should work, however the matching stub may be very long. Give it a go. :)
@@mike-M0MSN I have several hundred feet of 75 ohm cable hardline and keep wondering how I could use it to build some verticals, plus some fiberglass poles that the built antenna could then be mounted inside to both hold it up and protect it. Could the matching stub be used to over come the 75/50 difference?
Your paying attention to details very likely made your build better. granted you didn't put yours in a fiberglass cover for protection from the weather, but you could. I have 20 fiberglass poles 59 inches long and would mount one inside them covering the joints with a fiberglass repair tape that would be stronger than the factory version which has been known to fail. The height made it an unfair as you said test. I still would like to build one for 17 meters or 20 meters but the length would be hard to accommodate.
Loved the Technical stuff, enjoyed learning, Question on your sirio gain master 5/8ths did you tape the joints ? 73 Mike M1KEY
Yes I did. there is no real need but I did it anyway.
Very nice, I could see the same with my Homebrew Gainmaster, compared with a Sirio 58, the Sirio with better tx and rx signals, but with more qrm. 7351. Tks fer Charing.
Hi, interesting video, just goes to show the performance would be just about the same at comparable heights.
Maybe you could do a comparison with the Hawkins Thunderbolt ssd58+ against these two.
Many thanks Alan
That would require the purchase of a Hawkins!
hello sorry i want information for cb sirio gps antenna how it works thank you very much
I would bet if you put the homebrew up as high as the factory made it would be the same, height makes a difference especially on 11m.
Which Nano VNA is that?
I'm getting up stuff to build this and I can't wait.
I wish I had a way to measure the gain of the antenna so could compare to
what I have now.
I have a 11 Meter Wilson Trucker 2000 Truck Antenna setup on a 102 inch pipe working like a dipole.
To make it work I had to put a 90 degree pl259 on and run the wire off at 90 degrees into the tree limbs. If I fasten the coax to the metal pole SWR goes off the scale.
I have the dipole separated from my metal 12 ft (3meter) mast with PVC pipe on the top of the mast and side clamping the dipole.
I heard one guy 98 miles away but with my limited power there's no way I could talk to him.
Local though it comes off very loud with my Stryker 955 as base. I got the wife to give me a radio check a half mile away while I was in the dump truck and she nearly blew me out of my seat power level set to 25% ( 70 watts is max and mic gain at 75%).
Cheap $40 from eBay, but it works :) good luck with your build.
So when's thev20mtr vertical going to be made can it be made like the gain master? Favourite band 20mtrs, on 28mhz going to put lfa quad up.
Thunderbolt SSD12+ 20m 14.00-14.35 MHz Portable Dipole Antenna. SOTA / Field use
I'd buy one if you ever offered one for sale !!!!
if i cant obtain west flex 103 cable can i use rg-213?
yep ant coax will do you will just need to find the correct length needed.
It's not possible for you to provide an objective comparison as both antennas are not placed in the same position. However, the difference looks and sounds minuscule. Thank you for posting.
Oh germany to 10 m band 😁😁
I think that is @simonthewizard from here in Hungary at 04:07
I think you are right
@@mike-M0MSN I asked him and he said it wasn't him.
🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷👍👍👍
Good job Mike. The important thing is that it WORKS. You pay an awful lot of money for "pretty".......
So true, :)
Am i wrong or do you look like a cross between Eric Clapton & Alan Rickman?
Hi mate,
It is a pity the comparison was not objective. Both antennas are not at the same level. The home brew one is much lower with lots of obstacles. Don't you think the home brew one will perform equally? What is your experience after a few months in?
I'd like to build one for a friend of mine. As we do field days, I will be able to compare the home brew with the sirio new tornado and my mobile antenna. I would love to report back to you.
One question, for the matching stub, you mentioned you end up using 100 cm. Is that because you just used the RG58 instead of the westflex 103 cable? Do you think it will make the antenna less performant?
Another final question. What is your QRZ on 11. You can PM me via email: kurt at skynet dot be. I just hope to do some better tests with the home brew. I will make it for a friend who has antenna restrictions where is is, but the fold-able antenna makes it easier for him.
Hope to hear from you.
That stub being made of Westflex 103 is so that it won't heat up if extra power is put up it.
If you try to run more than 100W using RG58 as the stub, I am sure excessive heating will be a problem.
However yes, the lengths need to be adjusted between them as the velocity factors are different.
RG58 or RG213 will need to be made shorter as they are solid polyethylene dielectric coax cables and the 103 is largely air cored