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I have purchased a large magmount with my Sirio 4000 antenna which I hope to set up soon with a CRT SS 9900.
I also have a small PMR magmount antenna fitted to the roof of my car that is probably useless. I'm wondering if the Sirio would work on PMR ? If not, is there an aerial I could buy to screw onto the magmount ? I'm thinking of getting a CRT space U so it would be handy to use the existing twig or if not just swop over on the same mount.
Hello, no unfortunately you need the right antenna for the frequency in use. C.B is a HF frequency 27Mhz and PMR is UHF 446MHZ you need another antenna for PMR there's loads out there on the market.
Call Sign : 26 CT 2290 & 26 CI 2290 Posts : 382 Times Thanked : 17 Join date : 2019-07-01 QTH or Location : Kent Equipment Used : On 11m a Anytone 6666, Solarcon A99 vertical antenna or a Sirio 4000. On PMR a TYT TH-9800, a 1/4 wave GPA, homemade mag mount & sometimes a 8 element beam. Age : 54
Subject: Re: CB antenna/ PMR antenna compatibility question. Sat May 28, 2022 8:46 am
Hi Sharpshooter
What mag mount have you got? Is it a SO239 or a 3/8 tread connection?
Will you be using it while driving or parked up?
Because I can't see a problem with buying an adaptor so you could swap antenna's over but use the same mag mount.
Call Sign : 163-CT-329 Posts : 87 Times Thanked : 7 Join date : 2022-04-05 QTH or Location : Deeside Equipment Used : CRT SS 9900, Sirio 4000, Midland portable, Manor Kestrel, UV5R,
Subject: Re: CB antenna/ PMR antenna compatibility question. Sat May 28, 2022 4:17 pm
Hi Ray, I've got the Sirio Mag 145 PL. RG58 coax and PL 259 plug to SO239 .
It's the connection for the antenna to the magmount I'm wondering about . (Or is that the same? ) So I could change from the Sirio 4000 whip to a PMR one on the same magmount. Cheers.
Call Sign : 26 CT 2290 & 26 CI 2290 Posts : 382 Times Thanked : 17 Join date : 2019-07-01 QTH or Location : Kent Equipment Used : On 11m a Anytone 6666, Solarcon A99 vertical antenna or a Sirio 4000. On PMR a TYT TH-9800, a 1/4 wave GPA, homemade mag mount & sometimes a 8 element beam. Age : 54
Subject: Re: CB antenna/ PMR antenna compatibility question. Sat May 28, 2022 5:23 pm
. I've been beaten by Victor
I was going to offer this up
Up until I got my £1 mag mount from a radio rally, I was going to get a Sirio SO239 to 3/8" adaptor and then fit a 3/8" whip adaptor with bike wheel spoke cut to about 17cm. I can then use my Sirio mag mount for both CB & PMR.
Yes there will be some coaxial loss but you will see an improvement on TX & RX, on a UV5R (or any hand held) over a rubber duck antenna.
Ray
GaryWilson, Victor, Tristar and Sharpshooter like this post
Call Sign : 163-CT-329 Posts : 87 Times Thanked : 7 Join date : 2022-04-05 QTH or Location : Deeside Equipment Used : CRT SS 9900, Sirio 4000, Midland portable, Manor Kestrel, UV5R,
Subject: Re: CB antenna/ PMR antenna compatibility question. Sat May 28, 2022 6:07 pm
Ok thanks all. Sorry, it's not really for the UV5R. I'm thinking of buying a CTR space U from Knights. They do a Sirio PMR antenna for £14 and a Nagoya for £18 with magmount. Also the Nagoya is £15 if bought with the radio.
Call Sign : 26CT526/MR021/M6XXX. Posts : 242 Times Thanked : 10 Join date : 2019-06-27 QTH or Location : wooler north northumberland or some were near it Equipment Used : mobile 4000hp base A99 radio base magnum257hp mobile magnum 257 standed power Age : 65
Subject: Re: CB antenna/ PMR antenna compatibility question. Sun May 29, 2022 1:13 pm
make your self a pmr antenna there not hard to make you need a 3/8 mag and a 3/8 fitting and a steel whip and cut it and measure from the base of 3/8 whip holder 16cm and thats if the whip is to thick drill out the whip holder,and fit it to the 3/8 mag mount check the transmission one they have whip lenths and i got a crt space and it works great 20 miles from my bro he was shouting for me, i was mobile and i heard him so stopped at a little car park at 900 ft asl. and had a great contact such a small antenna, and it works this is what we used to do years ago with the cb, and now we are using pmr, and lots of time we can not hear the cb, but hear the pmr i like my cb but i love the pmr harder contact but a satisfaction with the pmr, am i mad no not never but just feel great getting the great pmr contacts,.
Last edited by stephen Gunrunner on Mon May 30, 2022 12:26 pm; edited 1 time in total
Call Sign : 163-CT-329 Posts : 87 Times Thanked : 7 Join date : 2022-04-05 QTH or Location : Deeside Equipment Used : CRT SS 9900, Sirio 4000, Midland portable, Manor Kestrel, UV5R,
Subject: Re: CB antenna/ PMR antenna compatibility question. Sun May 29, 2022 5:38 pm
Razz229 wrote:
. I've been beaten by Victor
I was going to offer this up
Up until I got my £1 mag mount from a radio rally, I was going to get a Sirio SO239 to 3/8" adaptor and then fit a 3/8" whip adaptor with bike wheel spoke cut to about 17cm. I can then use my Sirio mag mount for both CB & PMR.
Yes there will be some coaxial loss but you will see an improvement on TX & RX, on a UV5R (or any hand held) over a rubber duck antenna.
Ray
Why 17cm Ray ? Is that for swr ? I take it CB swr meters don't work on the PMR frequency ?
Call Sign : 26 CT 2290 & 26 CI 2290 Posts : 382 Times Thanked : 17 Join date : 2019-07-01 QTH or Location : Kent Equipment Used : On 11m a Anytone 6666, Solarcon A99 vertical antenna or a Sirio 4000. On PMR a TYT TH-9800, a 1/4 wave GPA, homemade mag mount & sometimes a 8 element beam. Age : 54
Subject: Re: CB antenna/ PMR antenna compatibility question. Sun May 29, 2022 8:22 pm
Sharpshooter wrote:
Razz229 wrote:
. I've been beaten by Victor
I was going to offer this up
Up until I got my £1 mag mount from a radio rally, I was going to get a Sirio SO239 to 3/8" adaptor and then fit a 3/8" whip adaptor with bike wheel spoke cut to about 17cm. I can then use my Sirio mag mount for both CB & PMR.
Yes there will be some coaxial loss but you will see an improvement on TX & RX, on a UV5R (or any hand held) over a rubber duck antenna.
Ray
Why 17cm Ray ? Is that for swr ? I take it CB swr meters don't work on the PMR frequency ?
I use a home made antenna for most of my PMR contacts and the whip is cut to about 16.7cm. This is about the length for a 1/4 wave antenna tuned to channel 8 PMR, which gives me a SWR of 1:1 & a reading of 52 ohms on a Nano VNA Analyzer Yes you would need a UHF/VHF SWR meter.
Call Sign : 26 CT 2290 & 26 CI 2290 Posts : 382 Times Thanked : 17 Join date : 2019-07-01 QTH or Location : Kent Equipment Used : On 11m a Anytone 6666, Solarcon A99 vertical antenna or a Sirio 4000. On PMR a TYT TH-9800, a 1/4 wave GPA, homemade mag mount & sometimes a 8 element beam. Age : 54
I did similar with wire, and also cut a mobile whip for 4m for use with an Ascom SE550, but I did invest in an Antenna Analyser to check the SWR before connecting up a transceiver, good idea, not sure it meets type approval for PMR446, but whose to know? Next would be a 70cms Linear Amplifier...
Update: The 25 Watt Icom IC-F210 here is programmed with 16x PMR446 Channels, obviously TX is inhibited for those worried about type approval...
Last edited by Wireless on Sat Jun 11, 2022 1:59 pm; edited 1 time in total
Great stuff there Ray and a really good 'show and tell' mate.
Good little 1/4 wave that does the job and often better than the standard 'rubber duck' as well as some dubious Chinese teeny mag mount affairs.
As metal wire type coat hangers are thin on the ground nowadays I suggest everyone looks out for a missing wheel spoke the next time they are out on their bicycle - some PMR nut may have nicked it!!
Great stuff there Ray and a really good 'show and tell' mate.
Good little 1/4 wave that does the job and often better than the standard 'rubber duck' as well as some dubious Chinese teeny mag mount affairs.
As metal wire type coat hangers are thin on the ground nowadays I suggest everyone looks out for a missing wheel spoke the next time they are out on their bicycle - some PMR nut may have nicked it!!
Worthy of a 'Thanks'.
I'll just nip to the local bike shop. I'm sure he'll give me an old spoke Or I could just cut down the existing twig as it seems short anyway
Call Sign : 26 CT 2290 & 26 CI 2290 Posts : 382 Times Thanked : 17 Join date : 2019-07-01 QTH or Location : Kent Equipment Used : On 11m a Anytone 6666, Solarcon A99 vertical antenna or a Sirio 4000. On PMR a TYT TH-9800, a 1/4 wave GPA, homemade mag mount & sometimes a 8 element beam. Age : 54
Great stuff there Ray and a really good 'show and tell' mate.
Good little 1/4 wave that does the job and often better than the standard 'rubber duck' as well as some dubious Chinese teeny mag mount affairs.
As metal wire type coat hangers are thin on the ground nowadays I suggest everyone looks out for a missing wheel spoke the next time they are out on their bicycle - some PMR nut may have nicked it!!
Worthy of a 'Thanks'.
Cheers Victor
The next step I guess, is to 'prove' if there is any improvement in the real world, over the whip antenna on my UV5R. So watch this space for a comparison video.
You can't go wrong with a meatal coat hanger. They have, over the years, proven to be a great receive antenna when bent into a diamond and used to replace a broken car aerial
When you look around, there must be that old rusty bike sitting in the front/back garden of the family where the children have out grown it. Now look at the spokes and think elements for a PMR beam (but that is for another time)
Call Sign : 26 CT 2290 & 26 CI 2290 Posts : 382 Times Thanked : 17 Join date : 2019-07-01 QTH or Location : Kent Equipment Used : On 11m a Anytone 6666, Solarcon A99 vertical antenna or a Sirio 4000. On PMR a TYT TH-9800, a 1/4 wave GPA, homemade mag mount & sometimes a 8 element beam. Age : 54
I thought I would make a PMR antenna that would work on a CB mag mount.
This is more a proof of concept and before anybody points it out, yes I know the coax is not ideal.
The 1st picture shows what I'm going to be working with. A metal coat hanger, a 3/8" whip adaptor, and a 7" mag mount of dubious quality.
The 2nd picture shows the approximate length of the whip once cut down.
3rd picture shows the mount assembled and on an old biscuit tin
4th picture show the sacrificial radio if it all goes wrong.
And the last picture shows the SWR reading while transmitting
So it seems to work as it's showing no reflective power.
Now I invite those with more knowledge to improve, my proof of concept
Cheers for reading
Ray
Interesting Ray as I was considering this old antenna I have.
A cheaper option but then I don't want two magmounts on the roof. (I see yours has seen better days, do you live by the sea ? )
Question, does the PMR not need a base loading coil like a CB ?
Cheers Nige.
Hi Nige
Glad you liked the "show & tell" and found it interesting.
Does your Sirio mag mount have this style of connection?
Then I would go with the earlier suggestion of a SO259 to a 3/8" adaptor and 3/8" to whip adaptor with the cut down coat hanger, bike spoke, metal rod.
2 antennas and 1 mount
The mag mount I show is over 10 years old and I have had to re-solder the coax to the mount due to corrosion
Short answer, no the antenna I show is a 1/4 wave and doesn't need any loading coil, which keeps it simple and cheap to make.
Call Sign : 26 CT 2290 & 26 CI 2290 Posts : 382 Times Thanked : 17 Join date : 2019-07-01 QTH or Location : Kent Equipment Used : On 11m a Anytone 6666, Solarcon A99 vertical antenna or a Sirio 4000. On PMR a TYT TH-9800, a 1/4 wave GPA, homemade mag mount & sometimes a 8 element beam. Age : 54
Subject: Re: CB antenna/ PMR antenna compatibility question. Sat Jun 11, 2022 1:54 pm
Get a Sirio SU375-480 PL antenna.
Cut it down for PMR, Sirio supply the instructions, then you can use the same mount.
Call Sign : 163-CT-329 Posts : 87 Times Thanked : 7 Join date : 2022-04-05 QTH or Location : Deeside Equipment Used : CRT SS 9900, Sirio 4000, Midland portable, Manor Kestrel, UV5R,
Subject: Re: CB antenna/ PMR antenna compatibility question. Sat Jun 11, 2022 9:14 pm
Razz229 wrote:
Get a Sirio SU375-480 PL antenna.
Cut it down for PMR, Sirio supply the instructions, then you can use the same mount.
I think this fulfils all of your requirements.
Thanks Razz. I was just trying to order this from Knights along with a PL to SMA adaptor . But I can't work out how to add a second hand swr/pwr meter so I'm going to ring them Monday to order everything. Cheers
Call Sign : G8YMW or 26CT4498 Posts : 88 Times Thanked : 17 Join date : 2019-07-16 QTH or Location : Lincoln and Finningley Equipment Used : CRT 9900, Icom 705, Kenwood TS570, Icom 910 Age : 67
Subject: Re: CB antenna/ PMR antenna compatibility question. Sun Jun 19, 2022 5:21 pm
For PMR the magmount will be perfect. You could use a 2m/70cms amateur radio aerial. Or roll your own. A PL259 and a a length of brazing rod. Solder the rod to the centre of the PL259, pack the gap between the rod and the body of the PL259 with epoxy. Trim the rod to best swr (about 6")
Call Sign : MQ5WJF / 26-CT-4345 / 26-TC-4345 Posts : 342 Times Thanked : 12 Join date : 2021-11-19 QTH or Location : Shrewsbury IO82OQ Equipment Used : PC-ALE/JS8Call: Icom IC-7100? + HF > SGC SG-235 + 1.81MHz Horizontal+Vertical Random Dipole, 6m/2m/70cm > 6m via 4m/6m Diplexer + via 6m/2m/70cm Triplexer > Diamond V-2000 with EAV2000 Radial Kit, 4m > via 4m/6m Diplexer + DPW-X4 Vertical Dipole, 2m/70cm > via 6m/2m/70cm Triplexer > Diamond V-2000 + EAV2000. 40m Pactor: Yaesu FT-847? + 2x Watson HF40 Mobile Whips Horizontal Dipole, 2m Packet: Icom IC-F110 2m + unknown 2m/70cm Co-linear. 2m SSB Voice Nets Yaesu FT-480R + DPW-X2 Vertical Dipole, 2m/70cms FM Simplex: Yaesu FT-90R + Diamond X30 Co-Linear. CB: Albrecht AE5890 EU + Sigma 5/8 Silver Rod. 70 cm Repeaters: Icom IC-F210 + DPW-X70 Vertical Dipole. Planned: DX: Icom IC-7610? + Butternut HF-9V + TBR-160 + 20 10m radials, APRS Repeater/Node: Icom IC-F110 + Antenna? Mobile Operation Planned: NVIS/DX HF/VHF/UHF Digital/SSB Operation: Yaesu FT-100 NVIS> Roofrack mounted Horizontal HF Whip Dipoles 160/80/60/40 + Laptop?, DX> HF/6/2/70 Yaesu ATAS-120A, 2/70 Cross Band Repeater Mobile: Yaesu FT-8100R + Watson W-790, APRS Mobile: Laptop? + Icom IC-F110S + Watson W-770HB, 4m Mobile FM: Ascom SE-550 + 4m Whip, CB Mobile: Yet to decide on radio & antenna. Age : 57
Subject: Re: CB antenna/ PMR antenna compatibility question. Mon Jun 20, 2022 10:15 am
Sharpshooter wrote:
Razz229 wrote:
Get a Sirio SU375-480 PL antenna.
Cut it down for PMR, Sirio supply the instructions, then you can use the same mount.
I think this fulfils all of your requirements.
Thanks Razz. I was just trying to order this from Knights along with a PL to SMA adaptor . But I can't work out how to add a second hand swr/pwr meter so I'm going to ring them Monday to order everything. Cheers
Just Get a Diamond MC-200 or MC-201 Kit, both come complete with a Cutting Chart that cover PMR446.