Astro plane antenna wtb

[Vanguard1964]

Just getting back in cb radios after 45 years, trying to find some places that sell astro plane antennas. I am in Inman south Carolina. I have a pro com pt12 . But am getting rid of it , can't get SWRs below 2.7

 

[prcguy]

I've bought from these guys, they are legit.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/137486312265

 

[Vanguard1964]

I've bought from these guys, they are legit.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/137486312265

Thanks I am thinking about buying from them since I am a seller on ebay myself. I saw that yesterday. There is a cb shop here in s.c. that has it for 138.00 but they don't open till Tuesday. They are only a hour away from me so if I don't get it from them , I will get it from your recommendation, I found one on Amazon for 155.00 included tax , but when I looked into that company's reviews they were awful, taking up to two weeks to ship from warehouse. So thank you.

 

[prcguy]

Thanks I am thinking about buying from them since I am a seller on ebay myself. I saw that yesterday. There is a cb shop here in s.c. that has it for 138.00 but they don't open till Tuesday. They are only a hour away from me so if I don't get it from them , I will get it from your recommendation, I found one on Amazon for 155.00 included tax , but when I looked into that company's reviews they were awful, taking up to two weeks to ship from warehouse. So thank you.

Your welcome. I might ask why you specifically want an Astroplane? I had one in the early 70s and tested it against many antennas of the day like Shakespeare big stick, Hy-Gain 5/8, A/S 1/2 wave magnum thing, etc. The Astroplane didn't work any better than a big stick or other base antenna I tested.

 

[Vanguard1964]

Well it is one of the best antennas for DX talking and it doesn't have to be 40 or 50 feet in the air . I had one in 1979 when I lived in Miami and it was only 25 feet high and I talked all over the country and Bahamas barefoot. And where I live is a up scale area and I don't want to stick out to much. So I tend to stick with what I know works.

 

[slowmover]

Welcome to RR!

FWIW, of the type antenna represented my concern is its’ standing up to prolonged days of high winds and occasional high gusts (Texas).

Mentioned as it became a very good search category that sidestepped opinions about performance. Lent insight.


The installation details will be pertinent to satisfaction over exact antenna, in the beginning:

And, if the audio quality isn’t at least this good, then time to investigate:

Let us know how it goes.

.

 

[prcguy]

Well it is one of the best antennas for DX talking and it doesn't have to be 40 or 50 feet in the air . I had one in 1979 when I lived in Miami and it was only 25 feet high and I talked all over the country and Bahamas barefoot. And where I live is a up scale area and I don't want to stick out to much. So I tend to stick with what I know works.

The Astroplane is not known for DX or anything other than a cool looking retro thing from the 1970s. If you want great performance find a Hy-Gain Penetrator which is noticeably better than the Astroplane. Or an old Sigma 5/8 or even a new Sirio 2016 is better.

 

[Vanguard1964]

Well that is what you say. I know what it did for me when I had it . Unless you are calling me a liar. In which case I can't care less what you think. I live on facts.

 

[wqmg930]

I must have a 70's Astro Plane - I only have 2 vertical pieces holding the round loop up

 

[Vanguard1964]

That is the design

 

[prcguy]

I must have a 70's Astro Plane - I only have 2 vertical pieces holding the round loop up

A couple of companies make these things, is this what you have?

Otherwise an Astroplane is not very common and looks like this. The original Astroplane was advertised as 5/8 wave but its only 12ft tall. We know that shortening an antenna will reduce its performance so there is no way a 12ft tall 5/8 wave can compare with a full size 22ft 5/8 wave like a Penetrator, Sigma 5/8, Maco V 5/8. etc.

 

[niceguy71]

I totally get, sticking with what works
absolutely nothing wrong with that
when I was looking for a base antenna I watched hundreds of people on youTube with a cheap Antron 99 doing incredible things with them... I wanted to do some handheld CB range testing and the very few people on YouTube that were doing it at the time, all used the Antron 99.
( like one of our members MackinNC )

most people here told me I could get a much better antenna than the Antron 99 ..but no one wanted to say which one I should get?
so I got the Antron 99 with ground plane kit ( in 2023 it was only $169 ... now it's $229 ) but I was able to talk to 22 countries in the first few weeks I had it installed!!!!!

so DX for the last few years is working so good that I think anything you get will work fantastic.

just so you know..... PRCGUY is a very, VERY Brilliant man when it comes to Antennas... and if he say's
QUOTE
"The Astroplane is not known for DX or anything other than a cool looking retro thing from the 1970s. If you want great performance, find a Hy-Gain Penetrator which is noticeably better than the Astroplane. Or an old Sigma 5/8 or even a new Sirio 2016 is better."

than you can believe it.....

now that PRCGUY has mentioned the Sirio 2016 I may have to remember that for when my Antron 99 dies.
I just googled it and it's amazing to read hundreds upon hundreds of reviews that say it completely blows away the Antron 99 ... everyone that has swapped from an Antron 99 to the Sirio 2016 is completely awe struck at what a HUGE difference it is.

after reading all the reviews of the Sirio 2016 for $175 on Amazon all over the internet.. I may not wait until my Antron 99 dies.

 

[prcguy]

I totally get, sticking with what works
absolutely nothing wrong with that
when I was looking for a base antenna I watched hundreds of people on youTube with a cheap Antron 99 doing incredible things with them... I wanted to do some handheld CB range testing and the very few people on YouTube that were doing it at the time, all used the Antron 99.
( like one of our members MackinNC )

most people here told me I could get a much better antenna than the Antron 99 ..but no one wanted to say which one I should get?
so I got the Antron 99 with ground plane kit ( in 2023 it was only $169 ... now it's $229 ) but I was able to talk to 22 countries in the first few weeks I had it installed!!!!!

so DX for the last few years is working so good that I think anything you get will work fantastic.

just so you know..... PRCGUY is a very, VERY Brilliant man when it comes to Antennas... and if he say's
QUOTE
"The Astroplane is not known for DX or anything other than a cool looking retro thing from the 1970s. If you want great performance, find a Hy-Gain Penetrator which is noticeably better than the Astroplane. Or an old Sigma 5/8 or even a new Sirio 2016 is better."

than you can believe it.....

now that PRCGUY has mentioned the Sirio 2016 I may have to remember that for when my Antron 99 dies.
I just googled it and it's amazing to read hundreds upon hundreds of reviews that say it completely blows away the Antron 99 ... everyone that has swapped from an Antron 99 to the Sirio 2016 is completely awe struck at what a HUGE difference it is.

after reading all the reviews of the Sirio 2016 for $175 on Amazon all over the internet.. I may not wait until my Antron 99 dies.

Thanks for the kind words...

On a particular antenna blowing another away, for large base antennas like full length 1/2 wave and 5/8 wave, yes there are differences and some are better than others but in actual use it will usually be a subtle difference. The measured difference between say an Antron 99 being a 1/2 wave end fed and a Hy-Gain Penetrator being a 5/8 wave might be 1.5dB to 2.0dB max. A CB S meter is supposed to be calibrated to 6dB per "S" unit so a 1.5dB change is around 25% of one "S" unit or not that much and maybe a needle or two width on some radio S meters.

But we have all heard people on the air say this omni antenna is 2 or 5 "S" units better than that one which is impossible. A 2dB "S" unit difference would be 12dB or about the difference between a 1/4 wave ground plane and an 8 element Yagi. A 5 "S" unit difference would be 30dB which I have nothing to compare with except maybe a 9" walki talki antenna compared to a 15 element Yagi if that existed. So there is a lot and I mean a lot of misinformation floating around on the CB airwaves. If you are going to compare differences between antennas you really need a spectrum analyzer or something that will read out to .1dB to accurately see the differences and that's what niceguy and I used in the recent great antenna test.

I mentioned up to 2.0dB difference between an Antron 99 and Penetrator because there is theoretically a 1.5dB difference between a 1/2 wave dipole and a 5/8 wave vertical but the Antron might have a little loss in its matching section making it a little worse than a 1/2 wave dipole.

 

[wqmg930]

A couple of companies make these things, is this what you have?

Otherwise an Astroplane is not very common and looks like this. The original Astroplane was advertised as 5/8 wave but its only 12ft tall. We know that shortening an antenna will reduce its performance so there is no way a 12ft tall 5/8 wave can compare with a full size 22ft 5/8 wave like a Penetrator, Sigma 5/8, Maco V 5/8. etc.

NO mine only has 2 radial arms not 4 going up and down

 

[wqmg930]

Googled it really quick its the AV-101

 

[niceguy71]

I was pretty happy with my Antron 99 ( at least I used to be )
reading all the reviews of the Sirio 2016 and thinking about what PRCGUY said got me thinking.... I see a new antenna someday in my future.

I made a video on a handheld CB, the TRC 217 and it is an amazing handheld... my Antron 99 is 50 feet to the tip of the antenna.. and I can generally get 4 miles away with most handheld CB's
another YouTuber ( SevenFortyOne Radios and Repairs ) from Connecticut less than an hour from me..... enjoyed my video, so he did one to see how his would work...... he has a Maco 5/8 about 20 feet off the ground.... I watched his video and he was able to hear that TRC 217 handheld much better than I could hear my TRC 217 he was able to get over 5.5 miles away from his base ( I know everyday is different and terrain is different and conditions are different )... but still..... I think his antenna did an excellent job
... I even went out at 7:00 AM just to get good quiet conditions... I don't know what time he went out at... but I'm sure it wasn't 7:00 AM

anyway I'm enjoying this base station antenna discussion

my video.... it will start at the range test

SevenFortyOne Radios and Repairs video ( he does a great professional job compared to my playing around videos )

 

[prcguy]

NO mine only has 2 radial arms not 4 going up and down

The original Avanti Astroplane had two vertical tubes attaching to the halo at the bottom. The Sirio replacement has four. I had an original Astroplane and Astrobeam in the 1970s and I don't remember getting the Astrobeam to work very well.

 

[WSAC829]

the Antron might have a little loss in its matching section making it a little worse than a 1/2 wave dipole

This ^^^^^

I've mentioned it here before about how poor A99's are, yet hardly anybody listens. When you finally replace an A99 with an aluminum antenna you'll see (and hear) the difference right away. Any antenna can talk world-wide DX. That doesn't impress me. You literally can talk world-wide on a tuned coat hanger. What should matter the most is local TX and RX range. I had better local range on a 102" whip duct taped to the chimney than i did with an A99 on a 40 foot tower at the same house. The last 2-ish years i've been using a cheap aluminum $89 Sirio GPS-27 1/2 wave on top of a 30 foot flag pole. Works great. I fairly regularly talk "locally" to stations 100 miles away on SSB when DX is gone for the evening. I have some locals on A99's and Imax 2000's that can't even hear who i'm talking to. The sad part is they live 20-30 miles CLOSER to those stations than i do.

I posted this video before, but posting it again to show how crappy A99's really are when 10 feet of wire has better ears.

 

[slowmover]

Well that is what you say. I know what it did for me when I had it . Unless you are calling me a liar. In which case I can't care less what you think. I live on facts.

You’re on a site which features plenty of material through which to search. “Fact” is debatable where plenty of other radio station details can de-rail it if not attended first.

Take your time in planning that system. Each aspect has a list to which to attend.

No lists?
Poor planning.

The antenna itself is only a sub-system component.

It’s all pencilled-in until actual research has been honored in the main.

— The SIRIO 2000’s are what I referred to in wind-handling. Aspects of performance





.

 

[slowmover]

This ^^^^^

I've mentioned it here before about how poor A99's are, yet hardly anybody listens. When you finally replace an A99 with an aluminum antenna you'll see (and hear) the difference right away. Any antenna can talk world-wide DX. That doesn't impress me. You literally can talk world-wide on a tuned coat hanger. What should matter the most is local TX and RX range. I had better local range on a 102" whip duct taped to the chimney than i did with an A99 on a 40 foot tower at the same house. The last 2-ish years i've been using a cheap aluminum $89 Sirio GPS-27 1/2 wave on top of a 30 foot flag pole. Works great. I fairly regularly talk "locally" to stations 100 miles away on SSB when DX is gone for the evening. I have some locals on A99's and Imax 2000's that can't even hear who i'm talking to. The sad part is they live 20-30 miles CLOSER to those stations than i do.

I posted this video before, but posting it again to show how crappy A99's really are when 10 feet of wire has better ears.

He’s got his Nomex & breather apparatus on . . . . 😉

.