Anyone tried the Sirio re-issued Starduster 11M / 10M Antenna? Just ordered one.

[ThaDood]

I was trying to build a better, lower-gain, antenna for 11M CB and 10M local Chit-Chat, that goes on in my area on 28.415MHz USB. Being in this valley bottom, low-gain antennas seem to be the best way on VHF / UHF to talk out of here. Currently, I'm using a free Cushcraft AR-10 10M 1/2-Wave GND-Plane, which does pretty good, at +2dbd gain, but I believe that I could do better in my geographically challenged areas to my South and East. Anyway, by the time I get the parts together, and the time to do it, I might as well pay for an old tried & true antenna that the Italian company Sirio has re-issued, the old antenna design from Antenna Specialist, The Starduster.  https://www.sirioantenne.it/en/products/hf/starduster-m-400   I ordered mine from Copper Electronics.   https://www.copperelectronics.com/cart/M400-10-11-Meter Thus far, I've had good luck with them and they still have my INFO. So, an antenna that was all-the-rage in the late 70's and early 1980's with the CB'ers of the time. Quite a few friends of mine, back then, had one and loved them. So, a pretty Unity-Gain, 1/4-Wave, antenna for the upper HF band, with a higher angle of radiation, to take better advantage of Knife-Edge-Refraction and even Sporadic E propagation. The down-side that I've observed of this original antenna is that it may easily brake in wind storms. However, they seemed to be easily repairable and most were put back up. So, I have to ask, have any of you tried the 'ol Starduster, or even the newer Sirio version? What do you think? 

[ChrisSmolinski]

I have not tried that antenna, but I have a Sirio discone, and have been very happy with it - good quality.

[TRI International]

It seems to work fine for me it is my primary antenna. I've been using this for the last few years so it should do the job for you.

[RobRich]

Sirio construction quality in general seems okay from what I have seen. As you noted it is lower gain since it effectively has no appreciable gain.

While your Cushcraft AR10 is an end-fed half-wave vertical that has more gain on the horizon assuming both are mounted at appreciable heights, I doubt you will note much difference either way. Gain numbers even when not (typically) exaggerated by manufacturers often assume proper height, near perfect installation, no nearby objects, no common mode, etc. YMMV, of course.

I have a Shakespeare 318-GBT 18' vertical grounded mounted over eight 9' on-ground radials. I do not care much about local contacts, so it is a different situation for me, but the setup has proven quite effective for DX on 11m SSB.