After
10 humid years, I finally pulled my A99 antenna off the pole and replaced it
with the MACO V 5/8 (see previous ‘Nuff Said
for the review), but to recap: I was really looking forward to having an
aluminum antenna again, but really disappointed with the quality of what came
out of the box. In a nutshell, all of the ends of the tubing had bur’s,
were rough and required sanding. In their manual they state:
PLEASE
NOTE: In an effort to keep the price on Maco Antennas
down. We have decided not to clean up all the burrs and rough edges on the
parts We recommend that you deburr and clean up each
part with files, sandpaper, etc. so that they go together easily. We are aware
this needs to be done but have elected to save you the money we would have to
add to the price of the kit for this service.
This was a MAJOR issue
with me – not that I couldn’t do what was needed to be done, but
that it was to “save me money”. I could think of numerous Cushcraft antennas I’ve assembled, at a reasonable
cost, and nary a burr to be found. Needless to say I was miffed, and it was
obvious that I wouldn’t get the antenna installed in the time frame I had
allotted. However, once this was done and the antenna was in place (and after
several attempts I got the tuning right), I was happy.
Not too long after the installation I began to hear rumors of a SUPER custom
made antenna that was a bit more expensive than the Maco
V5000. When I found out it was made by my good friend Jay-In-The-Mohave, my
interest really peaked. You see, Jay is an antenna expert of sorts, always new
ideas, or looking at different antennas, analyzing the design and taking notes
on its best features with the hopes of combining them all to
create….well…the “Super” antenna. His ideas became the
Interceptor 10K or I-10K Omni-directional antenna.
When Jay offered to send me one to test, I jumped at the chance! When the
antenna arrived, and before I even took it out of the box, I could tell that
this antenna was something special – that box was H-E-A-V-Y. Yes, I know,
weight isn’t everything, however it indicated that Jay didn’t use
lightweight, easy to bend (or ruin) aluminum like some manufacturers did. I
knew that I had a quality antenna in my possession even before pulling it out
of the box. I opened the box and pulled out some of the elements and suddenly
realized “Hey, my fingers aren’t cut up”. Sure enough –
no burrs on this mule, Jay took the time, to SAVE me the time of filing,
sanding, and wrapping a finger or two with a band aid.
But
besides seeming heavier than the Maco V5/8 or V5000,
what WERE the differences? I had to find out….
My
first step was to look at the Maco
specifications. I found that they
used an Aluminum Alloy, 6063-T5, which meant absolutely nothing to me. I also
noticed that the tubing size was .047.
Step
2: Check out the Interceptor antenna specs! Jay used 6063-T832 Aluminum Alloy,
with a size of .058 (the size difference explained why the tubing seemed
heftier and more sturdy).
Finally,
I spent some time on the Internet “Googling”
for information on 6063 and found many informative websites, of which I
borrowed some of the data you see in TABLE 1. If you look at the numbers
(especially “Strength” and “Ultimate Shearing
Strength”) you can see that A1 Antennas chose their alloy’s very
well, and at least by-the-numbers, they really beat the crap out of the Maco antenna!!
TABLE 1
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Engineering
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ASSEMBLY AND TESTING
Assembly went
very smoothly (did I mention the lack of rough edges??) and I was almost
hesitant to put it up on the roof (it looked more like a piece of modern art),
but up it went and now it was time for a side-by-side test.
Using the
same rig (Rat Shack TRC-457) I found that in my case, both antennas seemed to
transmit equally within 5-10 miles, but that on longer distances (15-30miles)
the Interceptor nudged ahead of the V5/8 in both transmit and receive,
including a lower noise level.
FINAL THOUGHTS
“Would
I purchase an Interceptor antenna?”
If I was on a tight budget – probably not. $250 is a lot of money
and thus I would defer to something less expensive. If money wasn’t an
issue, and I wanted the best omni-directional antenna I could possibly own, I
would plunk down my money in a heartbeat. Suffice to say – This
Interceptor antenna is the LAST omni-directional antenna I will ever need
again, and it’s nice to see such great quality coming from a
MADE-IN-THE-USA company –
73
***NOTE- We
goofed on the stress point reinforced picture ( I wasn’t paying
attention), but I’ll have a picture of it in the April ‘Nuff Said (Tnx Dino!)