By what I see on you tube and other sites recently people don’t seem to want honest opinions. They openly mock someone who was sick at the time of making a video, invade copyright (being addressed now) insult and do what they think is funny. SO if you are one of these then don’t read more as you will sure not like the comments below about this antenna.

Installation On a fence post on a 5ft steel pole
In the garden, so base of antenna is 5ft from the ground *(Soil type not known as base in on stone) Damp, maybe?
Tuning rings came almost at centre, so dropped them to 1/4 from bottom to allow 26000 upwards with good SWR
Coax Type normal RG58 from a store
Approx run of coax around 30 metres
Same antenna pole as used with Imax, Venom, Anton 99, Sirio Gain Master.
Weather generally dry with blue sky, some days cloudy, some days with a little more westerly wind blowing

Antenna is white fibreglass and was formally known as the Black Pirate. Antenna must have sold shed loads in the past as worked many with the antenna, mostly from Spain, Portugal. BUT if anyone has spoken to Pepa 329MU106 if my memory is well he worked over 300 countries with his Pirate and swore by it in the 90s into the 2000’s.

Noise and static level was less on some radios (Grant II, Lincoln 90’s, Team TS-6m) and stayed the same on the Lincoln II with the lambada s-meter. 109AT122 visited with his FT450D and the noise level was almost the same. No real drop noticed against the A99 or Venom. So cannot say conclusive either one way or other here, but was noticed more on CB Sets rather than a dedicated HF Radio.

On Air:

Stations were worked from (short skip / backscatter) from areas in Italy close to the border with Slovenia (340-400km) and also from Poland (390-680km) some running yagi antennas so can be back scatter and some running Sirio 827 and Sirio Gain Master antennas or so reported on air. SWR was really not an issue and ran from at the highest point 1.6 on 25900 to flat 1.1 from 26965-27800 and raised again to around 1.7 at the middle of 28MHz which is normal as the rings were turned and moved around. Fire-Up Neither the UK Made Sigma Eurocomm or the original fire up from Firestick was used at the moment and tests with this will start in the next week or so depending on time and effort and whether it is worth to see if it does anything or not. The radials that come with the antenna were NOT used as it would have been over the neighbours garden so not worth the damage to ears about it.

On the longer distance contact side there was:

USA ( Virginia & Detroit )
Cuba
United Kingdom
Brazil
Kyrghiz
Reunion Island
Mongolia
Scotland
Lombok Island Indonesia

That’s some of them, there was also Norway, Poland, Eire, France and more so the antenna works. Not high, actually over 1/2 is under the level of the roof in the garden. Not located on a hill, it is just 120m above sea level and not the 400m+ from Germany or more from the Czech Republic.

Radio Equipment used is standard anyone can have if they visit a dealer

President Grant II (Cuba, Scotland, Reunion Island and others)
President Lincoln II (Kyrghiz & Poland, Italy, Mongolia as most used split)
Yaesu FT-450D when 122 was here.
Amps: KL203P
Mikes: DG1OGW, Sadelta MB4+

Weak link in the line at the moment is the Lincoln2 with its noise issues. The erratic s meter that was a part of the earlier Qixiang radios makes an ugly and bitter return. Firmware is the key to this as on V6 units all this has gone and also on the CRT9900 so am told from the UK by a dealer but not seen that one so cannot comment at all. FM Worked central Russia and also Kyrghiz but localised signals causes over load to the front end so mostly radio was retired to allow others on the desk.

Himalaya:

Well Made but nastily priced. It would be nice if this antenna could fall in or around the same price range of the Antron and such but materials, labour costs are all more when EU based. NO EU made antennas are so cheap really and recently with the A99 there are issues it seems around the PL connection on the base of the antenna. Two people from the Netherlands, One from Poland and even with my A99 when we tried install it against the Himalaya the socket shorted or became un serviceable so could not do more with it. Antenna retired…
The antenna price wise has a niche market area in much the same way as the Lincoln II. 10m radios are 2 a penny these days and that’s maybe why Uniden could not make, design, produce it as would take years to pay back the initial line costs? I don’t know.. BUT PRESIDENT am sure, they have you tube as you know so sure someone is looking, watching and taking the feedback. There is a new batch coming so Avera says in April so will it be different? I don’t know BUT I WILL TRY AND GET ONE and find out. Loads parted cash for V3, V4, V5, V6 versions of the AT5555 so it seems lightning strikes twice and the same will happen with the Lincolns.

So the radio word of Monday is: Cannot please all the people all the time

You want all the time new things, but when they come you moan it is not in silver, grey or pink
Then the price is wrong, the delivery time wrong, this and that

Radio is personal, good for one, bad for another. WHEN PEOPLE all spend there cash they have a voice when it comes to moaning. BUT when you spend nothing, sit around on your arses with a PC it is easy to say “I knew it would be bad that’s why I didn’t get one” rather than saying wife, girlfriend, boyfriend would not let me.

* Soil type mentioned as some believe different qualities of soil make antennas work better or less.

** Was told that coax works best when sourced from a proper dealer and not internet. UK CB Station told me on air.

*** Want to write how bad something is? Contact a dealer like Radiozing, Neuner, Rocket Radio and spend the cash then you “earn the right” to open your mouth. Before that your a troll or fool with no credence or element of anything to say.

**** EU Made antenna need EU workforce, EU sourced materials, EU delivered items. Costs are not as cheap as in the far east for example.

A question to the people who bitch, moan, complain about costs of antennas and all other stuff

Did you complain about buying an expensive Sirio? I think not.. Just bought your 827 or Gain Master
Do you complain online about the new 3 or 4 element you bought? No I don’t think so just how well it works

So before you complain about something you do not own, sit back and think about it also.

Item prepared and put inline for publishing 2.3.2014