Old aluminum "Ringo" style ground plane base antenna

[FPR1981]

My very first base station antenna was a tall aluminum stick with a circular ground plane around where the SO239 connector was. Ive heard these referred to as "Ringo ground plane" antennas.

This antenna was sold to a buddy back in 1994. It was offered back to me, and out of sentimentality, I want to take it back, but it has SWR issues. The guy claims it's reading a 3.5 no matter what he does to the tuning screws. Its properly mounted atop a tower.

Any thoughts as to what the issue could be? What can go wrong to an old piece of aluminum like this?

 

[jaspence]

I had one of these. The material used for the insulator was like a sponge and my performance went from very good to bad with the first rain. Factory replaced it, but i ended up switching to an antenna with radials.

 

[jhooten]

9 times out of 10 the problem with a Ringo Ranger that old is the coax used for the matching capacitor needs to be replaced.

 

[K4EET]

What band is it supposed to be good for? I am going to guess it is a Cushcraft AR-10 for 10 Meters. I have attached the manual below. According to the manual, 28.0 MHz is the lowest specified frequency that it will tune to at 200 inches in overall length.

This eBay listing shows the Cushcraft AR-10 as including 11 Meters but that may or may not be accurate from the manufacturer. That could account for the high SWR reading.

Cushcraft AR-10, Vertical 10 /11 Meter, 3 dB, Ringo Ham / Cb RadioBase Antenna | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Cushcraft AR-10, Vertical 10 /11 Meter, 3 dB, Ringo Ham / Cb RadioBase Antenna at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[K4EET]

9 times out of 10 the problem with a Ringo Ranger that old is the coax used for the matching capacitor needs to be replaced.

On most old Ringos, there is no coax. Just the aluminum tuning ring.

<edit> I stand corrected... There is a tuning stub on this one. Item "FF"

 

[WB9YBM]

I've had either Ringo or Ringo Rangers for two meters, 220MHz, & 10M. With a few minor mods for weatherproofing, I've had good luck for multiple decades without the need to go back for follow-up work. I have even done a comparison to the highly touted Hustler G7 and--at least with my test methodology--found comparable performance between them (and yes, I know there are people out there that will argue that point--which won't change the test results! ). The only glitch I had was when the coax connector went bad on the 10M Ringo.

 

[ko6jw_2]

The ring is not a ground plane.

 

[prcguy]

I would inspect the coax stub capacitor and the aluminum coax connectors for corrosion. Otherwise make it the suggested length for 27MHz and the tuning ring should match it right up. These are end fed half wave antennas and will light up the coax and mast with some RF. Certain length masts can be a problem where the tuning ring might be further off to one side to compensate.