Antenna recommendations?

Hi All,
     Yep that age old question.......... Which antenna should I buy?!
I am particularly interested in continental DX and would like to participate in some of the local Nets if indeed there are any around here.

I don't want anything too big to begin with (Don't want to scare the neighbours!) so I've been looking at the Sirio Signal Keeper, the Sirio Dipole and the Boomerang but which is the best antenna out of those three for my needs given the restrictions i've imposed upon myself?
If i'm honest I think I might have trouble accomodating the ground planes on the Signal Keeper in the location where I want to install the antenna so what are my options.
Ideally a straight vertical would be ideal but i daren't do that to begin with!

Back in the 80's and 90's I had a Thunderpole III which I thought was great so something that performs similar to that would be great. I remember it being particularly good for working the continent when there was an opening.

Any and all thoughts very much appreciated.

Kind Regards

Lynton

The old Silverrod or Antron-99 but are they too big.
Not that well up on todays cb antennas but will watch this to see what others suggest.

Is that the Sirio SD 18' dipole your thinking of ?.
Where are you thinking of mounting them ?
Ie, balcony, loft, side of house, garden shed.
I have no experience of any of these but it may help others advise you.

The signal keeper seems a pain to swr. See towards end of video.

https://youtu.be/DXgxGlyps4c

You could start with a temporary setup like fred in the shed here,

https://youtu.be/wUT1yeAF0Lw

Then move up to a more permanent setup like fred does in other videos.

SharpShooter,
          It was the Thunderpole Super Dipole I was looking at. Sorry I got that wrong when I said Sirio.
I'm going to use a wall mounted pole on the side of the house but I don't want the antenna to be above the gutter by more than a few feet. Because of that I think the sloped roof of the house will get in the way of the ground planes on the Sirio Signal Keeper.
The dipole or boomerang won't have that problem but the lower element will be close to the brick wall so that may well affect the SWR and almost certainly the performance.

Thank you for those Youtube links. I'll take a proper look at those later when I have some peace and quiet!

Thanks

Lynton

Hi Lynton,


When the "Skips a Running" you can get away with the proverbial piece of wet string and make contacts at CB frequencies.  

Any antenna at that point will seem the best thing since sliced bread because you don't have anything to compare it to.

If you can only get away with a small antenna then any antenna is better than no antenna but I think you'll be disappointed with a small one. (Small antennas work best atop a car that can be driven to the top of the highest hill which is much easier than the amount of poles you'd need for the same effect at home!....Especially the flat land of Peterborough. )

The dipole you mention is a half wave so would be as long as a half wave end fed such as a 'Silver Rod' but the latter will perform better and be much easier to mount. (On the end of a pole, whereas the dipole needs to be mounted away from the pole on a boom arm or some such.)

(Edit :- Just saw your comment about 'gutter height'.)

Up to you in the end and your circumstances but 'bigger' & 'higher up' always works better for a homebase setup.


All the best,
Victor


(I know sometimes 'big' antennas can be problematical such as when dealing with Parish Councils/Neighbours which was why I turned to Ham radio and the common horizontal antenna which is much easier to hide! )

Victor,
   Thanks for the reply!
I'm having fun researching all of this stuff and hearing back from you guys.
I definitely need to start small and gently gently work my way toward something bigger so will probably have to "make do" for a start.
Given the setup I had around 30 years ago I think some disappointment is inevitable but even so I want to do this.

Lynton

i really miss my electronica special i wish i had it now 

No worries Lynton and I wish you the very best with it all.  


I only mention because the antenna is undoubtedly the most important aspect of radio being the object you actually transmit and receive from. The best transceiver in the world will not work very well with a poor antenna but a basic radio with a good antenna will work wonders.

Hi All,
      Well in the end I figured out a way to accomodate a Sirio Signal Keeper!
If it performs anything like the Thunderpole III antenna I had in the early 90's i'll not be disappointed.
I'll now wait until after my eye operation and for the weather to get better before fixing up my shiny new antenna.

Have a wonderful day everyone

Lynton

I use this, damned decent full quarter wave stainless steel whip. About 9ft tall. Thin and robust. https://www.thunderpole.co.uk/large-cb-antennas/thunderpole-tank-whip.html

Hi
I was in the same boat about antennas and was limited to size because of my wife...
As Victor said bigger the better and as high as you can get it .
I started off with smaller antenna and wasn't happy and wished I had got a 5/8 th wave so in the end that's what I got..should have just got it to begin with live and learn eh...

And talking of thunder pole lll i have one in the shed in its box...
All the best lee

Thank you for your reply DeltaWhiskey220.
Yeah i'd love to have the bottle to just go ahead and stick up a 5/8 wave but I figured i'd better go small to start with and work my way up!
I actually now have a Sirio Signal Keeper and a Sirio Boomerang A. I am tempted to go ahead with the Boomerang as that is larger.
Annoyingly the Boomerang came packaged minus a couple of M6x12 bolts which I am now going to have to source from B&Q or some other hardware store.

Regards

How have you got in with the antennas???

Hi DeltaWhiskey,
    Well I put up the Sirio Signal Keeper this past weekend and likely will put the Sirio Boomerang A next weekend since we have another long bank holiday weekend.
I did have another set of brackets on the wall for a small antenna but took those down when that antenna became redundant so will find those in the shed, fix them back up and put the Boomerang on those.
You will notice the brackets and pole for the Signal Keeper are way over the top, well that's because that pole originally had a Band II FM antenna on a rotator fixed to the top!




Lynton

That's look good.
How is the antenna doing?? You had any skip with it yet

DeltaWhiskey,
       Yep i've heard plenty of skip but deliberately haven't tried to make any contacts.
I'm first waiting to see if any of the neighbours knock at the door claiming the antenna is interfering with their TV even though i'm not transmitting!
I've no reason to think that anyone is particularly bothered what I'm doing and my neighbours are fantastic people but I've always been a little cautious when it comes to having a new antenna.
These days we're far less likely to breakthrough a TV in any case I think but no harm in being cautious.
I'll give it another week or so then try a few calls...................

Regards

Lynton

I was cautious about how high I had my antenna at first and I had to keep the wife happy...
She don't care now (result)..
I don't think interference is anything like it was years ago TV has gone digital now..
I remember my mum in the 80's when I was on ssb telling me she could here me when she was using the landline telephone ...
All the best lee

Lee,
    Ha yes best to keep our partners happy!  
I do think I'm being over cautious but better that way I think.
Good DX and maybe I'll have the pleasure of speaking to you on air at some point.

Cheers

Lynton

Willow wrote:

I use this, damned decent full quarter wave stainless steel whip. About 9ft tall. Thin and robust. https://www.thunderpole.co.uk/large-cb-antennas/thunderpole-tank-whip.html

How have you got this mounted, as a homebase antenna?

Just thought I would let you know a thunder pole lll has just gone on ebay ..
All the best
Lee

Lee,
     Many thanks for that. I think my missus will go nuts if I get any more antennas!

Lynton