[Repeater-Builder] Re: Repeater antennas.
Dan, Sounds as if you are looking for 2m/440 dual band antenna. One question is how high. If low, less than say 150 ft then might consider Ham type antenna. The G7-144 is good performer for 2 meters, but cannot take falling ice. However, sounds as if some have had problems with Hustler although not much to be said for someone looking at a site for 12 years and ordering the antenna 3 days before install, hi. If antenna is high then get, as some have suggested, commerical grade. In some installs the high price of labor to replace out weights the higher cost of a good antenna. The longer dual band Diamond/Comet do perform well, but are cheaply made, but fit your price range. The stuff on the ground is most often easy to replace. The stuff in the air is often not especailly with good site. 73, ron, n9ee/r --- In Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com, "Dan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I am looking for opinions on what antenna is good for repeater use that > are in the $200-250 dollar range. I am looking at the Antennx and the > Hustler 270R. Opinoins? > Thanks Dan/NØFPE >
[Repeater-Builder] Re: Repeater antennas.
Shannon, sorry to hear about your troubles with Hustler. As for the dual band issue, we use DB224 antennas at most of our 2M sites here in Charleston and put a DCI filter/diplexer combination to pull off UHF on this VHF antenna (remember what the 3rd harmonic is). I wouldn't use this for a VHF/UHF repeater combo, but for UHF link and control purposes it works just fine and we don't have to worry about the build quality of the DB products, gosh, they'll probably outlive me :-) As for putting any "ham" type product on a commercial or government tower - yikes, you're just asking for trouble. John/N4SJW --- In Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com, Shanon KA8SPW <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Dan, > >Below is a copy of an email I posted to the group on 12-5-06. DO NOT > BUY HUSTLER! They refuse to pay me back for the shipping of their POS > antenna. If you have the time and money, save yourself much aggravation > and money, buy a commercial antenna... Check eham on comments on the > G6-270R. Wish I had before I ordered it > > good luck, Shanon KA8SPW > > Fellow repeater die hards, > > Long story short. I did not have the time, less than 5 working days, > to order a commercial antenna and have it here. Due to only having one > position on the tower, I needed a antenna that I could use for the 2M > repeater and 440 control. It had to be one piece and rugged, so I > ordered a Hustler G6-270R from R & L in Ohio. R & L are fantastic > people!!! The antenna arrived in one day, just 3 working days before > the required commercial install. If I did not have an antenna at the > site for the install by 9am on Tuesday morning I would miss the window > that I had been working on for 12 years to get onto this tower. Small > town, political nightmare, thats a long nightmare story. > > The antenna was a POS to say the least. Bent center pin on the female > N connector, silicone seal not completed where the fiberglass meets the > aluminum, silicone seal not completed where the coax goes into the hole > in the base plate into the back of the N connector leaving bare wires, > the large aluminum base plate was cocked which left all the radial > elements at a 5 degree tilt to one side. The base was obviously > machined wrong. > > Not having the time to do much else, I pondered repairing the N > connector and resealing the antenna to use it anyway. I called R&L and > they offered to send me another one. Since I didn't have much time and > I did have the connector in stock, I called Hustler to find out what the > sealant number was so I could use the same. I tried to bend the pins > back on the "no name connector" and guess what, two bent back the third > went "plink".. > > Hustler offered to pull one from stock, inspect it, and send it to me. > The best they could do was get it to me THURSDAY, two days late unless I > wanted to pay for overnight air. So they arranged for R&L to send > me another one. It arrived at 4:45 pm the night before it had to be at > the site. I only had time to put the radials on and check the match > before delivering it to the site after dinner. When I checked the > match, it was now dark, with freezing rain which turned to sleet while I > was on the ladder with my bird. Match OK. > > When I took the replacement out of the tube I noticed it had the same > build date as the first, sinking feeling at this point. First check, > the N connector, intact. Next, all the sealant, good. I assembled the > elements onto the base and got ready to check the match outside on the > pole in the middle of the back yard. This is when I tried to screw a > Amphenol N to BNC adapter onto the antenna. I say tried because I could > not get it to turn more than two turns. I checked the threads, BLOCKED > by what appeared to be solder!!! I took the antenna into the shop and > looked at in under a magnifier light. Turned out to be what appeared to > be super glue in the threads!!! I used my Xacto knife to carefully > remove it. > > I sent the bad antenna back to Hustler along with all the documentation > and the glue remnants. Oh by the way, understandably I had to give them > my charge card info and they charged me for the extra antenna (plus $25 > shipping) and would credit me when I returned the bad one. They charged > LIST price too!!! I had to pay over $50 to ship it from the Detroit > area back to Hustler. They have refused to cover my shipping their BAD > antenna back to them!!! I have bought many Hustler antennas for my > needs and have specified over 50 Hustler antennas for other projects. > After this I will never buy another Huster. I don't care how much I > have to spend on a better made antenna!! I just hope the replacement > antenna remains good long enough for me to buy a good commercial antenna > and then arrange to pay for a crew to
[Repeater-Builder] Re: Repeater antennas.
Hi Shanon, You simply need to scream louder with Hustler (which I believe is now owned by MFJ?... which means "good luck"). But it's common to not have the shipping covered when there is a problem regardless of who's fault it is. We all have war stories... my last one was with AES in Nevada. I can tell you I'm the reason why the dual band repeater antenna is now a fiberglass radome vs the original design, which looks/looked a lot like their 2 meter antenna (mostly aluminum with colinear loading). Many trips to the top of a 160' tower with 5 different brand new antennas to figure out the original production lot was altered from the initial paper design/engineering to provide a nice 2' radiation angle toward the sky. Not so good for repeater or base station opeation... maybe great for aircraft comm... My "cluster" was bigger than "your cluster". I've had great results from the mono band G6 and G7 type antennas. The dual band version you have is pretty darn narrow in band-width. Per one of my previous posts I would be cautious and think about sweeping it before you install it. My example here doesn't do well at all in the bottom few MHz of the 440-450 band. Otherwise it's a great overall antenna. Looks like your results were not so great... cheers, skipp > Shanon KA8SPW <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Dan, > >Below is a copy of an email I posted to the group on 12-5-06. DO NOT > BUY HUSTLER! They refuse to pay me back for the shipping of their POS > antenna. If you have the time and money, save yourself much aggravation > and money, buy a commercial antenna... Check eham on comments on the > G6-270R. Wish I had before I ordered it > > good luck, Shanon KA8SPW > > Fellow repeater die hards, > > Long story short. I did not have the time, less than 5 working days, > to order a commercial antenna and have it here. Due to only having one > position on the tower, I needed a antenna that I could use for the 2M > repeater and 440 control. It had to be one piece and rugged, so I > ordered a Hustler G6-270R from R & L in Ohio. R & L are fantastic > people!!! The antenna arrived in one day, just 3 working days before > the required commercial install. If I did not have an antenna at the > site for the install by 9am on Tuesday morning I would miss the window > that I had been working on for 12 years to get onto this tower. Small > town, political nightmare, thats a long nightmare story. > > The antenna was a POS to say the least. Bent center pin on the female > N connector, silicone seal not completed where the fiberglass meets the > aluminum, silicone seal not completed where the coax goes into the hole > in the base plate into the back of the N connector leaving bare wires, > the large aluminum base plate was cocked which left all the radial > elements at a 5 degree tilt to one side. The base was obviously > machined wrong. > > Not having the time to do much else, I pondered repairing the N > connector and resealing the antenna to use it anyway. I called R&L and > they offered to send me another one. Since I didn't have much time and > I did have the connector in stock, I called Hustler to find out what the > sealant number was so I could use the same. I tried to bend the pins > back on the "no name connector" and guess what, two bent back the third > went "plink".. > > Hustler offered to pull one from stock, inspect it, and send it to me. > The best they could do was get it to me THURSDAY, two days late unless I > wanted to pay for overnight air. So they arranged for R&L to send > me another one. It arrived at 4:45 pm the night before it had to be at > the site. I only had time to put the radials on and check the match > before delivering it to the site after dinner. When I checked the > match, it was now dark, with freezing rain which turned to sleet while I > was on the ladder with my bird. Match OK. > > When I took the replacement out of the tube I noticed it had the same > build date as the first, sinking feeling at this point. First check, > the N connector, intact. Next, all the sealant, good. I assembled the > elements onto the base and got ready to check the match outside on the > pole in the middle of the back yard. This is when I tried to screw a > Amphenol N to BNC adapter onto the antenna. I say tried because I could > not get it to turn more than two turns. I checked the threads, BLOCKED > by what appeared to be solder!!! I took the antenna into the shop and > looked at in under a magnifier light. Turned out to be what appeared to > be super glue in the threads!!! I used my Xacto knife to carefully > remove it. > > I sent the bad antenna back to Hustler along with all the documentation > and the glue remnants. Oh by the way, understandably I had to give them > my charge card info and they charged me for the extra antenna (plus $25 > shipping) and would cred
