I put up a V2000A about a month ago. Trying to picture how I could "add radials" to it, since I have it on a mount up in the air. Are you talking about ground radials? Or are you talking about removing the other two rods and replacing them with additional 6M radials?
I need a 6 meter vertical
- Thread starter bobruzzo
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There is one “radial” that is "tunable". I did the mod where you replace the one radial with three. You buy aluminum rods and use a tap and die set to thread the radials and add them to the "collar" where the original radial was attached. I did my own as shown here -
Modifications to the Diamond V2000 and similar antennas
... but now you can apparently buy a kit from WiMo...
Diamond V-2000 Radialkit
W8HDU
Member
I did what popnokick did with threading rods for my V2000. It did work better, at the expense of the UHF band. But I was not interested in anything UHF. It works well.
((EDIT)) If you thread your own rods, you need a metric die. I believe (someone jump in and correct me if this isn't right), the thread for that antenna is "M5-0.6", and you can get kits at Lowes, Menards, or off Amazon.
((EDIT)) If you thread your own rods, you need a metric die. I believe (someone jump in and correct me if this isn't right), the thread for that antenna is "M5-0.6", and you can get kits at Lowes, Menards, or off Amazon.
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Cool, thanks for the info. I'm currently using mine for 6m and GMRS (so I don't want to hurt UHF performance) but I will file that away for future reference!
Maybe a slight difference from what HDU did - I bought 32" aluminum rods and then cut them to the length I wanted (~31 in). I then threaded the rods using the die part of the "tap and die" set. I used the tap to make additional holes in the collar of the antenna to hold the additional radials. I did this a few years ago and I don't believe I used a metric tap & die, but either will work if you make your own holes. Also, I've noticed no performance difference on UHF with measured SWR through the 70cm ham band less than 1.3 / 1. I did not test it at GMRS freqs so that result might be different.
I was re-reading everything and thought something seemed off... and it was. I was wrong. The antenna does have three radials but only one which is tunable by length. I replaced all three radials so it was not necessary to tap additional holes into the collar of the antenna. It was however necessary to thread the new radials correctly so they would mate with the existing holes in the antenna. HDU's info on the thread size is probably correct... I didn't go out to the garage and dig up my tap & die set to find out what I used but the new radials fit fine on the first try. Also - not exactly certain of the length of radials I used but there is a radial length guide for tuning that comes with the antenna. The guide is so that you can adjust the length of the one adjustable radial to put it in the portion of the 6M band you use the most. I cut the length of all three radials to be in that range. I used 52.525 mHz... but don't recall what the length was.
k6cpo
Member
Mine has three radials, one of which is tunable for 6 meters. I tuned mine for the middle of the 6 meter band and it worked fine for my club's 6 meter net until the net died for lack of participation. Other than tuning, I didn't alter the antenna in any other way because I have it connected to a Yaesu FT-8900 which I use more for VHF/UHF anyway.
W8HDU
Member
If you can afford to get (2) more radials with the coil in them, having three is the ultimate way to go. But if you thread some aluminum rod and used fixed length, 28.6" seems to have the balance between match and gain. However, the caveat is that the longer radials will muck up the UHF gain a lot, and High Band VHF a little bit.
Don't forget the M5-0.6 backing nuts, (qty-3), and if it will be up for a while a little dab of Jet Lube on the threads prior to installation will help keeping it from galling if you ever want to return it to original. As I recall (OFM) 6-meter beam gain increased by 1.5-2.0 dB with this mod. However, you lost about 4 dB at 443.000 MHz. The longer radials pretty much ruins the horizontal beam by depressing the angle. You won't notice it as much talking to your buds locally, but 30-50 miles out there is a big difference in gain.
I saw no significant change to SWR at 70cm, but what HAS apparently changed is the radiation pattern at 70cm... moving it down from the horizon. I probably haven't noticed that because I use 70cm mostly for repeater work and they've all remained accessible. But it does probably explain why my 2M range was much greater than 70cm during the last VHF Contest (even allowing for naturally less range on 70cm). If I was doing more serious work with 70cm I'd use a beam antenna instead of a vertical anyway.
Sirio Dominator
I have one on a six meter repeater.
I have one on a six meter repeater.
W8HDU
Member
That's exactly what happens on that antenna. Areas repeaters are typically not affected, but distant repeaters will be.
I still swear by the Diamond CP-62. It's a little large, but does a great job.
Thanks for posting this radial kit link. I tried to do a similar mod to my V2000A a few years ago using 3 straight aluminum threaded rods. I cut them for to a 6m quarter wave length that screwed directly into the antenna, but it did not improve things, so I went back to the single 6m radial. Has anyone in the US reading this thread ordered one of these replacement radial kits from this comapny that appears to be out of Sweden?
TheDiablo
Member
My comet discone works great on 6m, but the bandwidth is very narrow. Mainly use it for 6m fm.
W8HDU
Member
Most antennas will be like that. You can sometimes help matching with a balun, but the effect may not be as great as you want, and good 50 MHz baluns are not cheap. I have the same problem with my CP62 vertical. It's tuned to 52.5200. When I drop down to the SSB or CW portion, the SWR is high; about 1.9-2.2 : 1.00.
I put a remote switched tuner at the base of the antenna, but when I switch it to 50.1250 (SSB calling freq), and then slide off the frequency, there is a rise in SWR. I have the same problem with 2-meters. Antennas are set for the calling freq, but when I go up to a 147 repeater, the rig hates the match. Just one of those things.
I put a remote switched tuner at the base of the antenna, but when I switch it to 50.1250 (SSB calling freq), and then slide off the frequency, there is a rise in SWR. I have the same problem with 2-meters. Antennas are set for the calling freq, but when I go up to a 147 repeater, the rig hates the match. Just one of those things.
W8HDU
Member
If you tune the CP62 for the SSB portion, then it will be off at 52.52 FM. Which is why have the switchable tuner.
KE8RJD
Newbie
Well I just got my ringo AR-6 and I read some good and so not so good so I hope I did the right purchase. I wanted something to use for a new club net using no repeater and it looks pretty easy to adjust to one frequency. Thanks for the comments!
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I don't think you will regret getting a Ringo. Like I said somewhere in here awhile ago, I have used Ringo's from 10 thru 70 cm's for ages !, both as a ham and professionally.
Once you are happy with the SWR etc., remember to coat the whole thing with an acrylic --- I prefer a heavy marine spar vanish, but that can be a jolly mess--- so a spray acrylic works well too. Be especially careful to tighten the bolt that holds the matching arm to the 'ring' good and firm--- a bad contact there is the only thing I have ever seen that was a problem with any Ringo.
Don't be too overly fussy about adjusting it to frequency--- if its good for the low end of 6 -- (50.125 SSB) it will do just fine for FM (52.525.)
Lauri
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I don't think you will regret getting a Ringo. Like I said somewhere in here awhile ago, I have used Ringo's from 10 thru 70 cm's for ages !, both as a ham and professionally.
Once you are happy with the SWR etc., remember to coat the whole thing with an acrylic --- I prefer a heavy marine spar vanish, but that can be a jolly mess--- so a spray acrylic works well too. Be especially careful to tighten the bolt that holds the matching arm to the 'ring' good and firm--- a bad contact there is the only thing I have ever seen that was a problem with any Ringo.
Don't be too overly fussy about adjusting it to frequency--- if its good for the low end of 6 -- (50.125 SSB) it will do just fine for FM (52.525.)
Lauri
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KE8RJD
Newbie
Thanks for your reply and I will probably use the acrylic spray I think that would be a lot easier for me
bill4long
Member
Getcha one of these bad boys. I know it's not a verticle. But 9.5 dBd. Turn 100w into almost 1000w. Play it to Win it.
Yeahhhhh baby!
antennas-amplifiers.com
Yeahhhhh baby!
6m 6elements Magic Band Antenna 6m6DX6
6m 6elements Magic Band Antenna 6m6DX6 will make sure you can hear weak signals and give you the extra edge you need in contests. The antenna is pre-tuned.
antennas-amplifiers.com
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