Sirio Gainmaster 1/2 Wave Cb Base Antenna Review

April 18, 2022 Posting Komentar

Sirio Gain Master Antenna Review

Vertical base of operations station CB antennas are the most normally used type of antenna for base installs. Traditionally there has been a big array to cull from with many different manufacturers making the claim that their antenna was the best.

The new Sirio Proceeds-Master has been making some waves in the CB radio world and has many people questioning their previously held beliefs on which antenna was the best vertical on the market place. Even Sirio themselves are willing to make the merits that this antenna will out-perform competing antennas.

So here we are today and the gauntlet has been thrown down. We now have the run a risk to review this new antenna and see if it's claims are valid and compare it against the popular Imax 2000 in a head to head test.

UNPACKING THE ANTENNA

The Sirio Proceeds-Master will come in a large box 76″ x 5″ 10 4″. The parts and pieces within will consist of the following –

Main Bottom Section – This piece is the main bottom section of the antenna and has the red choke coil at the bottom.
Tubing Mast Sections – These are the various length fiberglass sections that volition fit together to form the full length antenna.
Antenna Wire – This is the ruby-red/black wiring harness that connects to the bottom section and the wire will run to the very top of the antenna.
Mounting Hardware.

Assembly

The instructions are fairly straightforward and the assembly is intuitive. You'll spiral the wiring harness connector to the connector coming out of the top of the base section.

In the instructions they practise specifically mention not to bend or crimp the wire coming out of the top of the base of operations section but my wire was actually crimped from the factory every bit in shipping information technology had been bent over the tubing. I've heard from a couple of other people who also plant the same affair had happened when they unpacked their antenna. In my example luckily the wire wasn't compromised and still performed perfectly but it's something I'd like to see Sirio prepare with a little extra packing.

Once y'all screw the wiring harness to the base of operations section you then can unravel the remaining wire and move to the stage of assembling the antenna sections. You'll run the main element wire up through the sections of tubing until it pokes out the stop. Then you'll slide the pieces out until the tubing reaches it's total length.

The tubes slide together and are slotted on one end. You'll apply an included clench over the slotted department and tighten.

At the very tip of the antenna the wire will stick out and you lot insert it into an end cap which has a minor Allen screw in it. You tighten this screw downward on the end of the wire and it secures the wire so it doesn't fall dorsum downward inside the tubing. Add together the black safe cap over the top and yous're done with the assembly.

It may seem a little daunting to those who are used to slapping together 3 slice Imax antennas but it'south very like shooting fish in a barrel and compared to assembling a Yagi or V quad antenna it's downright simple.

UNIQUE DESIGN ELEMENTS

The Sirio Gain-Master is unique in many ways and is zippo like previous stop fed antennas nosotros've dealt with in the past. The start thing well-nigh people will observe is the big RF Choke located about the lesser of the antenna (Big reddish coax, you can't miss information technology). One of the problems previously recorded with other vertical antennas was that RF would travel down the antenna and interact with the coax, mast, etc creating RF issues in many shacks. The RF asphyxiate on the Gain-Primary prevents current traveling down the cable shield inside the antenna from going farther and interacting with other elements.

The next part of the antenna is where it gets interesting. While most end fed verticals (A99, Imax 2000) have their matching organisation at the bottom of the antenna the Gain-Main incorporates a impedance matching stub further up the antenna and even higher up towards the middle of the antenna is a capacitor.

Sirio explains this organisation as follows –

While in other antennas a large amount of loss occurs in the matching network Sirio explains this organization as a more than balanced pattern which acts more like a eye fed dipole. The result of this more balanced antenna is a more balanced radiated indicate.

Sirio explains why they believe this blueprint will outperform conventional 5/8 wave antennas –

INSTALL AND TEST SETUP

Nosotros finished assembling the antenna and decided for our testing nosotros would do a direct comparison against an Imax 2000. I assembled my 20 foot mast and first mounted the Imax 2000. Then I would take receiving readings from stations and they would take signal readings on my transmit. Within 5 mins I would lower the mast, unbolt the Imax and mount the Sirio Proceeds-Main and follow the same process. I would then switch back to the Imax 2000 and finally back to the Gain-Primary so over the course of the testing to a station I had two chances with each antenna to take reading and account for any local radio wave anomalies that could have effected the results. I likewise tested with multiple stations on dissimilar days. All other parts of the arrangement – coax, radio, power supply, remained exactly the same throughout the testing.

Earlier I reveal the results of the tests versus the Imax 2000 lets commencement talk over the operation of the antenna.

TVI

The Imax 2000 I tested did create some issues with an elderly neighbors TV (circa 1985) and I was interested to see if the RF choke on the Sirio would have whatever outcome on her TV as well. I checked with her during testing (luckily she'due south radio hobby friendly) and nosotros noted that while both antennas nevertheless caused interference with her TV the Sirio registered about half as much interference. Now I call back most of the problem with her TV is related to overloading and proximity simply I was however interested to run across the results. The RF choke on this antenna more than likely volition help preclude issues with RF local to your shack.

BANDWIDTH

This antenna maintained a SWR below 1.5 from 25.500 MHz to 30.000 MHz which is no pocket-size feat. I was able to make contacts on both 10 and 11 meters without difficulty or the demand for a tuner.

NOISE

We all know dissimilar antennas can pick up different ambient noise and the static level can vary from antenna to antenna based on blueprint, material and polarity. For a vertical antenna the Sirio had a fairly tranquillity noise level and I would charge per unit it slightly meliorate than the Imax 2000 by a hair. Not much science here since we're relying in my ears (and I've been listening to static for many years).

Power Handling

If this antenna has a Achilles heel information technology's the ability handling capabilities. The antenna is rated for 500 watts continuous and I've already heard of someone who has diddled the capacitor on their antenna by running close to 500 watts for longer periods. While this antenna can easily handle the legal limit for CB radios and 10 meter ham radios there are those in the hobby running high power stations that will exceed the limits of this antenna. Keep in mind that for most people this won't exist an issue and to put it in perspective the antenna should be able to handle a 2 x 2879 amplifier (I ran ane during testing on multiple occasions without issue).

PERFORMANCE AND COMPARATIVE TESTING

Now it'due south time to compare apples and apples. I say this since I was comparing two antennas aimed at the same market place with the same blazon of vertical orientation. However the antennas in blueprint could non be more different and while I would honey to test the Sirio against every five/8 antenna always made we are express by time and resources like anything else. So while I believe my testing was fairly comprehensive and we can make some broader assumptions based on the tests nosotros won't of course make whatever sweeping claims.

Receive – I made curt videos of each station with each antenna and then compared the results. I had local stations give me a AM carrier with no audio. I had stations from x miles to 35 miles away in these tests giving me signals to tape. In comparison with the Imax 2000 I found no measurable departure in receive signals.

Transmit – This might be the part that you've been waiting for in the review. When these antennas first hit the market place nosotros started seeing posts on forums that people were claiming these antennas were outperforming their Imax 2000's and Big Stick type base of operations antennas. A lot of people (myself included) wondering if this new blueprint could really make that much of a departure on the TX side. I hate to see myself equally someone to leap on a bandwagon only I'm definitely on board after doing my tests.

In testing with other stations who gave me betoken reports based on my AM carrier I found consistently that the Sirio outperformed the Imax 2000 by 0.five to 1 South units. In my early on testing I idea maybe this was just a fluke but once more and once more the Gain-Primary outperformed the Imax on transmit force at the receiving station. The stronger signal resulted in stations telling me I sounded much louder, easier to understand, clearer, and once a station who couldn't hear me when I was transmitting with the Imax 2000 was able to copy me and deport on a chat with me when I was using the Gain-Master.

And so now I'll make a slight leap. When I tested the Imax 2000 vs. the Maco Five 5/8 on the same setup as the current tests I found the Maco has slightly better receive and transmit (roughly 0.25 S units in both cases). If the Sirio is outperforming the Imax by 0.five to i S unit than we can infer that versus the Maco it would be outperforming on TX past 0.25 – 0.75 South units. Of class nosotros are basing this on past results but all other factors being the same we do have a fibroid baseline at present established.

Antenna theory, antenna modeling software, scientists and hobby guru's may all be able to decide which antenna is best without ever touching 1 but as nosotros all know the all-time antenna is the ane that performs the best for the user in their given application. In that respect for my existent world tests at this station I can honestly say that this antenna has definitely turned my caput and proven to me that much of the hype we've heard is valid. Is this antenna going to outperform every v/8 on the marketplace – it's impossible to say but later on spending months with this antenna I call back it volition outperform quite a few favorites out at that place.

CLAIMS AND Contend

Now there has been a lot of debate about this antenna regarding the claims past those who are now running them. I'm going to make my merits that this antenna is roughly equal to the Imax 2000 in receive but outperforms the antenna past 0.5 to 1 S units on transmit. Of form a single merits by one lonely nut ball author who runs a CB magazine website doesn't make something fact, but when you lot showtime to see multiple claims once more and once more past people on radio forums yous begin to get a general feeling for what to await from certain products. (The aforementioned reason that a product on Amazon with 20,000 positive reviews and 100 negative tends to lend credence that it performs as advertised). When you read plenty CB related material online you'll likewise will get an idea of what is an overblown claim and what tends to be a more reasonable claim regarding performance.

Over the next couple of years equally more people get their hands on these antennas I think the claim that this antenna outperforms many five/8's on the marketplace will become generally accepted but until and so the give-and-take and fence will go along.

SUMMARY

It's not oft a vertical antenna can garner as much attention online as the Sirio Gain-Primary has in such a short period. I believe this is a testament to the innovation that Sirio is bringing to the marketplace and their continuing effort to create new products and sell more antennas.

The radio hobby can sometimes go through years of wearisome complacency when everyone runs the same rigs and talks most the same products for month and months. New products that interruption the mold are one of my favorite things to see and this antenna definitely does just that. A new design that creates better radiated signal, an RF choke to prevent issues inside the shack, and better performance than previous models on the market.

Nosotros oasis't nevertheless discussed any negatives nigh this antenna but I have but i that I can think of and that's the price, $179.95. This is significantly more than a Imax 2000 ($100-120), or a Maco 5/8 ($125-$135) and then consumers will accept to decide if the possible increase in TX signal and the RF choke design is worth the extra $60-$80 in price. For those who program on setting up a long term station and want to go for the best they can get it may show that the higher toll isn't an event. Of course for entry level CBer's setting up their first time base of operations I think it may be hard for Sirio to lure those buyers away from the Imax.

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Where to buy? Amazon – https://amzn.to/2z3p84H

Visit the Sirio Gain-Primary website – http://world wide web.gain-chief.it/