| Author |
Message |
    
Galaxyraider
| | Posted on Friday, January 24, 2003 - 12:58 am: | 
|
Since my 30 yr. old CBB-1 Super Beacon finally succomed to natures wrath "fell apart." I found this Bandit by Workman Electronics that looks a lot like my Beacon, gray color coating and all. Any one have any experience with this big stick. It's a 1/2 wave over 1/4 18ft. 9 Dbi.
Good ears is what I had and want to replace when the deep freeze up hear goes back where it belongs.
Thanks 73s |
Tech833
| | Posted on Friday, January 24, 2003 - 9:13 pm: |
|
The Bandit is the same as the famous Antron 99. It is a simple 1/2 wave antenna despite the marketing hype.
They do work well. |
Galaxyraider
| | Posted on Friday, January 24, 2003 - 11:30 pm: |
|
Thanks Tech833, I sort of thought it was a 1/2 wave. I'm leaning towards a Solarcon the a-99 or I Max 2k W/O GPK. Now I have two types of antenna to decide a keeper from. The third Ill look at is that Antron you compared it to.
Until the snow clears and the cold stays here I have the time to pick a good replacement.
The old Beacon was aluminium two section 1/2 wave. It only survived this long because I could drop it in high winds and do corrosion maintenance. |
Weakeststation
| | Posted on Thursday, February 13, 2003 - 4:16 pm: |
|
The bandit antenna that i HAD was three sections like the antron, but a big diffrence was the tuneing rings was not there... Thankfully i did not have to clip it to tune it, it was on track for me already |
Crafter
| | Posted on Friday, February 14, 2003 - 2:01 am: |
|
My bandit was a great antenna performed like the antron minus the rings. |
Galaxyraider
| | Posted on Friday, February 14, 2003 - 12:44 pm: |
|
Crafter & Weakstation. If you've read through the antenna threads their seems to be a consensus that alum. verticals are not only more durable but provide more stable SWRs. It also seems like the fiberglass ones can't handle the extremes weather conditions in the north like the alum. ones.
The Bandit seems to be the last of the vert. Alum. antennas. Or it's a 10K and they are expensive. |
Pyrwitner1
Junior Member
Username: Pyrwitner1
Post Number: 15
Registered: 8-2005
| | Posted on Friday, July 07, 2006 - 12:59 am: |
|
The bandit i had was also the three piece one and worked fantastic. In fact i sold it to a friend ahd he found otu that it had a broken section in it and i still had realitively low swr cross the band and was happy with it. |
Starface
Advanced Member
Username: Starface
Post Number: 697
Registered: 1-2005
| | Posted on Friday, July 07, 2006 - 12:42 pm: |
|
the reason there are no tuning ring on the bandit is do to the fact that it's a 27MHz (CB)Antenna "ONLY" not the A99 or Imax 2000 where you tune from 10-12 meters
Hope this helps |
Rick330man
Junior Member
Username: Rick330man
Post Number: 28
Registered: 9-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, July 15, 2006 - 11:08 pm: |
|
I took down a Solarcon A99 and replaced it with the Bandit. The SWRs on the Bandit are virtually flat across 11 meters. My A99 was flat in the middle of the band and about 1.2 on channels 1 and 40. The Bandit works fine, but for whatever reason the A99 has better ears and gets out a little better. |
Rick330man
Member
Username: Rick330man
Post Number: 50
Registered: 9-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 26, 2013 - 11:00 pm: |
|
An update.
The Workman Bandit worked fine while it lasted. It didn't last long. The workmanship is poor. The fiberglass Bandit started to delaminate almost immediately.
I bought four at the same time. The first one lasted about 2 1/2 years. When I put up the 2nd one, I put plastic automotive tubing around it to protect it. For that added cost, it would have been worth it to just buy a better antenna. Even then, it only lasted about 3 1/2 years as the 2nd second section delaminated at the base and buckled. With that experience, I gave away the 3rd one.
Bottom line: the Workman Bandit works fine while it lasts. The problem is that it doesn't last. By comparison, my 30 year old 1/2 wave fiberglass Archer/Radio Shack Crossbow is still up and running. |
Milkman21218
Advanced Member
Username: Milkman21218
Post Number: 517
Registered: 1-2004
| | Posted on Friday, March 01, 2013 - 9:52 pm: |
|
What is AUTO tubing? And where do you find it?
Izzy
CEF#502
|
Tech833
Moderator
Username: Tech833
Post Number: 2242
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Sunday, March 03, 2013 - 11:36 am: |
|
The Radio Shack antenna was actually made by Shakespeare, and they make the best fiberglass antennas in the world.
If you noticed, the Bandit is a fiberglass-like material bonded over a plastic honeycomb skin core. Not very stable. However, for the cost, they're not bad.
Your radio 'Mythbuster' since 1998
|
Rick330man
Member
Username: Rick330man
Post Number: 51
Registered: 9-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, March 17, 2013 - 1:00 am: |
|
Automotive tubing or wrap can be purchased at any Ace Hardware or NAPA. It comes in varying diameters up to 1" or so.
Being a life long avid boater, I have or have had many, many Shakespeare marine CB and VHF antennas. They've generally been pretty good. None has delaminated - even the cheap little 5206s I have had. However, a few have gone out of whack when the epoxy holding the radiating wire in place has come loose.
I wrote to Workman asking if they could help me obtain a replacement middle section - the one that delaminated and collapsed - for my 2nd Bandit. They never responded. How's that for customer service? |
Milkman21218
Advanced Member
Username: Milkman21218
Post Number: 520
Registered: 1-2004
| | Posted on Monday, March 18, 2013 - 3:44 am: |
|
Thanks Rick!
Izzy
CEF#502
|
Tech833
Moderator
Username: Tech833
Post Number: 2244
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 19, 2013 - 1:18 am: |
|
From whom was the Bandit antenna purchased? Perhaps the retailer might be of some help?
Your radio 'Mythbuster' since 1998
|
Rick330man
Member
Username: Rick330man
Post Number: 52
Registered: 9-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, April 07, 2013 - 9:38 pm: |
|
Still no response from Workman. Even if they want to do nothing, the courtesy of a response would be nice. At this point, they have pretty much guaranteed that my first Workman purchase will be my last.
As for that sky blue 1/2 wave Radio Shack Archer fiberglass Crossbow base station antenna I mentioned: it has been up over 30 years now. The SWRs on it yesterday were 1.4 on channel 40; around 1.25 between 25 and 20; and about 1.3 on channel 1. It is not close to being a top performer, but it ain't bad and it sure as heck has been reliable |
