Batboard

Hi,

I would like to get some information on some antennas the first is Cushcrast CRX450B Ringo Ranger 2 series. and the second is the Cushcraft FRX450 fiberglass I would like to know the how good are these antenna any help would be appreciated

thanks

shon

Well, I've had a Ringo Ranger ARX2B ( VHF ) in the air for over
5 years with no problems. It is all metal construction has Excellent
gain (i think like 6 db or more) Is mighty Tall, and most importantly
has a very very low SWR (unmeasurable with my cheap meter! ).
It's like flat 1:1 from 140-155 Mhz. At 160 Mhz its like 1.2:1
At 165 its like1.5:1 and unusable (at full tilt TX) any higher than
that.

However, I will mention, that at least around here in PA most guys
Don't like the Cushcraft Ringo series antennas because they say
the antenna falls apart by itself and is unusable after 6 months.
Also said the SWR was Way high like over 3:1.

All I can tell you is that My personal Ringo Is still going strong
after all these years in one piece, and still good VSWR as far as I
know. Checked it last year and it was 1.2:1 flat across the band in
the rain.......


The short no gain Ringo 440 band antenna is like a resistor.
Don't buy one of those, unless you only want to talk to someone
in the same house.

I also had a fiberglass Tri Band (144-148 440-450 and 220 )
That thing pegged the SWR meter on 220, and was 3:1 on the
edges of the 440 band. That was the worst antenna I ever had.
I never even mounted it or used it, I just gave it away to the
nearest chump.

IMHO, the Cushcraft antennas are OK for casual, non-critical use. I also have a Ringo Ranger 2 on 2 meters, it was available for free so I put it up at a modest level as a "temporary" antenna. I believe that was 4 or 5 years ago, the antenna wasn't new when I got it. I would estimate its real world gain to be around 3 DBi.

If the antenna is to be installed in a relatively difficult to access location, (such as a very tall tower) or in an area prone to severe icing, I would look toward one of the various brands of commercial grade antennas. My experience indicates that a Ringo will withstand a remarkable amount of wind or ice, but not the combination of both.

I have never been a fan of the Cushcraft Ringo. I too have to agree that a wet piece of a noodle would work better. You could do much better with a dipole type antenna. Cushcraft does make this style. If you can find a used fiberglass pole type antenna for the frequency range you need, they work good too. Just test out any used antenna before mounting it on a tower.

I just have never been impressed with the ASP fiberglass poles. The ones I have used brand new out of the shipping tube, didn't last long in the ice prone and windy environment. They seem to have too much loose inside of them before even going on a tower.

I would rather see a DB-224 for VHF or the UHF version. Problem is these are about $700 to $800 each pluss shipping.

Jim

I didn't want to be the first to mention other specific brands, but now that Jim 202 has been brave enough to do so I will add that the agency I'm with uses Decibel antennas nearly exclusively. I have removed some after more than 20 years of service that performed as new.

There is a reason the Ringo Ranger has always been refered to as the "RINGO RESISTOR". Need I say more.

I thought the company name was "CrushCraft" too......

I put up an FRX450---once. The radiation pattern greatly resembled that of a 50 ohm dummy load.

http://www.cushcraft.com/thumbs.asp?id=22

Yeah, i guess i got lucky with my resistor. I think that how you
assemble the antenna originally is directly proportional to how
well it performs and lasts. Once you strip the cheap threads, It IS
instantly No-good. I really believe thats what goes wrong.......
And there is a lot of things to screw together on the Ringo.
Also it is practically the cheapest antenna on the market.
I paid like $60 Bucks for mine brand new way back when.


I got a GP-9 (Comet I think) dual band 450/150 it is all fiberglass
and is approved by most everybody around here. I had it for a
long time and never used it yet since the Tribander scared me to
death.
I'm going to put it up on my new office. I hope it works as well
as my ringo. It should be a big improvement. We'll see............
GP-9's are supposed to be Real good. But I don't know that firsthand yet. It has Copper elements with a lot of LC networks.
And Don't be turning on the Heater either. Those fiberglass jobbies
are low power (110 or less) only. No 500 watts on those......

They're usually OK in a clean environment, but in an industrial environment, they don't stand up well because the aluminum used is too soft and it oxidizes readily as well. You get what you pay for. Around here, they don't call them Cushcrap for no reason.

A friend of mine inherited an old Ringo Ranger (at least 20 years old) when his father passed away. After pulling it down off the tower, we discovered the SWR was somewhere around 9:1. With much effort we were able to seperate it out into it's components and discovered the decaying remains of a wooden dowel that his father had put inside the vertical element. What the heck!?! I'll never know why, but it may have been done for additional wind survivability, etc. Anyways, the decaying wood material is probably what killed it. -smelled really bad too.

This antenna may yet be returned to service. My friend is replacing all the steel hardware (clamps, screws, etc) with stainless steel and hopes to return the antenna to service. -and with a little polishing of the mating parts, I bet it may have another 10 years left in it.

As for my personal experiences, I have a CushCraft AR270B on my tower at home. This has about 7 db gain on 2 meters and supposedly some huge amount on 440. This antenna is the big brother to the AR270 which is quite a sturdy dual band antenna at 3db gain. -However, mine is not that sturdy and I got mine used. The center loading coil is slightly warped. The previous owner may have accidentally run a kilowatt into this antenna and then decided to sell it, or it may have been blessed by a bolt of lightning. -I'll never know.

I borrowed a graphing SWR analyzer and managed to tune the antenna for a 1:1 match across about 1 Mhz of the 2 meter band, but the adjustment joint was extended out pretty far so I added a piece of machined aluminum to the joint to reinforce it from the inside. I've got great gain on 2 meters, but the graph of 440 looks like a sine wave between unity and infinity with about 10 oscilations across the amateur band.

As for wind survivability, I wouldn't expect my AR270B to survive 100 mph. It's too big and too tall for the element and coil diamater, and it does not instill great amounts of confidence in me. -His younger brother, the AR270, looks like a great replacement unit if my existing one ever fails.

God bless and good luck with your decision.
Fitz Fitzgerald.

P.S. Last year, I acquired an old Motorola brand folded dipole (probably made by Decible products back in the late '60s). Aside from some weathering, this antenna looks brand new and I'd expect it to work well for another 50 to 100 years of service. SWR curve is better defined as a 'flat.'

Didn't Phelps-Dodge make lots of the Motorola branded antenna offerings before they were bought out by who...Cellwave maybe?

mastr wrote:Didn't Phelps-Dodge make lots of the Motorola branded antenna offerings before they were bought out by who...Cellwave maybe?

Yea Phelps-Dodge is Celwave now known as RFS (Radio Frequency Systems) Celwave. That's where the "PD" part numbers on the Celwave antennas come from.......Phelps-Dodge......

Maybe that's where my Motorola branded folded vertical/coaxial came from. This thing was obviously built for use at nuclear ground zero. And aside from some discolouration, it too looks brand new.

Celwave's Marlboro NJ plant was two miles from me. They tore it down last week. Property is now up for lease.

Just in case anyone cared LOL!