Hello all, after years and years of not being on the air, I have inherited some radio equipment and have decided to take back up the hobby. I have an antron a99 on a 20' tower on a large hill approx. 100' from my radio and some president cb and 10m radios. My question is this: Do I need a ground plane and will the large metal roofed garage that the the tower is by act as a ground plane for the a99. The metal roof is approx. 24' x 30' x approx. 10' tall, the tower is positioned about 4' from the edge of the roof on its south side and the tower, like I said, is 20" tall with the a99 mounted at its top. I was thinking that maybe the roof is too far away to do any good but I'm unsure. Any advice would help, thanks
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Offset Metal Roof Ground Plane
- Thread starter ta64
- Start date
I've seen and used A-99's in various configurations, never worried about a ground plane for it. I guess they still make that ground plane kit but when I tried that in the 90's I didn't see any appreciable difference.
Antron 99s are an end-fed half-wave, so no ground plane kit or special installation is needed. You can also use just the bottom section by itself in a limited-space situation, and they work just fine like that.
I've heard that the ground plane kit helps to lower the takeoff angle; no idea if it actually does anything or not. Replacing the top section with a 102" SS whip helps the reception a bit, especially if you use the antenna for shortwave listening as well.
The metal roof may give some alteration of your pattern, but since the Antron doesn't need to couple to it, there probably wont be much distortion of the pattern.
I've heard that the ground plane kit helps to lower the takeoff angle; no idea if it actually does anything or not. Replacing the top section with a 102" SS whip helps the reception a bit, especially if you use the antenna for shortwave listening as well.
The metal roof may give some alteration of your pattern, but since the Antron doesn't need to couple to it, there probably wont be much distortion of the pattern.
CAvoyager1960
Member
I have an A-99 and it works fine without a ground plane. Mine is still very new but I did some research on it (I was confused about the design... it is very odd) It receives great and had almost perfect SWR without adjusting the rings. It doesn't need a ground plane. If this antenna is old it would be a good idea to take it down, take the sections apart and clean the connections. Also the fiberglass can get "weathered" (some people like to paint them) Is the coax cable old? Might be time to replace it.
