Antenna 30 feet at the base. No GPK. Turns out the iMax 2000 is a BETTER antenna than I thought. 10-17 meters below 3:1. Also 1.1:1 or better for the entire CB band!
Great video & thanks! My IMAX, or Optimizer 2000, works fantastic (although I'm not using the optimizer, but maybe I should🤔); & while it'll obviously work quite well on 11m with a CB radio, just like u said, I can use my rig's internal AT (an IC-7300) & easily work 10 & 12m (& 15m with an external AT); but I love this antenna & have worked the world with it! 73 de WA4ELW in TN 😃🇺🇸
It will work on HF. 20,17,15, & 12 in a compromised situation. A 1/2 wave dipole in resonance for each particular band will significantly outperform it. Interested in hearing how well it works on 10-Meter without the optimizer section connected.
I am having all sorts of swr/tuning problems with my i-max optimizer. On 26.965mhz 1.4 on 27.405mhz is 1.1 In antenna theory my antenna is to short. When i run power the swr ch. 1. 2.5 and ch. 40 1.7 with forward swing on my swr meter but on the internal meter it swings backwards. the antenna was thought to be a upgrade from the A99. My setup is 50' of RG-213 coax from antenna to swr meter then 12' from swr meter to amp and 12' from amp to radio(Galaxy 2547). The swr issue has cost repair to my radio. The tech stated too much reflect coming back when amp(power)is on but the antenna works fine with no power. What should I do to tune the antenna so I can have my swr 1.1 to 1.3 on all channels?🥺🥺🥺
I would remove the amp and check SWR. If it's good, then it's not the antenna, it's the amplifier. Note with the amp off it bypasses the internal circuit. So when you have it on, it tells me that the tune within the amp is not ideal with the amplifier. The backswing is likely because your RMS power is backswinging. For SWR checking, you should always just have a carrier only and no swing. Separate from the amplifier issue, 1.4 on Ch1 and 1.1 on Ch40 is good but I would adjust the rings possibly just one thread down to pull the SWR closer to channel 1. I would do all your SWR tuning with the amp removed. To really see what's going on, if you have a radio that goes out of band, build a chart with SWR every 10 channels (100kHz) and note it. Create a list from 26.0 to 28.0 then you can really see where the heck the antenna is tuned to and move the rings accordingly.
@@Z28videogates Thank you. I purchased a new Max2000 a few years ago (the version that was shortened for shipping - no optimizer). It never would tune on 27mhz. It was resonant around 20mhz. DAS refused to admit there was a problem.
@@CB-lz4zv A shortened version? I haven't heard of that. Do you still have it? What is the overall length of the antenna? Resonant around 20MHz actually makes sense from what I found (it's a half wave there) but it should of also tuned around 26-29MHz. What was the best SWR you could get and at what frequency was it?
@@Z28videogates I still have it. I can’t remember the exact length though ~4 inches shorter than the original version, I think. The best it would tune at 12’ off the ground (MFJ or Rig Expert) was 1.0 swr, 46 ohms, 1 reactance at 20.450 mhz. The height and location made no difference. Google “max2000 antenna shortened”.
Great video & thanks! My IMAX, or Optimizer 2000, works fantastic (although I'm not using the optimizer, but maybe I should🤔); & while it'll obviously work quite well on 11m with a CB radio, just like u said, I can use my rig's internal AT (an IC-7300) & easily work 10 & 12m (& 15m with an external AT); but I love this antenna & have worked the world with it! 73 de WA4ELW in TN 😃🇺🇸
It will work on HF. 20,17,15, & 12 in a compromised situation.
A 1/2 wave dipole in resonance for each particular band will significantly outperform it.
Interested in hearing how well it works on 10-Meter without the optimizer section connected.
What is an optimizer?
I am having all sorts of swr/tuning problems with my i-max optimizer. On 26.965mhz 1.4 on 27.405mhz is 1.1 In antenna theory my antenna is to short. When i run power the swr ch. 1. 2.5 and ch. 40 1.7 with forward swing on my swr meter but on the internal meter it swings backwards. the antenna was thought to be a upgrade from the A99. My setup is 50' of RG-213 coax from antenna to swr meter then 12' from swr meter to amp and 12' from amp to radio(Galaxy 2547). The swr issue has cost repair to my radio. The tech stated too much reflect coming back when amp(power)is on but the antenna works fine with no power. What should I do to tune the antenna so I can have my swr 1.1 to 1.3 on all channels?🥺🥺🥺
I would remove the amp and check SWR. If it's good, then it's not the antenna, it's the amplifier. Note with the amp off it bypasses the internal circuit. So when you have it on, it tells me that the tune within the amp is not ideal with the amplifier. The backswing is likely because your RMS power is backswinging. For SWR checking, you should always just have a carrier only and no swing. Separate from the amplifier issue, 1.4 on Ch1 and 1.1 on Ch40 is good but I would adjust the rings possibly just one thread down to pull the SWR closer to channel 1. I would do all your SWR tuning with the amp removed. To really see what's going on, if you have a radio that goes out of band, build a chart with SWR every 10 channels (100kHz) and note it. Create a list from 26.0 to 28.0 then you can really see where the heck the antenna is tuned to and move the rings accordingly.
I may have a defect. My rings are turned as far as they go all the way to the top.. 11M at 1.1:3
1.3:1 is still pretty good. Where the SWR best at? What is it on channel 40?
How high was your mast above ground?
30 feet, I'll update the description, thanks!
@@Z28videogates Thank you. I purchased a new Max2000 a few years ago (the version that was shortened for shipping - no optimizer). It never would tune on 27mhz. It was resonant around 20mhz. DAS refused to admit there was a problem.
@@CB-lz4zv A shortened version? I haven't heard of that. Do you still have it? What is the overall length of the antenna? Resonant around 20MHz actually makes sense from what I found (it's a half wave there) but it should of also tuned around 26-29MHz. What was the best SWR you could get and at what frequency was it?
@@Z28videogates I still have it. I can’t remember the exact length though ~4 inches shorter than the original version, I think. The best it would tune at 12’ off the ground (MFJ or Rig Expert) was 1.0 swr, 46 ohms, 1 reactance at 20.450 mhz. The height and location made no difference. Google “max2000 antenna shortened”.