Hy Gain 5/8 wave CB Radio Antenna Cleanup and installation
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- Опубліковано 5 вер 2024
- Time to put up my Vintage mid 70s CB Antenna, but first I need to clean it up.
Just after installing the antenna in its temporary location, we had record breaking winds in Salt Lake City Utah that reached 112 MPH. The antenna survived and is still in use today. Nothing beats Old School design and quality materials!
I filmed this video last summer (2020) and I lost some files, so this is all the footage I have left.
Oh my goodness don’t let the old lady see that power tool 😂
That was awesome. My dad loves those antennas and swears by them. Right now we are running a Super Scanner on a 60 ft tower. We did the same thing and found an old Super Scanner a farmer had on his silo. We cleaned every part and rebuilt it with SS nuts, bolts, and screws. If you do something like this again use dialect grease on all the joints.
I drove past an old building for decades that had an antenna standing the entire time. Found the owner and purchased it. Turns out, it's a Radio Shack .64 wave "Crossbow" from 1978. Seemed to be missing the top section of the vertical. Unfortunately, there is no manual or paperwork available anywhere on the planet for this antenna. Radio Shack was no help and the internet just gives me a funny look when I type this antenna in. I've been told the vertical was the same as a Penetrator 500 at 22.6. I've tried and SWR is sky high. I have continuity between the coil to the vertical. I too cleaned the connections but feel like I'm spinning my wheels not knowing more about this old gem. I had on old CLR back in the day and it was a great antenna. I'll keep tinkering and one day hope to my my old classic talk again. Good video!
I will keep an eye open for that manual.
@@390WagonMaster thank you!!
Crossbows are junk. Piece of wire in a fiberglass tube.
The explanation at 15:50 on is mostly correct. I say "mostly" because removing that rusty *steel* screw, cleaning up the *aluminum* components, and reassembly with a *stainless steel* screw is important to eliminate a dissimilar metal junction that will cause SWR and TVI problems. The screw will shear unless you soak it in PB Blaster for a few days.
You mentioned never using RTV...50 years ago, who knew that there was acid in that stuff...acid that doesn't like aluminum? I missed a chance to test Flex-Seal when I put up my 1964 vintage Super Magnum but I did learn the hard way why they redesigned the coil cover.
The first-gen antenna has a gray, smooth coil cover *without drain holes*! Ice isn't a conductor so when the antenna filled with water it worked as long as it was frozen. I went on the roof last January with a soldering iron and poked 3 holes in the coil cover. Once the water drained out and it dried out, good to go.
Nice work mike,I had totally forgot about the old
School aluminum omni’s. I was out of town working today and I seen a cb shop on the
backside of a greasy assed old truck stop on Pennsylvania where I was at and I needed diesel anyways so I stoped In and filled up,got an order of sausage gravy on fried potatoes and onions. The damn cb shop was actually still open,went in and looked around and stuffed back in the corner between the wall and a retail rack was a couple old boxes. I pulled one out and it was a Hy-gain super penetrator with a Maco v5000 and a jogunn hillbilly behind it. Kid working on radios said that was some of the base stuff left from when his dad passed. I asked if it was for sale,kid said there is probably $100 worth of aluminum there. I gave him $200 for the lot and got the hell out of there before he changed his mind lol
Wholly shit man! Good for you. I would dig a SP, I'm going to have to keep a sharper eye out when my Wife lets me out:) Great score..
@@390WagonMaster I told the kid that anything else he finds it would be in his best interest financially to give me a call first,I’ll give him a fair price for what I want and let him know what else he has and what’s it’s worth
I'm going to enjoy watching this, and have about 45 years of Penetrator use, tuning and rebuilding under my belt,
and aside from the original designers of the antenna, I probably know as much about them as anyone - which really isn't saying that much because it's just a 5/8 with a matching Network LOL - but I have about five of them right now in my stash of aluminum
and I guess this video will motivate me to get in touch with the new Hi-Gain and get some replacement plastic parts - although I've kind of moved on from this exact design to one that performs virtually the same but does not have the SWR variances in the rain nor does it tend to Arc out with more than about 1500 watts, but this is still an excellent antenna, one of my favorites of all time, and the one I chose back in 1976 when I bought every other antenna on the market at the time to test and make sure I got the best of the best - which ended up with the Avanti Sigma II 5/8 and the Penetrator.
The Penetrator finally winning out when I realized that removing the top hat and extending the radiator out 9 inches improved performance slightly and then it was neck and neck with the Sigma.
- okay back to the video and enjoying watching.
Well I jumped the gun a bit and thought this was a penetrator rebuild because that's what I was searching for but close enough it wouldn't be that hard to turn this antenna into a penetrator I've done several of them might get a little wordy out here and trying to describe how to but let me know and if you're interested I'll go for it
Those are great antennas back in the day and up until now if they are well maintained. But if I may say so sir, Scotch Brite with W-40 also works well to clean them tubes then buff it with finishing rubbing compound used on newly painted cars and would give you a mirror shine look. 73's...
Thanks for the info
@15:19 Yes under the plastic cover is a matching coil that goes between the SO239 the antenna and ground , two mechanical and one soldered connections. Check continuity as the coil to SO239 solder joint is prone to fail . Don't forget the SO239 is mounted with pop rivits and will be corroded between it and the antenna base . It must be re built or it may suffer poor performance and higher SWR . The 1/4 wave model has no internal coil. 73s
These replaced the original Colinear in late 1963. Old Tube Radio should have the vintage advertising that I found and sent.
Radio Shack sold their own version of these. They weren't made as well and are pretty much impossible to find.
Good video I have that same antenna swr is always high I’m going have to take it down and clean it up thanks rocky from the rock
112mph that cat3 hurricane storm........
Still a great antenna you have but it’s not the penetrator which had four ground plane radials.
I think you have a radio shack 5/8 there.
I had one back in the late 70’s - early 80s.
Also had a penetrator, a half wave 3 radial radio shack and even a star duster.
I don’t know what the hell we were thinking back in the day.as the mix of antennas we were always switching out didn’t make a hell of beans worth of difference in output of signal strength.
I always serviced the antennas removing oxidation but it always came right back.
I have been told that Hy Gain made the Archer 5/8 wave, they might be as I have compared the two and they are roughly the same. Even the change in loading coil design..... Cheers
I found a brand new radio shack version of the clr2 in the box last year, it works great high or low
off the ground, swr goes up when it rains a bit
That was an awesome find. :)
@@390WagonMaster yeah I was blown away with how quiet it listens compared to an antron. I live in a noisy community with powerline noise. Did you get your beam back up?
@13:40 A BENCH GRINDER RUNNING LOOSE ON A GLASS TABLE TOP !!!!
So...how does it work? Can't find your air test video. Seemed like most folks around Pittsburgh used these or the Radio Shack version.
I want to install a spt-500. The manual is rated at 1500 watts. Do you know if it can handle more ? I remember in the 70s and 80s people ran it with sb-220s . thats a 2kw amp. Im thinking about running it with a 8 pill amp 2kw.
Do you still have the parts list for the SS nuts and bolts and did you use aluminum or ss clamps?
I dont have a list. I just measured the old parts and went to ACE hardware. I used SS hose clamps. Antenna still works well.
I found a used one like that and I was wondering did you do a cont test on it ? When I check the center pin I get cont at the main mast and on the radials is this correct .
That is fine, if you had zero continuity I would worry as that would be a bad or open loading coil. The CLR is NOT a high powered antenna and they can fry a coil with high power. How high? "they" say 300watts or so. I dont run more than 100 and in all my years have never taken a coil out yet. Cheers
I sure would like to find one of those ,i do like my A99 but a good 5/8 wave would probably be better.
Great video.
73's
514 Southwestern Ontario Canada
Hey Charles. I want to thank you for following me over to this Channel. Cheers my friend!
@@390WagonMaster 👍
Seeing the older equipment takes me back.I wish i would have kept some of my old stuff. Love the c b videos.
514
19:15. Is that coax choke required?
Doe’s it help?
Required, well that depends the "professional" giving you advice. Over the years I have installed Antennas with and with out the choke. I have not seen any advantage either way. I still use the choke on and off, as I'm still trying to figure out the benefits (real world) either way.
IMHO. Cheers.
i want saved up one theses for my quad5 i seen them in dx engineering.
I have one of these antennas and i just cleaned it up and tried it out but it has really high swr's do u have any ideas of ways to fix this?
Check your coax, make sure your measurements are correct, last but not least check the loading coil. clean all connections
Cuál es su lungitud de antena
estimate 18 1/2 ft
THE SPT500 OWNERS MANUAL STATES 1500 WATT MAX. IS THAT RMS OR PEP ? I WANT TO RUN A FATBOY 2x8 AMP. THIS MAY PRODUCE 2200 WATTS. I REMEMBER IN THE 70s AND 80s PEOPLE WOULD RUN HEATH KIT SB220s. SB220s PRODUCE 2KW.
I would think that 1500w rating would be PEP. I dont think you will have a problem running your 2X8 into the SPT500.
IMHO the amp is about 11-12hundred watts real power. You should be fine.
NOTE... I would keep an swr meter in line and watch your reflected power while keying down, if you see the SWRs rising while talking then you may not want to use all that power. This is what I did back in the day and always worked for me. Again..... IMHO.
Cheers
How many watts can be put on the little coil that’s in this antenna? I got my hands on one for free and have yet to put it up and use it
I have put around 200 through it. I think that is what its rated for. Great antenna.
No more than 300 watts. That was when these were new. They use a printed circuit board matching network that is quite fragile and Unobtainium. I wouldn't run more than 100 watts, myself.
@@spaceflight1019 I had 2 of these antennas. The one I used in the 80's was left on the building when I moved in 1998. The other one got burried in the ground under 20+ years of neglect. When I retired I decided to dig it up and see how she fared. It was dirty and corroded with hard water deposits. I drilled the rivets on the coil housing to find that it didn't have the anticipated coil in board that most have. Mine is a coil suspended in an epoxy type resin. I've only ever seen this explanation once before on a forum where one person described exactly what I have on a half wave antenna. Mine is not a half wave.
@@supersmurf64 , very interesting. Both of my antennas were pre-1973 so perhaps Hy-Gain made a change to improve the board's reliability.
I have one. Only thing is they dont take much power.
Correct, I don't put out more that 100 watts anyway so the power handling is not an issue. The performance of the CLR2 is outstanding so I stick with it. Thanks for stopping in. Cheers
I would rather have this over antron99 this like stainless steel it like sailboat pipes metel made out of.
LOOSE BENCH GRINDER ON A GLASS TABLE TOP! !!! REV DR. SAFETY GLASSES .
Translation: Cat Box ……. Reeeeeeeeeeeee
Safety glasses are for wussies.