PolyPhaser Frequency Ranges

Status
Not open for further replies.

fuzzymoto

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Nov 27, 2005
Messages
1,048
I've been very loosely shopping some PolyPhaser units for lightning protection on a new antenna setup I've been planning. My confusion is relative to the frequency ranges they publish. For example they have a unit rated from 800Mhz to 2.2Ghz...What exactly does this mean? Should I assume that since I'm listening to quite a bit of traffic below 800Mhz, this unit would not be usable?
 

zz0468

QRT
Banned
Joined
Feb 6, 2007
Messages
6,034
fuzzymoto said:
For example they have a unit rated from 800Mhz to 2.2Ghz...What exactly does this mean? Should I assume that since I'm listening to quite a bit of traffic below 800Mhz, this unit would not be usable?

That's exactly what that means.
 

fuzzymoto

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Nov 27, 2005
Messages
1,048
But they don't appear to make any wide-range models lik ethe typical 25-1300Mhz...so how do you preotest an antenna/scanner that you're using a wider range?
 

zz0468

QRT
Banned
Joined
Feb 6, 2007
Messages
6,034
fuzzymoto said:
But they don't appear to make any wide-range models lik ethe typical 25-1300Mhz...so how do you preotest an antenna/scanner that you're using a wider range?

You look a little deeper into their catalog and find one what will work. They have some that will cover the range you're interested in and then some. Try looking under amateur products on their web page.
 

digitalanalog

Active Member
Joined
May 18, 2007
Messages
562
Location
United States of America
Your wasting your time and money, Just ground the equipment and the antenna structure.

Grounding rods are cheap and all you need to do is ground the antenna and ground your equipment, it's very very basic.

Put it in the ground DEEP and your done, No need for equipment to achieve such a simple thing such as grounding.
 

prcguy

Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2006
Messages
15,228
Location
So Cal - Richardson, TX - Tewksbury, MA
Grounding an antenna and preventing damage from a lightning hit are two completely different topics. Designing and building an antenna system from the ground up (pun intended) with good quality lightning arrestors like Polyphaser can survive a direct hit, but its probably beyond the scope of the average ham or scanner person due to constraints in the existing home or building infrastructure.
prcguy
mancow said:
Then why does every cellular network in the country use these?
 

N8RUS

Member
Joined
Nov 26, 2005
Messages
126
Location
S. E. Ingham County MI
Nothing wrong with grounding your antenna structure and antenna. The purpose of using the polyphaser is to protect your equip via the coax ( center conductor and shield ) should your antenna take a hit.
 

zz0468

QRT
Banned
Joined
Feb 6, 2007
Messages
6,034
digitalanalog said:
Your wasting your time and money, Just ground the equipment and the antenna structure.

Grounding rods are cheap and all you need to do is ground the antenna and ground your equipment, it's very very basic.

Put it in the ground DEEP and your done, No need for equipment to achieve such a simple thing such as grounding.

You apparently don't understand the purpose of these lightning suppressors. The idea is to shunt the pulse on the center conductor of the coax to ground without adversly impacting RF performance. Merely grounding the antenna structure won't do this. A lightning suppressor is just one of many steps one does to protect agaainst lightning. It's useless without taking the steps you mentioned. The steps you mentioned are useless without a suppressor. And so it goes...
 

fuzzymoto

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Nov 27, 2005
Messages
1,048
Thanks guys. I really wasn't trying to kick of fthe grounding debate. I currently run both a ground of the mast and a grounding block of the coax. I also did a poll:

http://www.radioreference.com/forums/showthread.php?t=100155&highlight=grounding+block

To see who is and is not using a grounding block.

I'm moving to a new office in the next year and I've pre-run LMR-400 to the roof. I'm still debating the final connections (i.e. whether to put a lightning arrestor on the roof or just go with the grounding of the mast). I don't debate the effectiveness of a grounding block and I do dis-connect my equipment, but I DO doubt my ability to make an effective lightning protection setup given my antenna layout).

I'm a little thrown off by the switch from RG-6 with F-type connectors to the LMR-400 with N-type connectors as far as grounding the coax, which is why I've been checking out the Polyphaser and similar devices. I am still debating what to do.
 

Shrike

Member
Joined
Jan 11, 2007
Messages
13
Location
Casper, WY
PolyPhaser Models

I use PolyPhaser IS-50UX-C0 protectors (rated 1.5-400 MHz) for my HF antennas, and IS-50UX-C1 (50-700 MHz) for my VHF/UHF antennas, all through a Harger GBIS18114AE copper entrance ground bar. PolyPhaser also has a 125-1000 MHz model, IS-50NX-C2 for 800 MHz stuff, but with N connectors. The PolyPhasers cost $63-$66 each and the ground bar kit is $40, at Amateur Electronic Supply (800-321-3594 or aesham.com). Works well for me.

MIke
Casper, Wyoming
 

prcguy

Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2006
Messages
15,228
Location
So Cal - Richardson, TX - Tewksbury, MA
New Polyphasers show up on Ebay all the time for $10 or less.
prcguy
Shrike said:
I use PolyPhaser IS-50UX-C0 protectors (rated 1.5-400 MHz) for my HF antennas, and IS-50UX-C1 (50-700 MHz) for my VHF/UHF antennas, all through a Harger GBIS18114AE copper entrance ground bar. PolyPhaser also has a 125-1000 MHz model, IS-50NX-C2 for 800 MHz stuff, but with N connectors. The PolyPhasers cost $63-$66 each and the ground bar kit is $40, at Amateur Electronic Supply (800-321-3594 or aesham.com). Works well for me.

MIke
Casper, Wyoming
 

fuzzymoto

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Nov 27, 2005
Messages
1,048
Yes, but none seem to be a wide enough freq range for what I listen to.
 

CityLights

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 12, 2007
Messages
49
Location
Ontario
Has anyone tried TerraWaves Lightning Arrests? Why are they so much cheaper? $18 & $20 dollars. The cheepest Gas lightning arrestors I found locally were $65. Also I do not see a insertion loss rating in the specs. I'm a bit suspicious but if they work then I'm buying them.
 

CityLights

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 12, 2007
Messages
49
Location
Ontario
Yippee! My Omni X antenna install just got cheaper :D
I just remembered I had some brand new left over parts from a WiFi install job back in 2004.

Found 2 X 20foot WBC400 cables with N male connectors. 2 N male clamp connectors and a Altenicon Lightning Arrester.

I looked up the specs on the Altenicon and I'm more confident to use them then TerraWaves. The Altenicon has complete specs including Salt, Dust, Vibration... and is RoHS Compliant. It's also a tad cheaper!

I also noticed the Altenicon I have is rated for lower watts then the TerraWaves 250 Watts. less then half the Watts.

I'm guessing the Wattage ratings are for transmit power but would a lower Wattage rating for a 'Receive only' antenna make for tighter protection for the scanner?

Altenicon AL-NFNFB-9 Specs
http://www.hyperlinktech.com/item.aspx?id=1468


-fuzzymoto thanks for starting this thread!
 
Last edited:

zz0468

QRT
Banned
Joined
Feb 6, 2007
Messages
6,034
fuzzymoto said:
Yes, but none seem to be a wide enough freq range for what I listen to.

Did you look at the Polyphaser web page? I did, and I was able to locate units that covered DC-6 GHz, and DC - 3 GHz with about 30 seconds of looking.
 

fuzzymoto

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Nov 27, 2005
Messages
1,048
zz0468 said:
Did you look at the Polyphaser web page? I did, and I was able to locate units that covered DC-6 GHz, and DC - 3 GHz with about 30 seconds of looking.


Yes I have.....my reply was specifically talking about the PolyPhasers on eBay.
 

zz0468

QRT
Banned
Joined
Feb 6, 2007
Messages
6,034
Ah, ok. Well, you may have to broaden your search, then. Ebay can be pretty hit and miss if you're looking for a very specific item. What you want exists, and is readily available. You just have to look in the right places. If you're looking for a bargain, keep watching ebay. One may eventually show up.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top