| Author |
Message |
    
john iona
| | Posted on Sunday, December 14, 2003 - 12:38 pm: | 
|
Dose anybody know about the thunder 8xb from singnal engineering is it a good in antenna ? |
Bruce
| | Posted on Sunday, December 14, 2003 - 4:00 pm: |
|
Its a lot of money over $200 for that you can get a 3 elm beam and rotor or get a good vertical ( AP, I-MAX, SKYLAB ect ) |
Bullet
| | Posted on Sunday, December 14, 2003 - 4:07 pm: |
|
ask mikefromms he's a proud owener on that antenna
its 2 crossed loop antennas! will perform as such whitch is good compared to 1/2 and 5/8th verticals |
mikefromms
| | Posted on Sunday, December 14, 2003 - 5:00 pm: |
|
O boy, this should be good.
I'm an owner of a thunder 8xb and can truly say it is a good antenna. The antenna is a good bit bigger than the pictures on the web might lead you to believe. Provided you take your time and put it together right and get it up high enough, it is a very good performer. Where it really shines is out in the distance. Once you get it up, the wind isn't really that much of a factor. Not as much as I thought it would be. I can hear things others can't hear. It gives you a good omni and beam performance. It has good rejection from the sides. I guess it is compariable to the old Super Scanner antenna except this one doesn't have to have a current run to it in order to switch directions and this one is bi-directional. It uses two coaxes. If you've got the money and want something better than a regular ground plane but don't want to fool with beams that have to be turned with a rotor; then, I think you'd be happy with this antenna. I'm only 35 ft in the air (maybe 40ft at the tip) and I have talked over 70 miles the way the crow flies and it is a good skip talker as well. I'm using a rad shack push up pole. I have Galaxy DX2517 which really matches well with this antenna. What I'd like to hear about is how this antenna performs up around 100 feet in the air? Now, that would be something--no rotor and the gain of a beam up high.
Anyway, tell me what you are running now and let's see if we can't help you decide what is best for you.
mikefromms |
john iona
| | Posted on Monday, December 15, 2003 - 10:51 am: |
|
I HAVE AN OLD GROUND PLAIN THAT I BROUGHT IN 1985 I THINK I SHOULD UPGRADE THUNDER 8XB |
Conduit1
| | Posted on Monday, December 15, 2003 - 4:16 pm: |
|
mike, what are the 2/1 band edges from ch 20 in both directional and omni modes? [swr] |
Ca346
| | Posted on Monday, December 15, 2003 - 7:03 pm: |
|
You know, I have the Lightning 4+ from Signal Engineering and it's the 4 element Quad. Horiz and vert polarization. The only thing I don't like about the company is they're in California like I am which means I paid sales tax in addition to the shipping.
Great antenna though. |
john iona
| | Posted on Monday, December 15, 2003 - 7:03 pm: |
|
mikefromms how many watt can the thunder 8xb hold |
Tech808
| | Posted on Monday, December 15, 2003 - 7:13 pm: |
|
John,
3KW
Thunder 8 XB Specifications
Mechanical
Boom Height 14 ft. 7 in. x 2 in. Diameter Aluminum
Spreader Brackets 6061 Heavy Wall Aluminum
Spreaders Rugged Fiberglass
Elements Enamel Protected Copper Wire
Fasteners Plated For Corrosion Resistance
Wind Area 1 Sq. Ft.
Wind Survival 100 Mph
Weight 11 Lbs.
Electrical
Frequency Range 26.5 - 28.5
Gain 6.8 dBi
Front-to-Side Ratio 35 dB
VSWR 1.5:1 Max
Transmission Line Required 50 Ohm Coaxial (2 Required)
Power Handling Capability 3 KW
|
mikefromms
| | Posted on Monday, December 15, 2003 - 7:22 pm: |
|
It will handle about 2000 watts. The bandwidth is somewhat narrow. I worked mine out with jumpers. Be sure to check swr before you go up. Maybe you can work some more out by adjusting the wires where they connect on the elements. This antenna really sends your signal out and it recieves above average.
Funny thing, talking about swr, using it as a groundplace it is very low on channel 40 and for a ways above that, but goes higher as I go down the channels. Using it as a beam, it is low on the lower end of the band (channel one and below) and higher as I go up. The bottom line is I can go up 40+ channels or down 40+ channels and by switching from either groundplane to beam the antenna is usable. But I didn't even try to tune when I put it up.
I almost went with a V Quad. I'm glad I didn't. I have the only Thunder 8xb that I know of in these parts. It certainly is a conversation piece.
BTW, if that old groundplane of yours happens to be a super penatrator hang on to it.
mikefromms |
john iona
| | Posted on Monday, December 15, 2003 - 8:07 pm: |
|
thank for all the input to everyone |
mikefromms
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 17, 2003 - 9:53 am: |
|
So, what do you think John? Is it like Loreal hair color--is it worth it?
mikefromms |
john iona
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 17, 2003 - 11:35 am: |
|
I JUST ORDER it. It SOUND LIKE IT THOSE WHAT IT SUPOSE TO DO CAN'T WAIT TO TRY IT OUT THANK FOR THE INPUT TO EVERYONE |
PAUL
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 17, 2003 - 3:19 pm: |
|
DOSE THE THUNDER 8XB CAUSE TVI AND IS IT A GOOD SKIP TALKING ANTENNA |
Ca346
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 17, 2003 - 5:39 pm: |
|
That's what Low Pass Filters are for... and of course, the higher the better with any antenna.
My SE Lightning 4+ is at 50ft and I have NO TVI problems. Also have a low pass filter in the line. |
chris hanover
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 17, 2003 - 11:37 pm: |
|
WHAT TYPE OF MASK AND TRIPOD SHOULD I USE FOR THE THUNDER 8XB |
shaw huge
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 17, 2003 - 11:45 pm: |
|
HOW IS THE SKIP ON THE THUNDER ANTENNA |
mikefromms
| | Posted on Thursday, December 18, 2003 - 7:20 am: |
|
Works skip just fine. I have mine on a 36 rad shack pole and have no problems with tvi. I'm running a barefoot DX25117. Now if you have people on outdoor tv antennas within a few hundred feet you will have problems with any antenna. Take you time putting it together and give it a good swr check before going up. Use the best coax you can buy. If you've never owned a beam you will be in for a surprise. Oh, you will have to buy a switch box from copper that has has vert/hort selection to use groundplane.
mikefromms |
mike
| | Posted on Thursday, December 18, 2003 - 11:07 pm: |
|
do the thunder antenna have a ground plane why do you need a switch |
mikefromms
| | Posted on Friday, December 19, 2003 - 7:15 am: |
|
Well, need a switch box to switch the beam either north-south or east-west and a separate switch to combine both sides of the antenna to activate it as a groundplane. It uses two coaxes to accomplish all of this.
mikefromms |
ron
| | Posted on Friday, December 19, 2003 - 12:22 pm: |
|
HOW IS THE SUPER HAWK ANTENNA |
