Old Shakespear Big Stick Antenna

[russbrill]

A 'sleeve dipole'? Well, yes-n-no .. sort of. As was said above, there were several variations in how it was made. But, those variations were mainly for economical reasons rather than electrical ones. Where you feed a 1/2 wave antenna makes little difference in it's radiation pattern. An end-fed one will behave like a center fed, or OCF 1/2 wave one. They all have the same qualifiers/limitations, such as height above ground, what's near it, etc. So, which would be the easiest for you to mount??

It definitely was a "Unity Gain" antenna. A friend of mine replaced his Starduster with a Super Big Stick thinking the Big Stick was a better antenna. Well, after a couple weeks, the Starduster went back up and the Big Stick hit the road....

 

[TheSpaceMann]

And the Starduster was a ground plane!

 

[MisterLongwire]

Hey. I initially had an astroplane 40 feet up. Did not work right. Brought it back to the store to exchange for the Big Stick. AND THE SKIP POURED IN DAY AND NIGHT. LIFE WAS EVER SO GOOD! Whomever I heard I was able to talk to. Low wind resistance. Low SWR. Miss those days. Miss that antenna!

 

[russbrill]

And the Starduster was a ground plane!

Yep, a quarter wave ground plane... But, it did out perform the Big Stick, I witnessed that with my own eyes.. He was about a 1/2 S Unit better at my house with the Starduster..

 

[W5lz]

There are probably 18 and a half different reasons why one particular antenna will out perform another in any set of circumstances. So, to keep things at least 'ball-park' close (or fair), comparisons should be done with the antenna being tested positioned the same in each case. That usually means a fairly extensive antenna range. Not too many of those around anymore, so at best, comparisons are estimates made by someone who may have a bias toward on antenna and another. So what does all that mean to you or me? It means you'd better keep sort of an open mind and then your mileage may vary. Do you really believe all the advertising you see? Really??

 

[MisterLongwire]

Not too many of the good antennas around anywhere anymore PERIOD! My BigStick was my receiving antenna, flicked a switch and made use of my PDL2. Alot of times skip was so thick I turned my radio output down and talked skip that way. Darn them good days are long gone!

 

[prcguy]

There are still many great antennas available today and probably more models than in the CB heyday of the 70s. Shakespeare still has a couple Big Stick models, a great Starduster copy is made by Sirio and my favorite, the Hy-Gain Penetrator has been brought back. Dozens and dozens of new models have come out in the last 10yrs alone.

Not too many of the good antennas around anywhere anymore PERIOD! My BigStick was my receiving antenna, flicked a switch and made use of my PDL2. Alot of times skip was so thick I turned my radio output down and talked skip that way. Darn them good days are long gone!

 

[MisterLongwire]

where is my favorite...the Avanti ASTROPLANE?

 

[prcguy]

There is a good reason its not made any longer. It didn't do anything that a Big Stick or Starduster could do and a Radio Shack 19ft 10in shortened 5/8 wave would outperform it.

where is my favorite...the Avanti ASTROPLANE?

 

[peteKNJ2123]

I was given an old Shakespeare big stick cb antenna by a friend. He passed away before I was able to ask him about it. It has 4 sections and is 16 feet in length. Before I attempt to put it up I would like to know more about it. How do the bottom 2 sections go together. They have no threads like the other sections. Is there anything that should be inside the bottom 2 sections like a coax or? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks Chuck Saylor

The original Shakespeare Big Stick was a sleeve dipole and its model was "Style 176". Then came the marine version with 1" threaded base to mate with marine mounts, still a sleeve dipole and the model was Style 176-1. Then due to shipping costs for the two piece Style 176, they came out with a half wave end fed three piece version the Style 376 and I believe later there was a 4 piece version that was otherwise identical when it was assembled.

I was given an old shakespear big stick cb antenna by a friend. He passed away before I was able to ask him about it. It has 4 sections and is 16 feet in length. Before I attempt to put it up I would like to know more about it. How do the bottom 2 sections go together. They have no threads like the other sections. Is there anything that should be inside the bottom 2 sections like a coax or? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks Chuck Saylor

Hey PRC, I recently unearthed an old Shakespeare big stick III that I had in storage since 1989. It has 3 elements. The bottom and the middle elements are joined together with a 1/2" stud bolt. (i.e. double threaded) I bought it brand new and it only was up for about 2 months. After pulling it out of storage (like most fiberglass) it had frayed really bad. I couldnt even handle it with my hands. So I decided to see if i could recondition it.

It had PERFECT SWR. So I used heat shrink tubing to cover the entire antenna. I posted a video about the project. I LOVE the big stick!! I use a Penetrator 500 for 10 Meters, and the Big Stick for 1, and the Big Stick is an awesome performer!! I home this helps if you or anyone have the same fiberglass issues.
-Pete

 

[prcguy]

Wow, the fiberglass on a Shakespeare should not have any problems under about 5yrs out in the weather and should last indefinably indoors. When they start to get a little fuzzy or fray a bit I usually give them a couple of coats of paint and years ago I used Epoxy paint but now I just use Rustoleum. You can even use marine gel coat to give it a longer lasting finish but that's more expensive.

Hey PRC, I recently unearthed an old Shakespeare big stick III that I had in storage since 1989. It has 3 elements. The bottom and the middle elements are joined together with a 1/2" stud bolt. (i.e. double threaded) I bought it brand new and it only was up for about 2 months. After pulling it out of storage (like most fiberglass) it had frayed really bad. I couldnt even handle it with my hands. So I decided to see if i could recondition it.

It had PERFECT SWR. So I used heat shrink tubing to cover the entire antenna. I posted a video about the project. I LOVE the big stick!! I use a Penetrator 500 for 10 Meters, and the Big Stick for 1, and the Big Stick is an awesome performer!! I home this helps if you or anyone have the same fiberglass issues.
-Pete

 

[vagrant]

That video made me laugh as it instantly took me back 40 years ago of doing the same "heeello" or "auuudio" VSWR/PWR check back in the day. Thank you.

I recently started painting my antennas thanks to prcguy, but that shrink tubing may be a better solution for some of my troublesome antennas that either have water ingress, or an IMAX 2000 that is "fuzzy" to say the least. I may give a Diamond 6/10 meter vertical a whirl instead.

 

[prcguy]

I'm not so sure about coating an entire long antenna in heatshrink. I've had old UHF 5dB Stationmasters that were ready for the trash where the fiberglass was shedding and you could see the actual fiberglass cloth. I put on a few coats of paint then sanded off the glass splinters then another couple coats of paint and back in the air for another 5yrs. Doing the marine gel coat would make it like new again.

That video made me laugh as it instantly took me back 40 years ago of doing the same "heeello" or "auuudio" VSWR/PWR check back in the day. Thank you.

I recently started painting my antennas thanks to prcguy, but that shrink tubing may be a better solution for some of my troublesome antennas that either have water ingress, or an IMAX 2000 that is "fuzzy" to say the least. I may give a Diamond 6/10 meter vertical a whirl instead.

 

[vagrant]

I just used an HT antenna to test some heat shrink and it did not like it. VSWR wasn't massively different, but it was unfriendly. Of course an HT antenna is an apple compared an outdoor 8'+ antenna orange. Anyways, I need more paint for other antennas, plus heat shrink would probably need painting.

Your Stationmaster note reminded me of a visit to a commercial site a few years back. The owner of the site and I were relaxing outside in some chairs looking up and it could have been a Stationmaster, or something quite large that was splintering like crazy. We made some fine crude jokes and had a laugh or two.