CB RADIO: SKYLAB Starduster Super Wide-band Antenna CB 27MHz (Home-Brew) on a DX Commander Pole
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- Опубліковано 26 сер 2024
- The 1970's /80's SKYLAB Starduster super CB 27MHz antenna. I had one of these fabulous antennas back in the day, great bit of kit. so today I thought I would build one. so this is my version of that great antenna.
The Home-Brew SKYLAB Starduster for 26 - 30MHz, Super simple to build with just 10 metres of wire and a length of coax.
Enjoy
I do hope you enjoy it and subscribe for more..
Many thanks
Mike - M0MSN
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Just rewatched this Mike.. Tomorrow, I'm building similar on the 18m pole. 2.6m for 27.4MHz.. That's handy measurement, I'll convert that to about 28.4. Perfect, thanks for the R&D! PS - I modelled a 10m and 12m element with same ground radials and 50mm separation at feedpoint. 2 x dips. That's what I'll head for!
I got some good results with this antenna, good luck with yours 👍👍xx
@@mike-M0MSN I managed to (model) 2-inch separation with up to 2-elements with anything from linear loaded 18m & 15m element up to 12m (and 10). That assumes maximum distance from feedpoint to top of pole of 3m. I wonder if I could get THREE elements off the feedpoint? ALl this with 3 x radials of 2.7m long. I will find out :)
The Skylab always worked superbly on Cb /10 metres.i dug out my old broken one , repaired it then cut it down for 6 meters. It performed very well with contacts all over Europe.
Great idea
I had a Skylab back in the early 80's, it had 4 radials. The Starduster was the one with 3 radials.
I remember the Stardusters from the 70’s and 80’s. A neighbor had one. Great antenna. I might give that build a try one day. Thanks for the video. Enjoyed it. 73!
Thanks Thor. :)
very fun, the famous Skylab I had one in 1986 in CB. The very fragile vertical whip did not withstand the high wind. Nice construction thanks for testing 73 👍
Many thanks
Skylab, ah memories 😂 Still see the odd one around...maybe missing a leg or main element.
Nice build Mike 👍👏👏
Thanks 👍
I had one myself and it was most certainly a nice antenna back in 1973.
Very good! I like ground plane antennas. Easy to build and work well.
I made one of these last week and it works a treat!.....Works dx and local on a 31' jacklite pole swr is use able on 10 and 11 about the same as yours....i ran 400 watts thru it on 10, 28.480 , and it held it with no swr fluctuations at all. It's staying up for good.
In the 80s when I was 11 i had that antenna but it was a starduster by avanti
Same bit of kit. :)
good memories of this antenna work all over the world loved it 73s
Had one in the early 80's.. top section broke within weeks so stripped it down, fitted a 3/8 stud fittin n bunged a 9ft s/s whip... used it like that for years until i left home... stil have it in my loft but now use a Gainmaster for 10/11m
These antennas remind me of the old thunderpole 3 in the 90s.hope you all have a great day
Reminds me of a Thunderpole cb antenna from the 80’s, great twig! In the end I customised it an adapted a firestick to use with the groundplanes.
Thanks much from across the puddle Northern Adirondack Mtns New York State on the border of Canada. I loved my starduster back in the 1970s. When a storm took her down I replaced it with an Avanti Astro plane. Last year I purchased a New Star Duster. The new model works well but just not the same as the original measurements and strength. It does work well enough. I think yours is far better in the end. A few more days and weather permitting I will get the starduster up another ten feet. The mistake I made was I forgot that the 3 radial run downward from the connection point and of course, the center was a little bigger than our standard 1 1/4" Ant pipe. LOL. I still like the configuration and on CB it's a Skip shooter when the conditions are correct. Great Channel on Notify now.
Many thanks Andrew. :)
I would imagine that it doesn't work just the same if you forgot to use the 3 radials.
Dam, i had one back in the midle 90's. unfortunly the weader is not a friend of those things. I am thinking in give it a try and build one with this simple but very eficient contruction. Thanks a lot for remind me the good times i had enjoying that antena and to share this video. Hugs from Portugal.
Hello from UK
Well done, Mike. This design is my go to antenna for cheap and cheerful ad hoc operations. Just throw a line over a tree branch and lift via the radiator, then guy out the radials as you did. BZ!
Yes Thanks
Hmmm an 11m 1/4 wave ground plane. I built one of these out of wire back in the 1960s for cb. Then I built a 2 ele. quad using bamboo poles and the same kind of wire for 11m.
That maybe the next video...
@@mike-M0MSN Oh yes please :)
@@mike-M0MSN I had that quad up for a couple of years. The bamboo had to be painted before I put it up. Then I bought a 4 element Moonraker. The quad did work very well for a simple antenna though. Better materials for the spreaders are available now.
I built one of these for 20M when I came back on the air in 2020. It worked really well. I only replaced it with a T2LT type antenna as it's easier to put up and take down
a ground plane with 3 radials.. i made one using 2,60 m thin aluminum tube ane for radials 3 copper wires..workw great..itw my main antenna..i dont want to spent money in factory onew,,nice vid.
I am new to your channel, found very good videos keep sharing. The radio is coming back to ruling again...
Hi Mike,
Great to see & hear you again buddy.
I hope you & the family are all OK, Good, Fit, & Well.
If these fibre glass telescopic poles had been around back then, & as cheap as they are now 😤 I think a few of us could have made quite a few Bob back in the day. I only ever had "President" rigs for base use back in the 70's, lol. I started with the P' Adams, & then got myself a P' Dwite D, & later, I got myself the P' Madison. At some point I also had a Cobra 148 GTL DX. For Portable use I had a very nice Somercamp 80 Channe haand set radio l, used mainly for hitch hiking by calling for lifts with truckers on Channel 19 when hitch hiking up & down from London to Middlesbrough in Teesside.
They where Good old days back then.
I may be going up to Birkenhead to spend time with friends for Christmas, & driving back down in the new year. I may well come back home to Sittingbourne via Callum @ H' Farm, & then down the A40/A41 (which ever road it is) to the M2 via the M25. A call in at H' Farm for what ever I need. I'd like an 18 Mtr pole if he has any, assuming that I'll get 1 in the car.
Take Care Mike,
Kind Regards,
73, Ray.
Good old days indeed, let me know closer to the time and I will try to get to H farm the same day. :)
Ahaaaa ....
12:01 - It just Appeared ..
Came here to see how you connect a Female SO-239 to the end of your Coax ..
I'm sure its on some of your other great videos Mike
Keep up the good work and keep uploading, I love watching your uploads and all your projects
73'
🤓
Jeeez!!! same here had one late 70s..attached to Mums washing line pole raised up on some of Dads bean canes.Good ant. as i recall got me quite some distance round Brum...Cheers 73
Yep, sounds familia
Hiciste un gran trabajo, con esa antena de 1/4 DE ONDA y plano de tierra, yo tengo un radio Super Star 3900, con una antena igual pero de aluminio, se la compré a un colega el año pasado mientras estaba convaleciente por que me dio COVId19 , el pasado domingo la instalé sobre un tubo de aluminio de 6,00m de longitud y quedó como a 10m del suelo, ayer hice DX con USA en la Florida y la Isla de Cuba, saludos desde Carrizal, Estado Miranda, Venezuela, América del Sur. YY5CAV
Hiciste un gran trabajo YY5CAV. Espero que te recuperes por completo de Covid
Don't forget the three little 'upper-radials' that looked cool but probably did nothing! Seem to remember it was sold as the 'Antenna Specialists Starduster' back in my early CB days. Thunderpoles of similar design were just loaded driven elements instead of the full 1/4 wave in order to comply with regulations at the time - initially a 1.5m base load and then a centre-load when the regs were relaxed slightly. Good to see a low noise floor and clear receive on your CB station, which is a rarity in the high noise environment we suffer these days! Cheers.
The three much smaller radials attached to the driven element make up a "capacitance hat", another not as widely used method of electrically shortening the driven element.
@@dennisjones8991 - thanks for the info. I've seen capacitance hats on the top of aerials before but not in the middle. Sirio just refer to it as a "anti-static" device on their M-400 remake antenna. Cheers.
In the States back in the late 70s-early '80s, the antenna was known as an "Astro-plane". Coupled with a 2-element beam, it was an "Astro-Beam."
Not an Astro plane! An Astro plane had a round loop around the bottom! I don’t know what principle it’s based on. This is a star duster design. Btw both were or are very effective on 11 meters
There was a three element beam based on the Astro plane it was called an Astro beam!
Great work broth 73+51
Excellent informative and entertaining video as always, thank-you. A long story short, I'm having a grand, garden tidy-up and came across the remnants of an original Starduster antenna. After watching your video, I think I may either refurbish it or use parts to make a version of your Msnduster as I was super impressed by the wide bandwidth and still have the occasional dabble on 11 metres.
I've been trying to remember what they were called. Had one bolted on the chimney back in '82. Snuck up there and fitted it in the night when the bloke replacing our chimney posts left his scaffolding up after finishing the job.
Nice job. It was always a good antenna.
Thank you.
As always mike.... a top notch job :) I gotta have a play with one of these now hehe
Cheers :)
would love to see a comparison between this and the Gain Master at comparable heights, power etc.. great vid though as always
these work surprisingly good just stood on the lawn when 10m is open, even better for portable
the ridged version lol👍
Great job
Thanks for your content
Great vid, would be nice to see the skymater and the starduster side by side at same same tip height, with some mileage numbers. I often think the extra gain attributed to 5/8 over a 1/4 or a half is just the extra height, and when you add in the impedance match loss, mabe no better than the 1/4, softwre shows not much difference if the are at the same tip height. Would be great to know what the real world shows. Keep up the gret vids. I did build the skymaster, have it at 70 foot to the tip, It works very well.
"Don't you mean 5K?" lol, if that CB is putting out 4 watts I would be surprised, unless it has been tweaked.
That aerial is a basic Thunderpole, the legal CB aerial of the day, though loaded. Never saw a Skylab one up here, just like a lot of CB makes never made it up here either.
They were quite broadband aerials even with the loading coil for the legal Thunderpole.
Nice one Mike. :-))
👍🏻
no problem mike,,,i used thunderpoles years back,worked very well,also made sirio gainmaster from one of your other vids,,works great.
Nice Skylab ... last year i found in my garage never opened in orginal box .. avanti astrobeam please show in my yt . I have many years astroplane avanti .. but never try astrobeam .. .. i must try it in spring2021 ... . Skylab was 1/4 ... super for a local contact My friends in Krakow city had many skylambs .. short ans very good to City mount
I always liked the astroplane.
I've got one in a box NOS top part has a coil so its short at the top, nice video
Thanks, :)
LOL Don't you mean 5 Kilowatt? Great Build Mike. 73 Joe
Well that’s John for ya
starduster mike
Nice easy build Mike 👍🏻 My early 80s Thunderpole was the same setup, with three braced legs. I think there was some loading at the base too....can’t remember.
You are right Ian, the antenna was shortened because of planning regs 👍🏻
Nice job Mike....I had/have one scaled for 10mtrs...works well..............cheers
Yes this one will cover the 10 metre band with ease. 👍👍cheers Roly
Easy to follow build, please can you tell me if this antenna could damage your radio finals, as someone suggested in the comments below, and if true, would it be safer to build a air choke/ ugly balun in to the coax feeder, as I would like to build one for home base use, thanks in advance Mike 👍
You can still buy these new, different manufacturers though.
Hello Mike, thanks for nice video.
i have Share in my antenna telegramm groub .
Thanks and 73 55 from east Germany
Thanks for sharing
my next mission 😁
Go for it
There's a house in my neighborhood , been through about 4 owners in 30 years . It's had a starduster with a missing radiator on the roof for as long as I can remember and none of the new owners have ever bothered to take it down . Every time I have driven past I keep telling myself I should stop by and see if they want it removed . It would be worth it just to get the roof tripod and I can't see it being very difficult to replace the radiator , I really need to quit procrastinating .
Nice antenna, but notorious for killing cb radios final transistors due to the lack of dc-grounding. Some trick should be adopted in order to short it, possibly by soldering a 50-150k anti-inductive resistor between whip and radials. I had one in early 1980's, marketed in Italy as CTE-Skylab, while the Sigma GP80 was basically equal but with the dc-ground feature. My Skylab had three more small radials on the main vertical whip.
Yes remember them well, and as you say DC grounding is a good idea. cheers
Great video. I loved my old starduster. I believe it was made in Italy. Anyway thanks for the easy build. How about them fancy wire strippers? They seem to work great on coax too.
I still have an original one, in original box, from the 80's :-D
Never used it. Last Cb antenna I used was a Pan Super 12.
Can't be bothered to set this one up now cuz CB is dead in the Netherlands.
eBay?
Most radio is dead that should not stop you from using it all it take is one to start you may not if someone maybe just listening...It all do to Cell Phone the are still there I going to Get a new one when I can and I a Ham to there are good ham out there and you have some that think they are better then other so put the antenna up dust the radio off and one day go to the call frequency and call maybe you can get something started....
Cte skylab was a good twig
we called it a Star Duster
I still have an original skylab, in its time it worked very well, many dx's all over the world, not assembled since i use yagi 4elem,good antenna good times...
Edit: The original antenna by the name midland skylab 1/4
Midland..👍🏻
Hmm, food for thought. My SE X80 resonates well on 11 meters for some strange reason but not 10 but I'm not getting it down again ! Maybe the plus kit will help if I ever figure out how to set up the radials before putting them up ? (supposed to help noise on 40 and 80). My main problem is noise on virtually all channels - high density housing is a real pain ! I am very tempted to weld one of these up from my numerous scrap metal piles in my garage :-). Should add to the neighborly discontent ! .
A QRM Eliminator or a loop is the answer (well maybe) 🤔
@@mike-M0MSN I think it's illegal to eliminate the neighbors lol.
I get the impression that this is based on a disc/cone design in terms of the RF physics involved.....these had a very superior reputation in the late 60's to sort of the early 80's. All. These types look of top sides had durability issues after about 2-3 years or after a few storms. There WERE solutions to that in that you could used high strength plastic bracing supporting and immobilizing the elements. The braces HAD to be strong but light AND be as thin and aerodynamic as possible. AND bracing added to the overall unit weight so you often needed a somewhat stronger mount. But PROPERLY Done, this antenna really was a 5 to 7 year trouble free antenna. A lot of guys moved up from the stardust to the three element Super Scanner. Because of its directional capability and its great gain.......
I always used HUSTLER antennas cause the really WERE
a 10 year come what may antenna.
The original starduster had an adaptor with it so you could use for local radio back in 1978.
Can't remember that bit, Cool
Huh?
a 5/8 GP is better, more gain and flatter radiation pattern. ground the antenna, that increases reception alot. a 30meter long copperwire provides a far far better reception, stick one end through a tennisball or something and throw over a tall tree.
great job Hi all from the US...I have been doing some research on this antenna and it was a good antenna for the time. Ok for the builder that would like to do the math I have the formula for both metric and imperial to help Quarter Wavelength In Feet 234/frequency in MHz (234/27.205 center frequency In US for the main element = 8.6 (103.216) *the VF of the wire which is .93 which come to 96 inches). The radials you can use the same formula above but you need to add 12% to the length 96 + 12%=107.52 108 inches works. Metric 71.5/frequency in MHz Im not going to do it all over again it works the same as above formula but for the center frequency which I don't know for other countries...Here In US CB is from 26.965 to 27.405 channel 1 to 40 20=27.205.. Being in ham radio for same time I make antenna all the time and going back to CB which is dead here to but need to come back maybe one radio at a time (LOL)...One thing I do know more look the move I see that most of the antenna are coming out of the UK we here in the US just got FM know on CB radio....
thanks some great info here
it was called the thunderpole in the uk i had a firestick om the top
i had one in the 70 from antenna specialists
Similar to the Sirio M400 Skylab antenna, I had 1 in the 80's myself on a Harvard cbh1500 base station 🚉 which would get me 30/40miles
dam that is wide band! it looks like it wold be a good scanner antena! wonder how well it would do as a FM radio antena? how bout vhf ham/ public safty as well as uhf ham/public safty! o us in the usa are geting FM on the standerd band 26.965 to27.405 to play with! was wondering if a fm recever can copy a am signel? I know a AM set can with slope detection.
Just a thought, but while having an antenna that offers broadband operations, there is still the Ying and the Yang !
There are no free lunches !
Broadband typically means loss of gain.
And a lower " Q " !
Any number of things performance wise can change once you begin to manipulate the antenna, to include the height above ground !
But.....if you don't care, as stated here, then I guess the point is moot ?
∆-∆(((( 🤔....?
| Just Say'n !
Nice! Do you remember the starduster? That would also be an interesting one to recreate too
Hey @
Mike-M0MSN. Did you ever cooked in this kitchen ;). Thank you very much for the video. Great. As always. BTW: You could use three cheap fishing rods for distancing the three lower legs.
Great idea
It was sold in the States by Antenna Specialist as the M400 Star Duster, but my memory doesn't recall it being THAT broad band. Just curious if a bit longer could it be shifted down to include 12 meters, at 24.900 to 25.000 megs ? With one of Cal's DX Commander 18 meter poles this would be an outbanders dream being so broad banded, and nearly 60 foot in the air using the radials as a part of the guying system? Even in the UK with the split of 2 40 channel groups of channels being exactly as it is would be a good solution. Same in a few other countries, covers the New Zealand 26 megs channels, remembering they are the 0.00 and not the 05 in the states and of course very much for UK FM 40 .
Yes spot on use the same calculations 300/24.9/4X.96 Cheers
Nice
Thanks
Was this original antenna base loaded with a coil as the driven element was 1.65m and the 3 GP's 2.65m - your version without the coil would make this more efficient than the original - I have a MK3 thunderpole in the shed complete which was the centre loaded version if you would like any measurements. I think Sirio make a modern day version made from whip.
Hey Chris yes please. 👍
they do i have one
Last comment Mike (maybe). So this has 0 bananas gain in theory, so if you make one for 20meters it should work better than a ground mounted vertical which has -5 bananas. As you are one of the best builders on UA-cam, what are your thoughts ?
Yep, the 20m version would work really well, just a little big in size.
@@mike-M0MSN I think it would still fit on the same pole . I may have to try it if i get time this week .
Could you build the same thing using 102 in stainless steel whips instead of wire?
Probably
How long Aluminum tube ang ground wire
How did you attach the paracord to the radials?
WHERE CAN YOU BUY THE POLE.
i notice you have solar panels on your roof just wondering do you suffer from interference from the inverter thanks chas g6gxo
Hi Charles, no interference made sure the inverter was a high quality one.😀
What are the gauge of four legs?
What distance were you away from? The first transmission and second transmission using the different radios. Cheers!
Long time ago, sorry no idea
I don't understand what are the 2 type of wire you are using
Same type of wire just two different coloured plastic coating 1mm or .75mm core Cooper wire.
Basicaly a Thunderpole 3
Does it work better than your gainmaster?
Hi Mike. Do you remember that episode of The Goodies where the 3 boys get sent to live and work in a light house ? Well this video was nothing like that...
Is the at the one with the Cat,?
@@mike-M0MSN No, but it doesn't matter.
It was a good video, thanks. Keep up the good work. You've got a good on screen demeanour. Cheers.
@@adelarsen9776 ua-cam.com/video/rZcWQIaogR4/v-deo.html
@@mike-M0MSN 50 years of The Goodies.
Imagine life without them ?
Good stuff.
I have a question , what is the correct terminology for the connector on the end of your coax. Anything I look for the is so239 comes up with chassis version or the ones with the nut and solder tabs. Ugh!
Inline crimp SO239, should find them. 👍🍌
very nice. does anyone know the distance between the bottoms of the original skylab groundplane ends ?
Sorry I cannot help here.. :(
A diepo?
What gauge wire is used here?
1mm
102 inch whip antenna makes a cheap starduster or wire
So what are the regulations there for CB? It looks like you were broadcasting up to 10 watts and in FM.. Here is the US it is still 4 watts AM.
4 Watts FM/AM and 12 Watts SSB
Nice build! What angle do the groundplane wires have for this antenna?
They are around 120 deg. 👍
@@mike-M0MSN Thanks! I'm gonna build one myself.
I want to make one out of stainless steel whips. Then it'll stand up to wind ,ice ,whatever.
Go for it.
@@mike-M0MSN As of now i haven't been able to find an old Starduster hub.Ill keep looking .
514
what happens is if put 500 or a 1000 watts on it ? and what happens if you change the downward angle of the 3 elements ? 73s
Give it a go and let me know, change the angle of the legs and the SWR will change.
@@mike-M0MSN well i think impendace will change too. mhhh 🧐🧐🤔 ok PDROH steals M0MSN MFJ analyzer.... bring it back later on ( in a year or 2.... 3 ... 4 ... 🤣)
Çok teşekkür ederim
Rica ederim
one ground plane with three radials
Did I say that..😂😂
I have an original A/S starduster. Its ok but they dont have any gain.
Wasn't this the Thunderpole as well? Cheers Mike.
I don't think so, I think the thunder pole was a helically wound Mobile antenna a bit like the Firestick, but I maybe wrong.
It was a thunder pole yes. I had the Thunderpole 2.
There you go, also known as a Thunderpole, cheers Tim. 👍👍👍
The Thunderpole 2 & 3 was just the legal version with a reduced sized radiator on top to comply with the then ridiculous antenna restrictions. Some people replaced the top with a 7" firestick or 1/4w whip for better performance. Illegal back in the day and an example of a stupid regulation.
kilowatt , what? what? I don't know what youre talking about :)
4 dB (delicious bananas) gain?
Fantastic, delicious bananas :)
I've heard G4DEE calling CQ on 2M with "...Delicious Electric Eggs" ⚡🍳🍳😁
Here in the USA, our CB frequencies are from 26.965MHz to 27.405MHz in 10kc channels, with 5 "a" channels intermixed for older radio control devices such as garage door openers, and potentially still some radio controlled toy vehicles. Our final output amplifier circuit power maximum is 4 watts AM, 12 watts PEP SSB. AM and U/LSB are the only permitted transmissions on the phone channels - no FM, and no CW.
And ABSOLUTELY no external power amplifiers permitted whatsoever.
Which brings me to a question. You're using a 10m President Grant II mobile unit which is a HAM Radio on frequencies not authorized for HAM Radio use, with a radio capable of greater than the 4/12 watts output, while operating on frequencies 500KHz outside of the 11m Citizens Band, and not in the 10m HAM band, thereby participating in the "Freeband" activities which are illegal here in the USA.
IF there's a different set of legalities at play in the U.K. that I am not aware of, you might want to put that in a video disclaimer to show that you are not using the radio as a HAM radio, but within the confines of the U.K. Citizens Band, and within the power output limitations. The other concern is whether using a HAM Radio on CB channels/frequencies is actually legal in the U.K. as it is expressly forbidden and illegal here in the USA.
So, I really do like your videos, I just don't want you to be caught unknowingly violating any laws and subject yourself to penalties to your license and face financial penalties, and even equipment confiscation. These are all possibilities here in the USA with the FCC rules (law).
Hi Zach, the Grant II is only allowed on the CB bands in the UK we are permitted 4 Watts AM and FM and 12 Watts SSB. The Grant II meets this requirement. it is NOT permitted on the HAM bands.
Why are you lying to yourself talking about all these legal troubles he might encounter the FCC hasn't enforced any rules in a long time. "No extra power " really what about all the amplifiers on sale everywhere. Why don't you mind your business if you don't like the content keep it moving. Guys like "you" keep people away from ham radio...
@@redfonzie21 are you serious you wrote a lengthy comment about nothing because he used a cb radio ? If he only used the Kenwood you would have moved on with your life. Maybe you need to get a life.
@@redfonzie21 you want to win don't you hmmmm go ahead you win. 73's