a99 vs old astro plane

[slider]

which antenna is better for my new base a astro plane or a99 there r my options at this time

[Dirty Harry]

Depends on you're circumstances, the original Avanti Astroplane is a product of 1960s America. Citizen's Band radio was a 23 channel, AM only system and
FCC restrictions limited the antenna height to 20 feet above the property, and most CB antennas would have been basic 1/2 or 5/8 wave monopole and base loaded types.

The Astroplane was designed to offer an improved radiation pattern, giving greater distance, while still allowing the antenna to be mounted on the roof without exceeding the height limit.The answer was to use a shorter top section of around 1/8 wave length, and top load it to the 1/4 wavelength with a capacity hat (the top radials). This combination lowers the radiation angle, but also decreases the bandwidth.For wider bandwidth use (as with today's multi band radio's), this top section can be changed for a straight 1/4 wavelength section.

The A99 is an end-fed half-wave dipole (with a matching system in the base which provides wide bandwidth & easy tuning but isn't very efficient due to the capacitor coupling unit) but being fibreglass does stand up well in bad weather.

Personally, I'd go for a 5/8 wave which has 1.5dbd gain over the 1/2 wave

You pays you money..................

[preacherman]

What Harry said.
The astroplane will be quieter and with a low angle of radiation
should do better on dx. The antron, because of the design,
is much more broad banded in terms of swr. They tend to
hear more static/noise. They are also easy to assemble and
put up.

Depends on what you are after...it's not that one is WAY better
than the other.
preacherman

[ksphotoguy]

so which would be better of these two.... a Penetrator 500 or the antron 99? I have both and was told the Penetrator was a kick-butt antenna.

I also have a Moonraker 4 and a Jogunn beam similar to the Moonraker but don't have a rotor system yet so it may be a while before I can go to the beams.

[Lost Sheep]

I've run them both and I would personally recommend the astro plane. I got much better reports on the astro plane and the DX performance was unbelievable. The A-99 was my first antenna, and I still have it nor will I ever get rid of it. The A-99 is literally BOMB PROOF! Mines been dropped, bent, banged, cracked, put in trees, on masts, pulled up with ropes...... like I said, very, very durable. The astro plane is a dainty, all aluminum antenna that can not handle much abuse but in my experience it has much better ears and slightly more Db gain than the A-99. Hope this helps. 992 in Georgia fired that shot!

[Dirty Harry]

In my humble experience, fibreglass antenna's seem to be a bit noisier on RX just as Lost Sheep said (I've had the Shakespeare Super Big Stick, Imax 2000, & the A99) compared to the aluminium (thats aluminum to you folks! ) antenna's

The A99 has 2.14dbi gain (or zero gain compared to a dipole as it's essentially a half-wave end fed dipole)

The A99 will have better bandwidth (frequency coverage) but if you're looking for better performance within a relatively small frequency range then personally I'd opt for the Astroplane (claimed gain of 4dbi)

What's a Penetrator 500 (sounds sinister!) ??? What's the wavelength, ie half, five-eights???

[DX4fun]

I would go with the astroplane myself, predator second and A99 last. But as was said before it really depends on your situation and what you are wanting to do.

[DX4fun]

Sorry, I meant Penetrator 500 second but can not edit my posts yet.