Sirio super 9 = 35W continuous, or..................

[ghost123uk]

Hi all,

I have been looking for a very good quality and very good looking antenna for my car (I've got about 6 mobile antennas, but you can't have too many !!)

The only one that ticks nearly all my boxes is the Sirio Super 9 Blue Line. The only slight issue is that I use an AT6666 transceiver that produces 45W on FM and that arial is listed as 35W "continuous" (though 250W "short time").

What do you reckon?
Will normal FM waffling overload / overheat it? (Oh, and no, I don't waffle for ages without un-keying, just your average / normal use).

[marvin]

I stupidly went down a similar route.....and bought the Sirio Omega which admitedly has a yet lower rating (15w continuous & 150w short trans) and it got hot as hell very quickly with 60w on SSB, SWR shot through the roof as well ! I stick to my Maryland for general use and 4000 for serious radio. I also have the the little President Virginia - also known as the New Yorker that sits nicely on the roof for general listening and mobile rag chewing, works Ok when there's a bit of prop running too

[108EH002]

How bad do the other 6 look and what are they like performance wise ? cheers.

[andrew013]

looking for a very good quality and very good looking antenna but wont work as it looks pretty and probable small
here are the 6 ariels you should have
1 scarlet warrior /red devil type
2 les wallen modulator 3
3 7ft firestk
4 sirio 4000
5 sirio 5000 trucker3/8th
6 full size 1/4 wave

[The Collector]

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre ... 2776954004

Just in case you need one a few quid cheaper.

[108EH002]

Not tried the Sirio 5000 out the list but one of the mates seems to do ok mobile,I am still using a Wilson trucker 5000 with the coil in the middle (on a 3/8th dv body mount drilled through the roof) antenna is 6 year old and still straight,and is a good solid antenna but not everyones idea of stealth,but its my car.Best small antenna mobile was a dx27 tuneable top whip,not the best for hitting things overhead,have got an archer spring from a local silent key sale just incase,but never use it as I gave my mate the dx27,will maybe get it back as he doesnt use it.

[ghost123uk]

Cheers for the input folks (I didn't get email notifications of replies, will check settings)
The aerials I have got are all good, and in a good nick, but they are all very "retro", DX27 & DX27 5/8, Firestick, plus some others, my favourite, maybe surprisingly, for performance and large bandwidth, is an original "Half Breed".

For most of my life I've had "classic" vehicles, most recently an 80 VW "Wedge" camper van (now sold), but my latest vehicle is a modern(ish) Citroen Berlingo in silver and I just wanted a sleek modern looking aerial to go on it (with a 3/8" mount). The Sirio Super 9 "Blue Line" is 5 foot tall (ie suitably large for performance) but looks dead neat and is even the right colour

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre ... 2776954004
Just in case you need one a few quid cheaper.

Aye, that 1 bid is me = fingers crossed.

Marvin mentioned that he put 60W up a 15W rated twig and it was not happy. I'm not surprised I've got a very nice 5/8 wave fibre glass type one, about 4 feet long, with a tuning sleeve (a bit like the Dial a Match tuning rings), but it gets warm pretty quickly with 45W into it.

However, back to the question, do "we" reckon 45W into a 35W rated Sirio aerial is pushing it too far?

[The Collector]

Can the power be turned down a touch to help ensure the aerial's survival?

It'd probably be fine but it'd certainly be a waste of £30 if it melted the coil.

I've heard those radios get a bit "scorchio" at 45w, so turning down the power to 35w may help it last longer anyway.

[ghost123uk]

Yes, you are correct re the radio getting hot if one has anything but short QSOs at full power. Mine has a tiny computer style fan attached to the heatsink, fed via a thermo switch, to help in this respect.

I had thought of using the Sirio Super 9 at a lower lower setti ng, but when one is trying to make "that" contact that is struggling to hear you, the temptation to turn it up full will be hard to resist

That used one on Ebay is only a couple of £ cheaper than a new one. If I win it, I will monitor the coil temp at full power and see how it goes (and report back for future readers of course).

[The Collector]

If it gets very hot, you can always key-up with an elastic band and defrost your car nice and quickly

[108EH002]

Save yourself £25 and spray your old antennas the closest silver to the van with non metallic paint,helps an antenna blend in,especially magmounts/boot mounts that are black.Done it with a triple mag/sirio 3000 on a small white van.

[ghost123uk]

@ 108EH002 = Paint my aerial silver = Ha, yes, but my need for yet another aerial is overwhelming me

Anyway, some swine out bid me (whilst I was out at work) on that used one, so I've just gone mad and ordered a NEW one

Will report back on performance, heat generated etc when I get it.

[ghost123uk]

Just an update on the findings on my new Sirio Super 9 mobile aerial.

Cost £29 delivered. I used the Sirio website to check it is a genuine one (there are rip off's around) = it is genuine.

The first thing I noticed is that the "banjo" base is not exactly "square" with the rest of the aerial. The meant that if one installs it with the "join" front to back (as is usual) the aerial leans slightly to the right. Not happy about that, but adjusting things so that the "join" is 90 degrees to usual, means one can adjust it to be straight.

I then proceeded to tune it. It took about 3cm off the whip to get it as low as possible on my chosen centre frequency (27.555) and even then the best I could get was an SWR of 1.3 = not brilliant, but usable. It remains usable, SWR wise, for about 60 channels above and below my centre frequency (it rises to 1.5 on UK C25 for example). Again, not brilliant, but not rubbish either. It may be noted that my trusty old Valor Half Breed, on the same mag mount, in the same location, performs better in these respects.

It looks good.

The on air performance is, according to "A / B" tests, very slightly less than the Half Breed. Note that the two aerials are almost exactly the same length.

Now to the reason for my original post here. After a fairly long (45 minute) "chin wag" on Mr Moonrakers net (UK C25), running full power (in my case, 45W on FM) the aerial's coil remained totally cold to the touch. This I think / hope proves that in normal use, the 35W "continuous" rating is conservative and it looks like 45W (of "normal tx / rx use) will not damage it. Time will tell.

All in all, I don't regret buying it. It suits the vehicle (Citroen Berlingo) better than my "old skool" twigs and works pretty good.

[The Collector]

Nice job and glad it worked out for you. Sirio stuff is usually pretty good build-wise. I'd have been a tad miffed if the coil arrived off-straight too, to be honest.
1.5 over that channel range is decent SWR-wise.

I'm waiting patiently for a Sirio 4000 to come up
on ebay with collection only, so I can hopefully get it cheap. I've got a CB-Line Mil135 thing (only paid 50p for it) but I fancy a 6+ footer instead.