The Solarcon I-Max2000 CB Antenna.

[gil]

Have you tested it with 10 and 12 meters?

10m works, 12 does not. I have not tried 20 or any other band. 15m works.

Gil.

[Lamewolf]

Have you tested it with 10 and 12 meters?

10m works, 12 does not. I have not tried 20 or any other band. 15m works.

Gil.

Just curious Gil, have you checked the swr on 12 meters ?  On the page I posted a link to here: http://tore.aasli.no/amateur_radio/cb-antenna/solarcon_imax-2000/index.php  the swr graph shows about 1.5:1 on 12 meters and less than 2:1 from 17 meters and up to 30 mhz.  My old Antron 99 works super on 12 meters !  And I'm hoping the Imax 2000 I'm putting up tomorrow will do even better.

[gil]

Just curious Gil, have you checked the swr on 12 meters ?

Well, it was a while ago, I'd have to check again... Tomorrow if I don't forget...

Gil.

[Lamewolf]

Got the Imax installed last night, and here is my SWR measurements via the MFJ-259B analyzer.

30 meters - 20.2:1
20 meters - 12.4:1 to 13.5:1
17 meters - 6.9:1
15 meters - 1.2:1 to 1.5:1
12 meters - 2.5:1 (well within the range of most auto tuners)
10 meters - 1.1:1 @ 28mhz to 25.2mhz
                  1.2:1 @ 28.3 to 28.4
                  1.3:1 @ 28.5 to 28.6
From there it steadily climbs to 2.6:1 @ 29.7, but under 2:1 from 28 to 29, so I'm happy

Also, had to put the tuning rings all the way to the top to get these readings, but I never use 11 meters anyway - too much trash talk there anyway.

Anyway, the bands were dead when I got done last night so I'll try it out Saturday morning and afternoon while I'm off work to see how it performs on the air.  I did find the manual is a bit flakey, on one page it states 5.1 db gain and on another page it says 8.1 db gain - strange indeed !  Since its a 5/8 wave antenna, I figure it more like 3db (maybe).

[Lamewolf]

Got a chance to play with the 2000 last night when I got home.  The bands had a little traffic and it was hearing real well.  My LDG Z11 Pro2 auto tuner handles it just fine on 30, 20, & 17 meters where the swr is way to high but drops it right down under 1.5:1 in a snap.  What really surprises me is that even though the swr is horrific on 30 meters, once the LDG does its thing, the 2000 hears great there.  Haven't tried any contacts yet but will tomorrow morning when I have more time.  Really wanting to try it on 30 meters since it is close to a quarter wave in length on that band.  On 10 and 15, no tuner is needed and on 12 the swr is only a 2.5:1, so no problem there with the LDG - it barely blinks then finds a match.  The Imax 2000 is only about 8' off the ground right now and fed with 20' of RG8X coax, but when I get time and better weather I will get it up to the 22' mark and get some better coax on it.

[Lamewolf]

Finally got some time to work 10 meters a little on Sunday morning.  The band was open a little, and was able to work Africa and Luxemburg with 10 watts from my Icom 703.