Sirio Gainmaster Have I Made The Right Choice ?

[Sam P]

The gain master works as a centre fed dipole doesn't it?

How does the additional ground plane affect QRM / N? in that respect...

[ghost123uk]

Question, how can one tell it's long path? (always puzzled me that has)

[andrew013]

Question, how can one tell it's long path? (always puzzled me that has)

what gets me is you put a beam up to point where you want your signal to go to ie the person you want to talk to and then you find out you can only work them with the beam pointing no where they are because your working them as back scatter ie signal coming from another angle because its bouncing all over the place , i know beams do help but for the love of skip at least work in the direction they are pointed

[ghost123uk]

That's it, sometimes a beam heading can be seemingly arbitrary to the direction you think you are aiming for, and not just the 180 degrees out you might expect for "long path". Strange thing skip can be. I bet there is a computer simulator that can predict it though

[Sam P]

Strange thing skip can be.

I sort of envisaged a propagation Yoda as I read that....

[MrWeetabix]

Question, how can one tell it's long path? (always puzzled me that has)

what gets me is you put a beam up to point where you want your signal to go to ie the person you want to talk to and then you find out you can only work them with the beam pointing no where they are because your working them as back scatter ie signal coming from another angle because its bouncing all over the place , i know beams do help but for the love of skip at least work in the direction they are pointed

I've made some great contacts BACK into the UK from others on beams down south pointing the same way as me (looking for DX) but instead getting some nice inter-G on the back-scatter. amazing. One of the many reasons I love this hobby!

[P5shn]

Can anyone advise me why my power has sudden fropped on my Grant on the screen display, I key up and the TX only goes up a 1/3 of the way compared to before,
Also my SWR has suddenly gone stupid on my Avair 201 SWR/PWR meter.
I am trying to calibrate and It won't let me turn it up high enough to calibrate the SWR.

I am baffled

It has been raining all day, should I have waterproofed the joints on my Sirio Gainmaster ?

Any help or advice would be so much appreciated

Thank you

[Sam P]

What mode are you in? SSB will have no signal if you are dead keying... stick it in FM.

The so239 socket is under the choke on the base of the antenna, if you did it up then its fine.

[P5shn]

U.K. FM it is on and yes the plug was screwed in and secure
Yesterday the swr was fine,
Cannot understand what's happened
I am someone who is very particular and I check everything, when I fit the plugs to the coax I solder them & also heatshink the back end of plug to keep all moisture out

Would it make a difference if the coax run along side of the cctv cable ?
Because I have cable tied the RG213 coax to other cables. also there is a light mains cable for a security light that is cable tied to also .... just a thought

[Sam P]

Was the coax clipped up along the CCTV and mains cable when the SWR was OK?

[P5shn]

I have just been out and cut all cable clips so now the coax is free from any othe wires completely, as I was doing it I thought yes this must be what it is as that is all that has changed ....... Result is Same as before

Still exactly the same ... No change whatsoever

Could it be the Gainmaster has took it water as it has rained bad here, but then the fibreglass pole section are merely a cover for the internal wire length.

So Fed up cus I have brought all New & all is of a good quality & now I have an unexplained problem.

To be fair I am familiar with cb radio and connections & SWR etc but this has got me well & truly baffled.

[ghost123uk]

See my reply to your other post on this issue

[MrWeetabix]

You wouldn;t have had this issue with an iMax 2000..... just saying

[Sam P]

I think the structure of the gain master is self draining isn't it?

You've checked, secured and sealed your PL259 / so239.

You've checked the cable run and unattached it.

You believe the rig to be working OK but can't calibrate for SWR - this may indicate a rig issue?

However, when I put my GM together I found that the 'nut / connector affair' half way up the inside of the antenna had come loose (despite taping it) Literally the mini coax had popped out of the connectors as a result of tightening the nut with the supplied spanner - Mine is a 1/2 wave I assume the 5/8 has this as well????
Anyway, I put it back together, crimped it on and retaped the join. I would imagine that if the wire was quite tight, and the antenna bends in the wind, this connector / join would be vulnerable to parting.

Not what you wanted to hear, I know, but its what I found a couple of weeks ago.

[Oggy]

There's no right and wrong when it comes to antennas, because it is all dependant on your own situation, location and cicumstance.

Anwyay, its bought now and it's up. No going back and no refunds, so try not to dwell on what you could have won....

I've been watching re-runs of Bullseye from 1989 on Freeview......I prefer the quality British Built Motor Car as Jim points out........and then shows an Austin Metro.