Penetrator 500 new

[Steelman55]

Wonder what the proper length for 11 meter use and how to set swr on same

[BOOTY MONSTER]

https://www.dxengineering.com/search...rder=Ascending

" SPT-500 antennas measure 22 ft., 9.5 in. high"
you can adjust the length some for fine tuning or if you have channels added .

[mjd420nova]

When the Penetrator first came out, decades ago, it wasn't a legal antenna as the rules set the limit at 20 feet. Used single or even paired were the best around. Sigma 5/8 followed and it has a 27 foot vertical element. Those designs .with the gamma match elements near the bottom have excellent take-off angles for working skip.

[BOOTY MONSTER]

it became illegal again because it is a aluminum antenna and if it makes contact with power lines it can easily kill . a fiberglass antenna (imax 2000 , antron 99) has the antenna wire running inside the fiberglass insulation allowing a better chance of survival .....well ..... it was illegal for a cb antenna , but legal for hams , because supposedly hams were too smart to electrocute themselves .....

[mjd420nova]

I haven't and never will mount an antenna anywhere near any power lines. Subject to high winds here, I insure that there are no power lines close enough for the antenna to contact, either during install or in the event of failure, will not fall on any lines.

[tramd]

There never was an FCC rule that stated an antenna couldn't be more than 20' tall. If you read the FCC part 95 rules it states that an antenna can not be more than 20' above a structure or more than 60' from the ground to the top. It wasn't illegal to use an aluminum antenna. In 1983 antenna companies just couldn't sell omni directional antennas to non commercial operators anymore. CBers became non commercial operators once licenses were no longer mandated by the FCC shortly before that. Hams can buy them as they are licensed. Other metal antennas can still be sold such as beams. The ruling only applied to omnis and since they were the best sellers many antenna companies went out of business. After the ruling some companies sell them as 10-12 meter antennas which of course includes 11 meters. They just can't state they will work on 11 meters.

[Zero58]

I'm also looking at the SPT-500 or the Maco V58(all the 5/8 wave alum antennas look about the same to me)..but..I've been wrong before!

[BOOTY MONSTER]

the spt-500 is longer than the maco . it's a .64wl antenna . they also use different matching networks with the maco loop being easier to tune for out of band use . the 500s tuning can be adjusted by shortening the vertical and ground elements . if you need to go longer adding another piece of tubing to the top will probably be needed . IMO if you're only gonna do cb/11 meters get the penetrator . if you're gonna be going out of band the maco will be easier to adjust
.

[Zero58]

Thank You for the info on both those antennas! From what You have said..the Maco V58 is the best one for me! I still plan on reading up on all the different brands of 5/8 antennas...but..I really do not remember any vertical antennas being between 19-23 ft long! (talking 30+ years ago)