Metal CB base antennas

[prcguy]

Yes, I had one in about 1975. In a test side by side with various antennas it was close to, but a little down from a Shakespeare Big Stick and noticeably worse than a Radio Shack or Hy-Gain CLR-2 19ft 10in 5/8 wave. A Hy-Gain Penetrator was a lot better.

Does anyone here remember the Astro Plane antenna? This antenna transmitted from the top of antenna which was like an X on top then had a loop around lower side of antenna.

 

[MrColad]

Does anyone here remember the Astro Plane antenna? This antenna transmitted from the top of antenna which was like an X on top then had a loop around lower side of antenna.

www.cbtricks.com/ant_manuals/avanti

 

[prcguy]

My rebuttal to the Astroplane advertisement:

The top radiation doesn't mean much with this antenna because a very small portion of the antenna sits above the mast, so any antenna you would put on the same mast would have much more antenna above the mast and probably more radiation above the mast than the Astroplane.

The Astroplane angle of radiation is mostly governed by its height above ground. Put it 1/4 wave above ground and much of its radiation pattern will be above the horizon just like any other vertical antenna. Put it at 1/2 wavelength above ground or multiples of that and it will have a lower angle of radiation like most any other vertical.

4.46dB gain over an isotropic antenna is BS in my opinion, that would be 2.29dB gain over a 1/2 wave dipole and I don't think this 12ft tall antenna is going to out perform an 18ft long dipole.

www.cbtricks.com/ant_manuals/avanti

View attachment 77937

 

[stingray327]

My rebuttal to the Astroplane advertisement:

The top radiation doesn't mean much with this antenna because a very small portion of the antenna sits above the mast, so any antenna you would put on the same mast would have much more antenna above the mast and probably more radiation above the mast than the Astroplane.

The Astroplane angle of radiation is mostly governed by its height above ground. Put it 1/4 wave above ground and much of its radiation pattern will be above the horizon just like any other vertical antenna. Put it at 1/2 wavelength above ground or multiples of that and it will have a lower angle of radiation like most any other vertical.

4.46dB gain over an isotropic antenna is BS in my opinion, that would be 2.29dB gain over a 1/2 wave dipole and I don't think this 12ft tall antenna is going to out perform an 18ft long dipole.

Never had the Astroplane antenna I remember seeing it in the early 70's or late 60's. I wonder when this antenna went out of production?
The best performer I had was a Super Penetrator 5/8 wave base antenna.

 

[stingray327]

Yes, I had one in about 1975. In a test side by side with various antennas it was close to, but a little down from a Shakespeare Big Stick and noticeably worse than a Radio Shack or Hy-Gain CLR-2 19ft 10in 5/8 wave. A Hy-Gain Penetrator was a lot better.

wHEN I had a 1/2 Big Stick the performance was terrible compared to the Sigma 5/8 or Super Penetrator base antennas. So perhaps the Astroplane isn't a high performing antenna. There is another antenna which I am sure is better called the Starduster. I remember this antenna in 1976.

 

[prcguy]

The Antenna Specialists Starduster was sort of a 1/4 wave ground plane but since the radials were folded down to such an extreme angle it was more of a coaxial 1/2 wave dipole. It performed about the same as a 1/2 wave dipole and the little radials in the middle of the main element were sort of a capacity hat that shortened the vertical element slightly but also provided a bit more capacitance to the ground radials for matching at that extreme angle. I had one of these also.

A very good copy of the Starduster is currently made by Sirio out of Italy.

wHEN I had a 1/2 Big Stick the performance was terrible compared to the Sigma 5/8 or Super Penetrator base antennas. So perhaps the Astroplane isn't a high performing antenna. There is another antenna which I am sure is better called the Starduster. I remember this antenna in 1976.

 

[dem1]

I still spot a few old Astro Planes on rooftops around town. Mine back in the 70s worked well enough that I was often asked if I was running legal power (which I was). I used a roof-mounted 30' mast to compensate for the Astro Plane's elevated feedpoint, and followed Avanti's instructions about keeping the guy wires 48" below its loop and isolating them from the mast with eggshell insulators.

The antenna was a notable improvement over a 9' quarter-wave ground plane which had been mounted with a tip height 10 feet lower than that of the Astro Plane (and a feedpoint 15 feet lower). But I did no apples-to-apples comparisons against other antennas.

 

[MrColad]

Original Starduster

Sirio version

 

[MrColad]

The one CB antenna I was always impressed with was the Moonraker beam. It was an experience in itself to see it turning.



Looks like this one had an oopsy.

 

[prcguy]

The most impressive I remember is a cross Yagi called a Super Laser 500 by Maco. I think it had 14 elements on a 40ft boom. I worked in a CB/2-way/car stereo store in the 70s and we received one by truck freight for a customer. The shipping crate was so long we couldn't close the front door to the store and I had to wait at the store way after hours for the customer to pick it up. Those were notorious for breaking rotors.

The one CB antenna I was always impressed with was the Moonraker beam. It was an experience in itself to see it turning.

View attachment 77965View attachment 77965

Looks like this one had an oopsy.

 

[stingray327]

The one CB antenna I was always impressed with was the Moonraker beam. It was an experience in itself to see it turning.

View attachment 77965View attachment 77965

Looks like this one had an oopsy.

I remember the Moonraker6 very well. There was also another one that was larger. I cannot remember the model no. Is it possible it could have been a Moonraker 12?? ...Another popular beam antenna which was alot more compact was a PDL2 probably also made by Antenna Specialists.

I remember the 3 antennas Radio Shack sold from the 9.95 quarter wave ground plane to the middle model 1/2 wave with 3 bottom radials to the full size antenna. All 3 were ground plane base antennas. I don't know or can't remember the model numbers or names of each one but they were advertised as good, better and best back in the 70's. The Radio Shack CB base antennas were always alot cheaper in cost compared to the other antennas by Antenna Specialists, Hygain, Cushcraft and others which I cannot remember now at this time.

The most impressive I remember is a cross Yagi called a Super Laser 500 by Maco. I think it had 14 elements on a 40ft boom. I worked in a CB/2-way/car stereo store in the 70s and we received one by truck freight for a customer. The shipping crate was so long we couldn't close the front door to the store and I had to wait at the store way after hours for the customer to pick it up. Those were notorious for breaking rotors.

And just think I don't think this was the biggest Moonraker model.
I wonder how long it took in hours (how many people) to install this Moonraker antenna.

I owned or tried just about every CB base antenna made during the early 70s through today and the Hy-Gain Super Penetrator 500 made in the mid 70s was the best mass produced omni I've used. I now have the newer reissue version after MFJ acquired Hy-Gain and although its the same design and shape, the wall thickness of the aluminum tubing is thinner and the antenna is a little flimsy compared to the original. This antenna is sold as a 10m antenna so it can get around the high voltage insulation rules but you simply build it to the old dimensions and it tunes perfectly across the CB band.

The Avanti Sigma 5/8 was a similar design but with a tapped horizontal loop matching system over the vertical hiarpin matching on the Pentrator. Since most of the current flows in the lower portion of these antennas its said the vertical matching section on the Penetrator is contributing to the radiation where the Sigma would be not so much. The capacity hat on the Penetrator also helps shorten the antenna a little but also pulls the current up the radiating element and improving radiation.

You can still buy a Super Penetrator antenna today. I saw them advertised here on the net for like $150. I can't remember if it was EBAY or who was selling them.

 

[prcguy]

In almost 50yrs of playing with this stuff the 40ft long Super Laser 500 is the biggest I've seen. Its not the best and in fact MACO has no antenna engineers, just a bunch of yahoos doing what they think is right, which its not. The very best Yagi I've ever seen for CB is made by M2 antennas and its designed by some very smart people. How bout a 46ft boom and over 10dBd gain? Here is a link to the M2: 11M7, 27.10-27.80 MHz

The Radio Shack antennas were fine and some were copies of Hy-Gain antennas or they were made by them under contract. The 19ft 10in 5/8 wave had a problem with a round circuit board matching transformer in the base that would handle about 200w max then it would burn up. You had to drill out the rivets in the antenna base to get to it but I managed to burn out several of these and I took just the circuit boards back to my local Radio Shack and they got me free replacements for awhile until they caught on.

I remember the Moonraker6 very well. There was also another one that was larger. I cannot remember the model no. Is it possible it could have been a Moonraker 12?? ...Another popular beam antenna which was alot more compact was a PDL2 probably also made by Antenna Specialists.

I remember the 3 antennas Radio Shack sold from the 9.95 quarter wave ground plane to the middle model 1/2 wave with 3 bottom radials to the full size antenna. All 3 were ground plane base antennas. I don't know or can't remember the model numbers or names of each one but they were advertised as good, better and best back in the 70's. The Radio Shack CB base antennas were always alot cheaper in cost compared to the other antennas by Antenna Specialists, Hygain, Cushcraft and others which I cannot remember now at this time.



And just think I don't think this was the biggest Moonraker model.
I wonder how long it took in hours (how many people) to install this Moonraker antenna.



You can still buy a Super Penetrator antenna today. I saw them advertised here on the net for like $150. I can't remember if it was EBAY or who was selling them.

 

[MrColad]

Anybody ever seen one of these?



www.gizmotchy.com

 

[prcguy]

Yes, I had a two element version of the Gizmotchy that I tested then dumped. It saves some aluminum for about the same performance as a cross Yagi, but again, the people designing Gizmotchy, MACO and similar antennas are not antenna engineers, they are hobby people who started a company to sell antennas. They are not optimized for the best performance.

Anybody ever seen one of these?

View attachment 77974

www.gizmotchy.com

 

[stingray327]

Anybody ever seen one of these?

View attachment 77974

www.gizmotchy.com

never have seen one of these.

 

[prcguy]

And another thing..... A dipole, which is the driven element of a Yagi antenna has 0dBd gain or 2.14dBi gain in free space. A ground plane has less gain than a dipole because only the vertical element is radiating and working against the ground plane or radials, which do not radiate. In essence half the antenna radiating part of the antenna is missing on a ground plane compared to a dipole.

Now look at the Gizmotchy antenna, in the vertical mode its a 1/4 wave vertical element with a 1/4 wave ground radial that resembles an inverted V dipole on its side, but you also have the driven element of the horizontal mode in the circuit with RF currents flowing on it. The end result will be similar to a ground plane with a reflector and directors and the gain out the gate will be less than a traditional Yagi with dipole feed. Even if the driven element of the horizontal mode is not acting fully like a ground radial, that would launch a wave about 45deg off vertical (in a tilted inverted V mode) causing a few dB loss when talking to another antenna that is pure vertical polarization. In horizontal mode you would be talking skip and the polarity is scrambled there, so you would probably not suffer polarization loss any more than anyone else's Yagi but you still have the lower gain driven element thing.

The Gizmotchy is clever and interesting, but not that great in performance.

 

[trentbob]

www.cbtricks.com/ant_manuals/avanti

View attachment 77937

By this time in my life I'm guessing around 1975 Maybe, I had a CB in the car only. I had been living in a dorm at school and graduated College in 1975. I never had a base station again but kept a mobile radio in my car probably through the 80s and early 90s. I do remember this particular advertisement and did keep up with all the options for a base antenna but by that time Citizens Band had started to completely change in my area. Lots of hecklers and noise... Lots of Shenanigans and profanity and Channel 19 was busy with Truckers but the rest of the band was beginning its deterioration by that point.

It's interesting to see these ads though.

 

[trentbob]

Anybody ever seen one of these?

View attachment 77974

www.gizmotchy.com

Never saw an antenna like that before, it looks like it should be on a rotor.

 

[spongella]

Does anyone here remember the Astro Plane antenna? This antenna transmitted from the top of antenna which was like an X on top then had a loop around lower side of antenna.

Yes, remember those. Weren't the made by Avanti? Maybe I am thinking of the Starduster.

I started out with a back-of-set center loaded whip that got me a out maybe a mile or so but that was back in '75 when everyone had a CB in the house and car. Next was the "Big Stick" that was roof-mounted thanks to the kindly landlord. Don't remember it being prone to noise but didn't know any better back then .

Does anyone remember the antenna that was a non-rotatable beam consisting of three vertical elements spaced 120 degrees apart that you switched electronically?

Any antenna that's longer than my house scares me..

Nice to hear all your comments of CB way back when. Check AmericanRadioHistory website for old CB mags.

 

[N0ZQR]

That non-rotatable was the Super Scanner made by Antenna Specialists. I had three of them! All three series, still have two in the garage (knocked down)!