Stan Cooper wrote:
Hello I hope I'm not intruding by asking for advice on a CB antenna but I
figured this would be the group to ask about such things for the straight
scoop. At any rate I'm considering a store bought beam with both vertical
and horizontal polarization and my choices are limited to these two below.
(not many being manufactured anymore)

The Maco has a 16 foot boom and an advertised gain of 12.5 db, while the JO
GUNN has an 8 foot boom and an advertised gain of 14.5 db. I know there is a
lot of smoke and mirrors involved with advertised gains and so my question
is...is it possible for the JO GUNN to perform as well as the Maco antenna?

The GUNN is of much stronger construction and a smaller windload so I'd
rather put it up, but the short boom makes me wonder if the gain and
rejection numbers are suspect.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, antenna choices, price tags and urls
below.

73
Stan

MACO-Shooting Star $279.95
http://www.mpaudio1.com/Macobeamantennas2.html

JO GUNN 3 + 3 STAR $382.00
http://tinyurl.com/6hzteu

Oh btw, I'll be tower mounting it about 40' from the ground and turning it
with a hamIV rotator.

Thanks again.



Stan;

I don't know if you have considered it but I would like to suggest that
you look into ham radio. It is a more adventurous hobby,one that offers
greater opportunity to exercise your operating skills. By and large the
licensed ham radio operators offer a courteous, friendly and extremely
helpful environment. I have to assume that since you are here looking
for assistance you already have a feeling for all this.
Getting a ham license has never been easier. There are only three
classes of license now, Technician, General and Extra. The code test has
been eliminated so that shouldn't be a problem. The tests are multiple
choice and have a minimum passing level of 80%. That works out to be 28
correct answers for tech and general out of 35, the extra test has 15
more questions and so requires 40 correct answers. All questions are
published and if you go to http://www.qrz.com you can take sample tests.
Take enough samples and you should be able to pass the exam. Go to
http://www.arrl.org for locations and times for exams. There is a cost
for the exam but it isn't much.

Now as to your question. There isn't much to recommend either antenna.
They are based on designs used in the ham radio field. You might look
for these antennas and compare the numbers there. A source of ham radio
equipment is www.aesham.com. This is one of the premier ham radio houses.

Good luck
Dave WD9BDZ

David G. Nagel wrote:

I don't know if you have considered it but I would like to suggest that
you look into ham radio. It is a more adventurous hobby,one that offers
greater opportunity to exercise your operating skills. By and large the
licensed ham radio operators offer a courteous, friendly and extremely
helpful environment. I have to assume that since you are here looking
for assistance you already have a feeling for all this.
Getting a ham license has never been easier. There are only three
classes of license now, Technician, General and Extra. The code test has
been eliminated so that shouldn't be a problem.

Since he did not say where he is, your answer may be wrong. While I
agree with it in principal, not everyone has it so easy. Here in Israel
there still is a code requirement, testing is twice a year, and ANY
permanent antenna requires a permit which no one seems to know how to
get. Technicaly any operation over 20 watts EIRP requires radiation
level certification.

But then CB is just as bad. Except for a few off-roaders who have not gone
to 446 mHz it's even deader than ham radio.

Geoff.


--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel N3OWJ/4X1GM

Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote:
David G. Nagel wrote:

I don't know if you have considered it but I would like to suggest that
you look into ham radio. It is a more adventurous hobby,one that offers
greater opportunity to exercise your operating skills. By and large the
licensed ham radio operators offer a courteous, friendly and extremely
helpful environment. I have to assume that since you are here looking
for assistance you already have a feeling for all this.
Getting a ham license has never been easier. There are only three
classes of license now, Technician, General and Extra. The code test has
been eliminated so that shouldn't be a problem.

Since he did not say where he is, your answer may be wrong. While I
agree with it in principal, not everyone has it so easy. Here in Israel
there still is a code requirement, testing is twice a year, and ANY
permanent antenna requires a permit which no one seems to know how to
get. Technicaly any operation over 20 watts EIRP requires radiation
level certification.

But then CB is just as bad. Except for a few off-roaders who have not gone
to 446 mHz it's even deader than ham radio.

Geoff.


Geoff;

Your are right in one sense, however the antenna's in question are, I
believe, USA products so it is fairly save to assume that the writer is
a USA resident.

From your comments I assume (that word again) that you are a resident
of Israel. Given the situation there I can see why the government would
try to make it hard for someone to install and operate a radio station.
I look forward to the day when everyone in the Mideast can live together
in peace and harmony.

Until that time thank you for your comments.

Dave WD9BDZ

David G. Nagel wrote:
Your are right in one sense, however the antenna's in question are, I
believe, USA products so it is fairly save to assume that the writer is
a USA resident.

I thought so, but sometimes the people asking are not. They only have
access to U.S. manufacturer's products and catalogs via web sites,
with no local dealers.


From your comments I assume (that word again) that you are a resident
of Israel. Given the situation there I can see why the government would
try to make it hard for someone to install and operate a radio station.

Well, actually it's not. The antenna restriction is because the
"cellphone towers will kill you" people have forced laws through to prevent
anyone setting up a radio transmitter in their neighborhood.

The morse code requirment is because the people who run the Israel equivalent
of the ARRL pushed the Minstry of Communications to keep it. It keeps out
new hams from foreign countries. I have no idea how they handle visiting
operators now.


I look forward to the day when everyone in the Mideast can live together
in peace and harmony.

Thanks,

Geoff.

--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel N3OWJ/4X1GM