Siro Boomerang 27A

Anyone got any feeling for the Siro Boomerang 27A?
Or any boomerang, for that matter.

I quite fancy giving one of these a go.

Hi Doc, if you can get a bigger antenna up this will be hugely superior to the boomerang. This will neither hear well or get your signal out well.

I used one as my first antenna back in the 80s as a stop gap till i was allowed to have a much larger antenna and tbh it wasnt great.Up on the roof top it did get out but was poor compared with the 1/2w silver rod i replaced it with..id be inclined to make a wire dipole or a coax antenna instead..

Thank you all for your advice. Think a 1/2 silver rod will be the way forward then. Tall though; I lashed some canes together yesterday to make 18' to get an idea. Haven't bought the radio yet, so just planning out the set-up first.

Do you mount yours on the house or make a mast in the garden?

Installed one today because the pole i have at the moment is not strong to hold larger one (or heavier)...
With out adjusted the SWR (rain catch me during installation so i did just put it up how was) & with just 6 whiskies at rain day, swr just touching red, evening time where 11m starts disappearing at Corfu Greece managed to reach UK first TX i tried, for me this is about 2000km first time after one year using the cb i did far contact at this time

some trips if helps some one & wants to get something smaller for a reason (like me) & note of course longer antenna, better DX you hear more, better for TX you getting signal more

the 27A model i got, there is a sticker writting model & brand stating it works for 27-30 mhz, mentioned because i did read at net is only 27/28 mhz

female pl-259 at antenna (feed & ground) does not short circuit like the car antenna i also have, it seems indeed an 1/4 L-dipole

factory bracket which holds the dipole at pole is weak, as longer was pressing the bolts to get more tight, it starts to squeeze the metal pole like sandwich & the factory bracket start bending (it did bend slightly) ... for now we have heavy rain down in Corfu it stands ok 4 bf winds (according to my cheap meteo station) but if get stronger i am sure will fall / broke ... was reading a US forum when was searching for the siro boomerang, 2 from Texas which getting very high winds the Boomerang was broke did not lasted ... it needs to find an other way to hold the dipole ... but for balcony or lower heights seems ok if other buildings around stop some of the very strong winds

How ever not sure if is actual balcony antenna because the manual saying to work best (it does work for most but will work better) needs to be installed away from objects, walls, metals, electric etc so what kind of balcony antenna is? installing an antenna at balcony can not avoid them ... personal i do have it just on top of the roof

there are 2 models the 27W with top whip & radial both are fiberglass, this one is slightly shorter ... & 27A alu on top, fiber the down radial... the W adjust the swr but turning up down the top screw & the A by moving up down the top whip ... at both the down whip radial can adjust the angle only for fine tuning, i do not think you need to cut anything for better swr

swr it seems harder to archive low in some cases, but for most was easy for some reason ... i have not tried yet due to rain (me, tools, antenna etc all got wet) but i do read one had to get a cheap zindagi antenna matcher

  it may need to isolate the metal pole where the attached bracket join the metal pole by using plastic or tape etc at pole, i do read that the metal pole may sending signal to ground as only one radial is radiating as well (like normal dipole) so the radial down is connected with the bracket ... people may need pay attention to it in some cases

getting signals are S1-2 more than a car antenna 1.35cm tall, pni ml-160, i do hear more stations than with the 1.35 long one ... example some same staions never seen more than S1-2 with this i can see S2-4 at same stations ... it is a small improvement

total length of the 27A is about 3.70 m long compared with a silverod 1/2 about 4.35m, so is ok at least for me, but of course now i know even one meter longer can hear the double

in my opinion is expensive, in my location for 10 euro more can get the silverod 1/2 (mentioned because is cheap & it will be the next one) longer & more proper antenna but as mentioned some one will end with boomerang only for specific reasons

hope will help, if i have forgotten something will come back, Thanks

had time & with a help of a friend managed to adjust the SWR ... this is at ch 40 EU Midband with SWR 1.1, 1.2 ... need some more work to do as ch1 is near red 3 ... UK Band ch 1 SWR is about 1.5 ... so when will have more time will try lower at some freqs ... but with this antenna it is possible to get low SWR
Aslo little later from Greece reached Spain for my first time ... the Spanish operator seems not speaking English but he heard me as repeated my call sign, note was transmitting & one SSB but at his breaks managed to pass over




EDIT
after partly adjusted the SWR, also had contact with Bill 26RM04 at ch32 UK Band

Yesterday had winds up to 8 BF of gust, luckily not continuous 8 BF, just gusts ... normal  winds was 5-7 BF  ... Boomerang survived ... however had left / forgotten the down pole not fully tight due to continue adjusting sometime the SWR (never did it till now) & the strong wind shaking the antenna for hours, unscrewed the bolt & so down part of the dipole fall down (few meters away) ... luckily the down part is fiberglass & did not broke or damage & again lucky found the bolt as well on the roof

ΕDIT
with out the down part of the dipole, SWR (the needle of the meter) was nearly the end of the red, 3-4 cm before the end ... lol

Babis doing well with that small antenna. I see you have a tight space situation there .I could not help  wonder, do you think you could manage to fit a full 1/4 wave with a tank whip and 2 x 1/4 wave wire radials ? 

It might work ok if you can angle the 2 radials at approx 90 degrees.

Of course you will understand the real situation better. Don't do anything dangerous but it might improve the efficiency a little.

It is nice to see a small antenna making contacts. Doing a good job with your videos.

thanks for the help ... even i have a very small garden, is difficult to add any full wave at the current metal mast, is the one does not rust & is very soft (is the one usually using for TV antennas) ... so it can not handle the weight of any full wave or any silver rod, sirio 1/2 gpe etc ... imagine before the Boomerang just had a VHF dipole to hear the local airport here in Corfu & the CB car antenna (both very light) & the wind bend slightly the mast

Sometime i will get stronger mast (the ones using for water supply are very strong & also very heavy) & need to set it at different location, it is in the plan ... if anything will come back ... Thanks for the offer   

But regarding the Boomerang, this what i am thinking which i can be wrong
Ready made 1/2 or 5/8 waves are about from 4.45m to 6.10m

Boomerang (model A not the W) top end is about 2.7m & down about 1.3m ... Now reading if there is only one radial it radiates as well together with the top one (like every dipole) then total of the antenna is about 4m ... i know 1m longer maters (like 1/2 or 5/8 ) a lot at CB Band, but to my eyes this is not so small antenna ... ok 5/8 seems has the benefit for lower angle

If i add one more radial then will not radiate but the 1/4 if is full length makes want to try sometime

Funny today had time for CB the small Boomerang managed to reach Mobile station Palencia Spain From Corfu 2000KM, he is also using Boomerang ... here a small conversation out of 4min

I have a Sirio boomerang for use at my caravan. Also a 1/2 wave silver rod.
I have just put the boomerang back up today due to high winds.
A 16 foot pole from the ground and the Sirio mounted near the top.
I find it works quite well, especially if the downward radial is at an angle rather than straight down vertical.
Trying different aerials is part of the enjoyment imo.

Ok Babis I see... I misunderstood that radiating element is actually longer than I thought. You have to hand it to Sirio they know their stuff. An antenna for all situations.

I saw some mountains in your video so maybe the higher angle radiation helps with getting the signal at a higher angle over the peaks if you are in a valley.

Sirio tend to use decent quality thick copper coil wires so the losses are probably less than the junk they make over here in UK - Thin wire on a piece of something that looks like from 1979 phenolic former or impregnated paper/plastic and then charge £46.00 for it. (the generic silver rods)

It may well radiate slightly better in the direction of the helically wound radial, slightly, often single or dual radial antennas tend to be skewed slightly towards the direction of the radial/s.


It might be worth trying to see if a T2LT works on a non conducting pole. Something to think about and quite easy to make for very low cost.

All approaches are valid.   Whatever you need or want to do.

edited price as I had it wrong

Yes about 200-500 meters distance from antenna are higher long mountain about 300-500m higher, covering about from France all the way to Poland ... with this area i am dealing with long mountain ... Imaging FM from Italy are way weaker & not getting much as other parts at the Island because i am right down of the mountain ...

Funny part is at south of me that is clear, can not hear Greece & south Italy at CB but VHF will hear ground airport from Andravida Aktion etc ... from the side of the mountains are my best CB DX ... 

tried VHF dipole at CB reached UK (SWR at Begin of red due to short radials, have video somewhere in here) tried CB car antenna with not grounding under matal or radials (SWR 2mm above red) reached UK, tried Boomerang same & way way better every day i talk at least with some one as long there is propagation ... indeed seems the angle of the antenna helps get better out of the mountains but again the other 2 antennas i tried was very small about 1.35m long so can not do much, but then again even them still reach France, UK but way less times

So i start believe is the path no matter what will use will work but of course better antenna better results

funny that south even if is clear does not work for my location

this is a diagram managed to do for my area

Love Corfu been a few times, beautiful place you are lucky.

If you are north of Troumpetas you have 400M high mountains, south it will explain possibly why south is not good. We all have geographic limitations of our QTH.

On 10m band if horizon has mountains taking up 5 degrees of horizon it can be problematic to get beyond them. (Read in an Italian hams anecdotal operation handbook) It's ultimately physics and trigonometry. 

Masses of rock in the way will not be helping launch into the ionosphere.

So many contacts on 10m/11m band are below 10 degrees from horizon. As we go lower in frequencies propagation angles tend to raise a little, not by much but the trend is that more contacts are made in double figures 10-20 degrees as a percentage proportion of contacts made on a specific path. I read this in the US Antenna book.

One other thing, below you south  is 1,400 miles 100pct pure African desert. Very poor ground for hops so more losses with small DX power, it will be a waiting game for the most probable of Kenya to come back to you.

On 11m very few operators also. Though I think Kenya might do a bit of 11m.

S. Africa can be common that would be a superb one for you. It's all to play for get the right timing and you can be totally amazed. If they have a nice 5 element for TX and RX on 11m and some few 100Watts you will hear them no problem with the right opening. And if they can draw your signal in you never know.

Tip....Learn the country codes/numbers for the countries you know you want. Have those noted next to your radio so you can react more quickly if you hear one out of the blue. Tie your pen to the log book with string so it is never a lost pen moment when rare DX appears, you need all those moments to QSO fast.

Have a DX plan, be ready.   The is the 11m users time to fill the log book.

Unless you mean it does not get out well just locally, maybe that is mountains again, terrain affects what happens a lot local and DX, for DX much of the path we have no idea what the signal does.

For very long DX your signal might get to its destination on 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 hops at any angles your antenna radiates. 1000 - 2000kms short hops 1 or 2 likely, this time of year more sporadic E hops will start appearing, making very unstable QSO's. That's the fascinating thing about it all.

So be ready to pounce and communicate important station details first and fast.
QTH is really nice to know quickly, signal got both ways, name is nice, power antenna yeah ok.. cool. Aim for QTH and call sign exchange first, anything else is a bonus, especially for Sporadic E season.

Νice to know you have been at Corfu, season now has started but i am not into Tourists jobs, for now part times kind of farm works, if you come again send PM, can keep you here for a 1-2 weeks but 100% need transport where i am

Thanks for the deep explanation regarding DX situation at my location & the Tips, i wish you all the Best for your time & effort
Can not complain regarding DX, i am happy for now & kind of soon will check & apply for license at local authorities ...

Ι already have printed papers kind of log book, pen, country codes, explanation of QSL QSH QSM etc already remember some of them

Need to come back later & read your posts again...sporacid e has started at FM, 2 days ago we had from Libya ... sometimes i get from OIRT Band ... & up to Troumpetas mountain, highest part according to Google map are 600m (very near to me as you mentioned) now Italians has too many Dab+ stations i am getting over 250+ digital radios at one scan up there from Tunisia, Croatia, Italy, Malta, Slovenia one from Panachaiko Patra Greece, Montenegro... VHF can hear Croatians, Italians, Malta airtraffic control etc

Radio is about what you want to do. If you are not achieving what you want you have to make some adjustments of some kind where practical to push things along.

You can do a lot with very little. The smaller your antenna and lower power the more waiting, being on the radio, or luck you need. Very good antennas and a little power help things along for SSB. Some intercontinental may well be possible with some luck.

Digital is not my thing at all. For many they are happy with it and I am happy for them, it just does not satisfy me personally. Each to their own.

Get a mobile antenna like Sirio 4000 and a decent mag mount and a battery and look into those mountains for a lovely DX day out when the SFI up up close to 200.Or stick the Boomerang on a fibre glass pole. There are so many options to send a signal these days.

It is rising right now 178 as we speak. This week should in theory be good to you so get on the radio. Unless a flare or CME knocks things out, just got to try and get on there and find out.

Have a good summer on the radio.

Thanks, yes planning to get on mountains for CB DX because some times i go up there for Dab+ so for now & next time will take a hand held mobile for start, i already have a car antenna 1.45m ...
Yes is true better (proper) antenna you hear & TX more, later on for this ...
Same here for digital seems has its own beauty, i do not mind but is not so favorite, the airports still using analog
Last 4 days UK band is totally dead at my end, not even a whisper...
EU Band from time to time low signals mainly AM mode France, Easter Languages, some ssb & today FM one strange language did not heard before, seems very far cos did not last long ... hope this week will be better, my free time time will be at 10m band
Thanks for the advise always helpful ! Thanks for your wish for the summer, if you go at 10m Band will try to reach you at normal channels if propagation allow, you are not in the USA are you?

EDIT where do you check the SFI ? or any other source ? Thanks

EDIT 2 all digital transmissions seems with issues at my area (surrounding most by mountains) so for now is not priority

I am not sure if you mean 10 or 11m ? 10M there is a large space to play. 11m the T5 typically for most. I do not do much 11m these days, rarely. T5 technically illegal but does not stop 95pct hams having a play on the quiet. Who does it hurt with all those high spec quality ham radios ? 

All Made In Japan with barely any harmonics and spurious ? No one, that's who.

I meant the digital modes on Ham radio, not DAB or other digital encoded transmission. As I say no axe to grind particularly.

The 1.45m antenna will be fine, a shortened loaded 1/4 wave. The vehicle always makes a surprising contribution to such antennas. In fact they punch WAY above their weight given low height from the earth below (though being up a mountain will certainly help !) and the large ground plane the vehicle typically offers. Had a few crazy contacts using really bad antennas attached to car. Ham sticks (similar 1/4 loaded antennas for ham bands.)

Radio is crazy, one day Europe cannot hear you, next Japan (hams) hears you first time using a terrible antenna. (Though Japanese stations are very very well equipped, often with huge beams that can hear a fly break wind on the other side of the planet. Plus that path seems to be very good (easy) when open.

Maybe you heard Algeria, Morocco,Lebanon, Jordan.. all can appear on 11m from time to time. ?

Test the mountain out. Thing with going out is you choose your day and it can be good or bad or in between no 2 days the same usually. High SFI can help so keep an eye out. Basically if you see a load of spots there is a decent chance of good dxing. Better than no spots anyway, but it is not a guarantee. There are other factors to look at for example an M4 class flare went off recently and that seems to have killed the higher bands off a bit.

I like this site:

https://www.solarham.net/

A and K indices are relevant as well :

https://hamradiofornontechies.com/current-ham-radio-conditions/

By rights today should be a good dx day but you can never be 100pct based on SFI numbers. Higher is usually better but also carries risk of flares and CME's which can kill the HF bands off for a day or hours at a time. And I have made most of my fave contact with SFI of 120 or so.

My advice is push it, and push it now. If you want a few years of superb DXing now is the time to put the efforts in, do what you need to and you will be hitting other continents easily. You won't regret it and the more people who put the effort in the better as we ALL make more contacts whatever the band. And I am in the UK no US.

Some people are very relaxed about radio, some are more competitive and stressy and detail checking. You do it how you see fit, interest ebbs and flows like the conditions, sometimes you are very interested and other times you can take it or a leave it and do other things. It is a good one to have in the bag of things to do with free time. A good hobby that is always there.

Details can matter, and quite a lot but not always. (Technical details and avoiding avoidable losses in your antenna system matter more in weak conditions, when the conditions are good everyone is a power station     ) Daily conditions can make a mockery of that, this is not an exact science. It is basically universal thermodynamic equilibrium playing out and that is in essence, random.

added , although of course there are patterns like the 11 year cycle, so clearly some repeating patterns are involved too.

Thanks one more time for the deep explanation, sure will help and others, Thanks for the links, will be checking from time to time ... i mean 11m sorry my mistake ... finally after days the EU Band got better this evening heard my self at ch20 Swedish Repeater & UK Band heard some weak stations ch19 also evening at my area, tomorrow hope will better for sure will have some good time for 11m ... have good DX & good summer

SFI going up well 217 at this moment that should mean 11m comes open at least for some hours per day. Also you have F2 layer DX which relates to the SFI and also Sporadic E which relates to ?? No one actually knows.. some believe wind sheer in the E layer up high but it is conjecture.

Either way you should make Euro contacts form either.

It's a funny old game though radio, you never know where you stand with it, day to day even hour to hour. Even through the day it has peaks and lulls.

High SFI but a bit of Geomagnetic storm which I can find relates to :

"Geomagnetic storms can cause large-scale depletions of ionospheric densities that can reduce the maxium usable frequency (MUF) on a global scale."

Always something to learn, as radio people we can always learn something, SFI means nothing on its own, very difficult one to get to stick that. I always do a happy dance when I see high SFI but it does not always translate to good conditions. Forecast is that it should clear tomorrow.