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Show all reviews of the Solarcon A-99
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of the Solarcon A-99.
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G8JNJ 
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Rating: 3/5
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May 10, 2010 09:19 
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Actual Gain 
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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After so much discussion on EHam I actually measured the field strength of a signal radiated by a Solarcon A-99.
All measurements were made with the antennas ground mounted and fed against 16 mixed length buried radials.
In order to minimise any slight mismatch problems with the transceiver across the wide frequency range I fed all the antennas via a 3dB power attenuator at the base. The measured gain figures have been corrected for this.
The A-99 was compared against 1/4 wave verticals cut for each band mounted in the same position.
All levels were measured with a spectrum analyser connected to a 1m diameter balanced loop with a 3dB attenuator at the feed point, and mounted approx 10m away from the antenna under test.
Note that these gain figures should only be used as a guide, as the measurements were made in urban environment, not on a professional test range.
Small gain improvements on 18 & 14MHz could probably be made by using an external antenna tuner. However the internal matching network is likely to become increasingly less efficient at lower frequencies.
Frequency Gain relative to 1/4 wave SWR
28MHz +2dB 1.05:1
24MHz +1.0dB 3.5:1
21MHz 0dB 1.8:1
18MHz -3dB 5.8:1
14MMHz -10dB 27.0:1
More details can be seen about 1/2 way down this page.
http://g8jnj.webs.com/currentprojects.htm 
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Product is in production.
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