GROUND MOUNTED 10M RINGO RANGER

[lpp3799]

The question is, can you ground mount a 10m Ringo Ranger over sixteen 1/4 wave radials? The reason I am asking is because I have no experience with the Ringo antenna. Here is the back story. I was having issues on 10m with my Hex-Beam. So I went to the garage and went through my parts collection. I found wire, a CB antenna mirror mount, 5ft section of ground rod and an old 102" CB whip. With this I cut sixteen 1/4 wave radials. I drove the ground rod in 4ft and pinned the radials to the ground around the ground rod. I attached the radials to the rod and mounted the CB mount to the top portion of the rod. I attached the 102" whip, adjusted the SWR and hoped for the best.
The antenna works well. I made SSB contacts into Europe and S. America but the antenna's primary use was on FT8. On FT8 I can work all over the world with this antenna I dubbed "THE EARTHQUAKE." But then I started thinking if it can be improved. I thought about replacing the whip with an A-99 or Imax2000. Then I saw the Ringo and was wondering if it would be an upgrade to the whip. Any thoughts would on the subject are welcomed. Thanks for reading

Frank - KB2KBC

 

[DeeEx]

That’s a fun project for sure! I love it when spare parts laying around get my imagination going.

The Antron/IMAX family are essentially consumer-friendly (in other words, easy to tune and sleek-looking) end fed dipoles inside fiberglass sleeves. I’m sure you can achieve the same results with more wire from your parts stash.

That being said, the top section of the Antron is threaded 3/8-24, so I topped mine with a 1/4 wave stainless steel whip for better results.

 

[Golay]

lpp3799:
Not to be snarly but did you see how the Ringo played without radials first? I've got a six meter Ringo up about 30'. Never have run radials. Should I?

 

[prcguy]

The Ringo is a 1/2 wave end fed and mounted at ground level with radials is not the best use of it. It would work better mounted with the center at roughly 1/2 wavelength or multiples above ground like 18ft or 32ft, etc. The center of a 1/2 wave is the highest current point and when that is at 1/2 wave or multiples off the ground the main lobe will be closer to the horizon and the more 1/2 waves its up the lower closer to the horizon it will get. If you ground mount it the high current point will be 1/4 wave off the ground and the main lobe will be pushed up above the horizon, loosing gain at the horizon and at low takeoff angles which are good for DX.

 

[alcahuete]

I would try to figure out what's going on with your hexbeam. None of those antennas should be outperforming the hexbeam.

 

[lpp3799]

I would try to figure out what's going on with your hexbeam. None of those antennas should be outperforming the hexbeam.

Nothing is wrong with the Hex. I think my location somehow affects 10m. I say this because nothing seems to work great. I've tried dipoles, yagis, hex-beam and ground mounted antennas. Everything works, just not great.

 

[lpp3799]

lpp3799:
Not to be snarly but did you see how the Ringo played without radials first? I've got a six meter Ringo up about 30'. Never have run radials. Should I?

Not snarly at all, I appreciate the feedback. I can say that I did not try the Ringo as a stand alone. My issue was that it was going to be ground mounted and I thought perhaps the 16 radials would help with performance. I just came across a You tube vid that shows an op ground mounting an Antron-99 with 16 radials with good results. I have one lying around and will try that. I received some good input, including have the antenna no more than 2 inches away from the radials. Thanks for the comment.

 

[KM6CQ]

I have an Antron 99 if I swapped it out for Ringo, I doubt I would ever notice a difference, but I’d rather have the Ringo because it’s made a lot better. The Antron 99 is pretty cheaply made.
That being said, a 10 m vertical with radials that is elevated works spectacularly.

 

[Skypilot007]

A local Ham to me uses a A99 about 30ft above the ground for 10 meters. He uses it with a tuner on 12 and 15 meters with very good results. He's got quite the log book to prove it. Nice to know that the A99 is an option for those bands. I had the IMax antenna which is slightly longer. It worked well on 10 and 12 but was deaf as a broom stick on 15 compared to my dipole. I now use a home brewed 1/4 wave vertical with ground radials at 50ft up for 10 and 12 meters. Couldn't be happier with it.

 

[lpp3799]

A local Ham to me uses a A99 about 30ft above the ground for 10 meters. He uses it with a tuner on 12 and 15 meters with very good results. He's got quite the log book to prove it. Nice to know that the A99 is an option for those bands. I had the IMax antenna which is slightly longer. It worked well on 10 and 12 but was deaf as a broom stick on 15 compared to my dipole. I now use a home brewed 1/4 wave vertical with ground radials at 50ft up for 10 and 12 meters. Couldn't be happier with i

Thanks for the response. Unfortunately I need to ground mount the antenna and that is why i am using the radial field. The 16 radials under the 102" whip work well and I am able to use it on 12m through a tuner. A few months after posting this, I came across a video on You Tube where a ham did just what I was asking. He mounted an A-99 a few inches off the ground, over radials pinned to the ground. He said he had good results. I am going to do the same thing. It should work better than the whip although I have worked into Australia, from NJ, on FT8.