Gainmaster any good?

[johnkyrle]

Okay,okay.
I know I am opening a can of worms BUT I really need to know.The Gainmaster has all the qualities and it hits all the buttons for T.X and R.X.BUT,is it strong enough?I get quite high gusts around here (South Gloucestershire) and looking at the fibreglass tubing,it is not that thick.Watching YouTube and seeing these bend alarmingly in only a 30 m.p.h gust,I doubt it will last around here.My 5/8 Venom has stood up to everything Mother Nature can throw at it so,do I stick with the old school or go with the fishing rod newbie type base antenna?
I do suffer from QRM at certain times so an antenna that will reduce this would be welcome.I must admit,I begrudge paying over £120 for,admittedly,a very clever basic design but then uses cheapy poles to run a copper wire from its base.
Do I save money and buy an Imax 2000 (which is a BIG bugger) or an Antron (Solarcon) A99?Both fibreglass I know but cheaper.
Bugger it,Sigma 4 it is on a 60 ft pole!!Sod the neighbours!!
Seriously,any unbiased ideas??

[ChrisMagpie]

I must admit,I begrudge paying over £120 for,admittedly,a very clever basic design but then uses cheapy poles to run a copper wire from its base.

viewtopic.php?f=29&t=33050
Build your own, for just the cost of the materials
When the weather finally eats it, just build another one

[MrWeetabix]

For 'high endurance' in harsh weather, I fully recommend the iMax 2000. Do some research before you buy, but thats the only homebase vertical I've used for the past 10 years and I'd buy again tomorrow if needed.

[Otter]

I live on the south coast of Devon, and my Gainmaster has been up without incident since a few months after they first came out. It replaced a Sirio 827 and performed better to some people, to others it made little difference. Just don't damage the fibreglass by over-tightening the jubilee clips.
The bandwidth is great - I don't have to worry about SWR. The only other antenna I would be tempted to try would be the President Himalaya.

I have been told though (I'm not personally interested) that if you like to listen on the lower down ham bands that this antenna doesn't receive them. I haven't personally tried, and that may be complete BS, but someone who used to use an Antron 99 with an FT-840 told me. He also said the Gainmaster performed better than the A99.

[porky.69]

For 'high endurance' in harsh weather, I fully recommend the iMax 2000. Do some research before you buy, but thats the only homebase vertical I've used for the past 10 years and I'd buy again tomorrow if needed.

what the gaffer says imax all the way

[MrWeetabix]

He also said the Gainmaster performed better than the A99.

A wet Kipper wedged in the so239 would probably perform better than an A99 too

/A99bashmode

[johnkyrle]

For 'high endurance' in harsh weather, I fully recommend the iMax 2000. Do some research before you buy, but thats the only homebase vertical I've used for the past 10 years and I'd buy again tomorrow if needed.

No problems with breaking fibreglass tubing?Am very tempted to go the Imax route.Comes pre-s.w.r'd out of the box I take it?But,is it has large as some people make out?Doug at Knights reckons it's over the top but I am becoming more convinced,I also don't like the way the GM attaches to a mast.Looks a bit feeble to me

[MrWeetabix]

I won't lie, I have had one break on me, but that was in the worst storms I've seen in my lifetime a little while back and it had been up there for some years. I had mine mounted on the gable-end, on a 20ft pole, so to the base it was around 50ft, with another 24ft of antenna on top of that. I've had a gainmaster to look at and I didn't like the way the sections were connected together with jubilee clips, like a silver rod. The iMax comes with factory-moulded screw-bases on the two top sections, which are weather proof by design and set with hard resin. Some self-amalg tape over the screw fixings and you're pretty-much good to go. Yes, it comes pre-tuned out the box, but as with it's distant cousing the A99 it also has tuning rings should you want/need to change that.

Yes, they are very tall and the top section can seem particularly flexible, but that's the secret in my mind, it can take a lot of flex and that's the key to it remaining intact, as the load is dissipated very well along the length of the antenna

I still have two. One on the house and one for portable use. After the orignal broke, I now rotate them every summer to ensure that all is well. Gives me a chance to clean/change the brackets and bolts, as well as clean and re-seal the joints. IMHO, It's fairly low-impact visually too, especially compared with an 827 or other radial'd base antenna.

Remember, all of the above is my own personal opinion, based on 10 years of personal experience. Any opinion on an antenna is subjective, so you must do all your research and make an informed decision before buying. Not all antennas work the same in certain locations/surroundings.

There's a much more in-depth write up here - http://www.k3dav.com/solarconimax2000antenna.htm

Happy (DX) Hunting

Here's mine back in 2011 doing a good impression of a boomerang! :-)

windy1 (1).JPG

[andrew013]

For 'high endurance' in harsh weather, I fully recommend the iMax 2000. Do some research before you buy, but thats the only homebase vertical I've used for the past 10 years and I'd buy again tomorrow if needed.

as mr weet has said ,
i also have 2 imaxes one for the house and one for portable the one on the house has been up 16 yrs and probably a bit more i am losing count now
most on here know i hate the gay servant ariel with a passion and also have no problems using an a99 to which ive used for 25+ years but as much as love both a99 and imax 2000 you get the gay servant lovers slaggin them of as much as i slag off the gay servant and wont anything else
AT THE END OF THE DAY ITS MORE ABOUT LOCATION than either of the ariels , the best you can do is buy either 2nd hand and try one if it does what you want keep it up , my first imax cost 65 pounds brand new and 15 +years later my "as new 1 month old imax cost 60 pounds and yes they do move alot even if god just farts a silent one
would i ever try a gay servant you can bet your bottom dollar i would rather have my nuts trampled by a heard of elephants doing the conga with concrete shoes singing a 1d song even it proved to work better than my imax from my home
and talking of that storm mr weet was on about my pole snapped and ariel was still ok first few days it bent the pole and ariel around the roof then next day or so pole snapped pics are on here on this site somewhere

[Mudslinger]

Makes yopu wonder why they didn't make the Imax (and A99) from tapered fibreglass.

They might cost sligjtly more to make but they wouldn't move around in the wind anywhere near as much.

Personallly I would stick with a metal antenna such as an 827, but being a long way inland we don't get massively strong winds.

[MrWeetabix]

you want the antenna to flex and move in the wind, having something rigid would be more problematic.

Fibreglass will always return straight when unloaded. an Aluminium antenna probably wouldn't, especially over a prolonged period of exposure to a prevailing wind.

[Mudslinger]

I didn't mean make it rigid, make it tapered like a fishing rod.

[P5shn]

I am looking at buying my first Homebase's ariel and fibreglass seems a better option from what I have been reading ... but which one ?

[MrWeetabix]

I didn't mean make it rigid, make it tapered like a fishing rod.

Probably purely a manufacturing decision. Easier to manufacture something that's an even diameter throughout rather than having to setup your tooling to introduce a taper.

[razmouk]

The Gainmaster, though impressive SWR and an 'OK' performance, is without doubt the weakest antenna I have ever used in my 36 years on CB.
I live in Blackpool, the Gainmaster's fibreglass rods are too thin, splinter and split vertically, then simply snap.