help with imax 2000

[unit928]

hi everyone I just put my imax 2000 up but I could only put it up aginst the house for now it is not up very high the bottom of the antenna is only 2 feet off the roof I would say its up about 18 feet total without a ground. I have a great swr less than 1.1 on ch 40 and 1.2 on ch 1 the problem im having is my galaxy Saturn wont talk very far at all im a skip talker, and know all about radio wave propagations. I have made a couple local contacts with truckers on 19 but when I go to ch 38 lsb I can't get out at all when a friend of mine a couple streets over is working Jamaica, uk, and all over the states I am planning on putting it up on the roof about 30 feet off the ground mounted on a 10 foot pole off the roof, and ground the antenna this weekend. do you think that the antenna not being up high enough is what's causing this?? as I am in kind of a small mud hole I have a huge barn beside me, and a two story house as well I looked , and the barn roof is higher than the tip of the imax 2000 thank you for your help with this. ben "unit 928"

 

[XTS3000]

Maybe the antenna is good, and the radio has transmitter problems like a blown final.

It's very difficult to read your post! Few periods (.) with run on sentences all make for a difficult read.

 

[mmckenna]

SWR on it's own isn't a good indication of how well an antenna will work. A 50 ohm dummy load will give you a perfect SWR, but won't radiate worth beans.
You need to take a look at your coaxial cable, make sure it's in good shape and the right quality to get your signal to/from the antenna.
Try adding the ground, that can drastically affect the radiation pattern of the antenna.

 

[jimbr1]

If you can talk to your friend a couple of blocks away and have made local contacts on 19 I think that your radio is ok. Once you get the antenna up, let us know how you make out...should make a huge dfference. If you know about wave propagation and skip characteristics, then even being a couple of blocks away can make a differencewith regard to what you are going to hear. Also, if you want to talk skip, then your are more likely to be successful with a horizontal plane antenna like a horizontal dipole- but you will sacrifice some with regard to locals using a vertical plane antenna- like the imax...good luck!

 

[unit928]

that's what I thought as well I am putting the imax 2000 up 35 feet on Friday I did talk to north Carolina and illinois yesterday but it was a quick qso I think you are right I will let you know how it works out thank you for your thoughts and help on this "god bless" ben "unit928"

 

[unit928]

I put the imax 2000 up just about 36 ft this weekend it has one heck of a better recrive along with a new silver sulute the swr on ch 40 ch 20 ch 1 are perfect I was very surprised that I would even get them that low I also added a 8 ft copper ground rod in the earth until about 3" inches stick out I took the ground and grounded the antenna from one of the nuts that hold the antenna clamps to the pole straight to the copper rod it talks great local and load lol maybe its just the conditions I will wait and see what happens thank you everyone for all tour advise and help. "god bless" ben.