Sirio Gainmaster Have I Made The Right Choice ?

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Re: Sirio Gainmaster Have I Made The Right Choice ?

Post by astradyne »

I've been using a Gamemaster for a couple of years now and can't fault it. My previous antenna was an Antron 99 and it worked very well for what it was. It took many a battering during the ten years it was up. I've kept it in the shed as a backup antenna just in case.

The Gainmaster. As soon as it was up I noticed the RX was stronger and the noise floor was quieter and the SWR is 1.1 across the 11 meter band. TX wise some have said my signal has increased slightly, some have said it's remained the same. So I can't really comment on that. But they are a very good antenna.

I use some fiberglass tape to help strengthen the joints as they can crack if the clips are over tightened. I also apply some self amalgamating tape over the joints and clips to stop water leaking in. There is a drainage hole at the base of the antenna, but for me the drier the inside of the aerial the better.
Never, ever, ever....bloody anything ever!

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Re: Sirio Gainmaster Have I Made The Right Choice ?

Post by Sam P »

Tim wrote:The best test you'll have is how it stands up to the next lot of gale force winds forecast for this next week.

What"s the difference between the Imax and the Atron?

:wave: :lol: :silent:
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Re: Sirio Gainmaster Have I Made The Right Choice ?

Post by P5shn »

I AM SO SORRY for causing muddy waters I dropped a clanger in my description, I am getting back into the hobby after over 2 decades so am a little rusty. :roll:
I know what I was trying to say but it come out wrong.
I deffo described the mini 8 wrong as it is NOT mini 8 At all .... i am using it is the one below ....

The following words are from the description of each coax from a main radio supplier

The roll of coax I initially brought was £22.96 for 50m
5mm military spec RG58
impedance :50 ohms
core: stranded
braid 69% 80 x 0.12
loss per 10m @ 100mhz : 2.0 dbd

The roll I am buying is £59.95 for 50m
RG-213
Low loss solution for long cable runs at high power level
9.65 military spec
Impedance 50ohm
Core 7 x 0.72mm
Braid 98% 192 x 0.20
Loss per 10m @ 100mhz 0.7dbd

Big difference in specs

Hope that makes the water cleaner now
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Re: Sirio Gainmaster Have I Made The Right Choice ?

Post by MrWeetabix »

Sam P wrote:
Tim wrote:The best test you'll have is how it stands up to the next lot of gale force winds forecast for this next week.

What"s the difference between the Imax and the Atron?

:wave: :lol: :silent:
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Re: Sirio Gainmaster Have I Made The Right Choice ?

Post by P5shn »

I AM SO SORRY for causing muddy waters I dropped a clanger in my description, I am getting back into the hobby after over 2 decades so am a little rusty. :roll:
I know what I was trying to say but it come out wrong.
I deffo described the mini 8 wrong as it is NOT mini 8 At all .... i am using it is the one below ....

The following words are from the description of each coax from a main radio supplier

The roll of coax I initially brought was £22.96 for 50m
5mm military spec RG58
impedance :50 ohms
core: stranded
braid 69% 80 x 0.12
loss per 10m @ 100mhz : 2.0 dbd

The roll I am buying is £59.95 for 50m
RG-213
Low loss solution for long cable runs at high power level
9.65 military spec
Impedance 50ohm
Core 7 x 0.72mm
Braid 98% 192 x 0.20
Loss per 10m @ 100mhz 0.7dbd

Big difference in specs

Hope that makes the water cleaner now
I will never forget, I will never regret, I will live my life !
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Re: Sirio Gainmaster Have I Made The Right Choice ?

Post by Admiral »

Get the twig up an extra 10ft and that will negate any coaxial losses, radio isn't necessarily about theory, it's about having a go and tweaking when you can, if you lose 5db then just crank the power up to 300w, sorted.
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Re: Sirio Gainmaster Have I Made The Right Choice ?

Post by Otter »

P5shn wrote: Loss per 10m @ 100mhz 0.7dbd
Hope that makes the water cleaner now
If that's from a major supplier they should be shamed for quoting loss in dBd. That's meaningless; you may as well be quoting loss in sharks per cucumber.
I'm sure they mean dB per 10m
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Re: Sirio Gainmaster Have I Made The Right Choice ?

Post by Sam P »

MrWeetabix wrote:
Sam P wrote:
Tim wrote:The best test you'll have is how it stands up to the next lot of gale force winds forecast for this next week.

What"s the difference between the Imax and the Atron?

:wave: :lol: :silent:
........as he lights the blue touch paper and runs away! :lol: :lol: :lol:

:angel: :angel: :angel:

:shh:
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Re: Sirio Gainmaster Have I Made The Right Choice ?

Post by P5shn »

Admiral wrote:Get the twig up an extra 10ft and that will negate any coaxial losses, radio isn't necessarily about theory, it's about having a go and tweaking when you can, if you lose 5db then just crank the power up to 300w, sorted.
Don't know if my other message was posted but my gain master is up the highest I can go where we live,
We live in a bungalow & it is on a 3m heavy duty ariel pole from Screwfix, bolted to the wall on 2 x 9" stand off brackets and about 8ft above the bungalow roof.

I have been looking at the KL200P (preamp & amp) so with that and the RG-213 coax I should be sorted.

Woul a amp cause any tvi or is technology advanced enough now to not suffer it anymore ?

I checked my SWR tonight on the newly erected gain master & it is 1.1 on ch1 & 1.3 on ch40 (U.K.FM)
So that must be a positive :clap:
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Re: Sirio Gainmaster Have I Made The Right Choice ?

Post by ghost123uk »

P5shn wrote:Would a amp cause any tvi or is technology advanced enough now to not suffer it any more ?
Amps vary considerably in this respect. Some have a nice clean output, but some are as dirty as hell. Ones designed solely for CB type applications tend to be built on the cheap ;)
Nowadays, what with digital TV, interference is less likely, but not at all unheard of. Freeview for example uses the same frequencies as the old analogue TV and so can still be affected. The effect on the picture / sound is different though, being "pixilated", "stuttering" or just simply going off.

Often, a badly designed / built amp can show a high SWR, when without the amp it was / is fine.

Pre amps are a waste of money for CB type use. As mentioned on that other thread = They will show an increase in signal level, but will not increase the intelligibility of the audio received (imho).

Sounds like you’re getting there though :thumbup:
If you still don't here owt with your new aerial and coax, then either you are not in range of anyone transmitting, or your set has a fault (fingers crossed for you).
John, on the S. Cheshire / N. Shropshire border. 26TM953 / muppet handle "Grey ghost"
Don't just monitor, key up and talk, otherwise everyone thinks no one else is out there !!!
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Re: Sirio Gainmaster Have I Made The Right Choice ?

Post by P5shn »

ghost123uk wrote:
P5shn wrote:Would a amp cause any tvi or is technology advanced enough now to not suffer it any more ?
Amps vary considerably in this respect. Some have a nice clean output, but some are as dirty as hell. Ones designed solely for CB type applications tend to be built on the cheap ;)
Nowadays, what with digital TV, interference is less likely, but not at all unheard of. Freeview for example uses the same frequencies as the old analogue TV and so can still be affected. The effect on the picture / sound is different though, being "pixilated", "stuttering" or just simply going off.

Often, a badly designed / built amp can show a high SWR, when without the amp it was / is fine.

Pre amps are a waste of money for CB type use. As mentioned on that other thread = They will show an increase in signal level, but will not increase the intelligibility of the audio received (imho).

Sounds like you’re getting there though :thumbup:
If you still don't here owt with your new aerial and coax, then either you are not in range of anyone transmitting, or your set has a fault (fingers crossed for you).
Thank you for your advice, I was just under the impression that the RG213 would make a considerable difference to the signal strength resulting in less loss as the core is thick solid compared to thin strand on the RG58 and also the braid is far superior compared to the RG58, in comparison I was thinking the superior RG213 coax with those higher qualities would improve my set up especially running about 75ft of coax.
Surprised I won't benefit from a preamp / amp but I guess I am still learning.
The Grant 2 is brand new as is my gainmaster with a swr of between 1.1 & 1.3
Mmmmm what to do if I don't upgrade my coax & get a preamp / amp I am out of ideas {bnghd}
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Re: Sirio Gainmaster Have I Made The Right Choice ?

Post by andrew013 »

rg213 will make a big difference on tx power from ariel
somewhere on this forum i posted about 4 types of coax with a run of 75 ft the cheapest rubbish coax barely got 2 watts to ariel out of a ten watt carrier mini 8 was around 6 and rg213 was 8.5 watts out of 10watts at the ariel end
so you have an ariel and a bigish one from sirio people love them (i dont) i love my imax (enough said) your putting rg213 on it job done , you have a brand new radio seems to be ok for now its i grant 2 i have 4 (yes i love em)
if you still cant work anybody in the uk you are going to have to wait awhile (years) for the dx come back around (this gets more uk on hills and out and about too) so you have come back and its not going to well for you at the moment
your thinking of getting an amp hey ho it may work it may not if nobody about to hear you you are putting alot of money into the hobby (great in my book) but your not getting alot back
i really hate saying this but have you thought of going on the dark side and become a ham a simple bit of wire and other bands may get you talking to people and that equals job done till the skip picks up again (im happy listening to white noise till then ) hope it gets sorted out and just may be if some one sees your set up it may have a knock on effect and get someone else back on air when im at work people ask is that a cb in your car i had one of them yeah well its still going (JUST)
on air,tyne&wear,northumberland,durham,holy island,eu120+eu124 and anywhere from gateshead/north wales
scrap uk 40 give cbers L/M/Hcalling on 27.355/555 usb qsy 27.015 lsb/410 usb cb radio is for life not just for profits
i do cb radio not 11mtres,countrys worked 2015 with imax 2000 72
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Re: Sirio Gainmaster Have I Made The Right Choice ?

Post by ghost123uk »

Just to clarify, and to agree with andrew013 ^^^, the RG213 will make a useful difference to the outgoing power that reaches the aerial, but, as you say you are barely receiving any intelligible signals, it will make hardly any difference to that situation. And again, to clarify, the TX part of the amp will improve your transmitting range, but pre-amps on the receive are often ineffective.

There was some DX from Romania coming in mid morning today :)
John, on the S. Cheshire / N. Shropshire border. 26TM953 / muppet handle "Grey ghost"
Don't just monitor, key up and talk, otherwise everyone thinks no one else is out there !!!
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Re: Sirio Gainmaster Have I Made The Right Choice ?

Post by CaptainKirk »

Pre amps are for AM-SSB trouble is they amplify everything else too.regarding the Gainmaster there is one in use as a 10m band simplex link 10 miles from me and it works very well indeed.
CAPTAIN KIRK-26TM013/26CT013/26UK013 John mobile South Cheshire.
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Re: Sirio Gainmaster Have I Made The Right Choice ?

Post by andrew013 »

There was some DX from Romania coming in mid morning today :)[/quote]
i heard that as well didnt last long tho and kept on saying good morning uk also a few calls for pacific long path from canary island
on air,tyne&wear,northumberland,durham,holy island,eu120+eu124 and anywhere from gateshead/north wales
scrap uk 40 give cbers L/M/Hcalling on 27.355/555 usb qsy 27.015 lsb/410 usb cb radio is for life not just for profits
i do cb radio not 11mtres,countrys worked 2015 with imax 2000 72
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