IMAX 2000, Antenna Comparision

Scroll down to see pictures of Big Hair's CB Antennas versus the IMAX 2000:

How We Upgrade An IMAX 2000

The purpose of this page is to compare my fiberglass C.B. Radio Antennas versus "other" fiberglass 11 meter base Antennas, with an
emphasis on the IMAX 2000. Keep in mind the fiberglass structure itself is not the antenna, but rather the "copper" wire inside the fiberglass
is. The fiberglass simply provides structure support.

You have to look inside these fiberglass Antennas to see the real antenna. For comparison, I disassembled an IMAX 2000 and took pictures
so we could see the actual antenna inside (scroll down to see pictures).

The Antron 99 and the IMAX 2000 are known to be excellent Antennas for CB Radios, and copper is a great RF conductor, but they can be
made to perform much better. They typically use between 14-16 gauge copper wire for "both" the antenna and matching coil thats
encapsulated inside their fiberglass enclosures. They use a "close" wound very small coil that is actually "double" wound with two coils on
top of each other. This coil inductor is used to provide a 1:1 SWR match. Now, although this does accomplish the SWR matching task, as far
as an efficiency concern/standpoint, all of these are big "no-nos".

Here's some significant points that make my 1/2 wave and 5/8 wave CB Antennas better:

I can use from 10 to as large as 4 gauge copper wire for the antenna elements (thats about 4-16 times thicker than the other fiberglass
Antennas which typically use 14-16 gauge wire). Thicker wire means a few things such as less loss and lower RF resistance (which
translates to higher efficiency). Thicker wire also means it can effectively handle and transfer 4 to 16 times more current, which means
if you're running some serious power, more of your wattage will be effectively radiated by the antenna and less will be "wasted" as just
heat.

I also use from 6 gauge "copper" wire to 1/2" copper tubing for the coil matching system, which increases the coil's Q, which also
translates again to gained efficiency, and it also means it can handle and effectively radiate about 6-8 times more power than an IMAX
2000.

When I custom make my CB Antennas, I don't use a "close" wound inductor coil wiring scheme, but rather a broad spaced coil
scheme, which also increases the coil's Q and the antenna's overall efficiency. This is both a main voltage breakdown and efficiency
downfall with the IMAX 2000.

I use an "Air" wound coil, versus coil over plastic cores as used in the Antron and IMAX 2000. An Air Wound coil has the least amount
of dielectric absorption and loss, which in turn again increases the Antennas overall efficiency.

The coil is approx 10 times bigger in diameter. The diameter of an IMAX 2000 coil is less than a half of an inch! My coils have an
approx outside diameter of 4 inches! This larger diameter also increases the coil's efficiency which in turn increases the antenna's
overall efficiency.

My coils are "not" double wound, but are a single layered wound coil design. A double wound wire coil is great for making a wire
wound resistor, but never for an inductor. When a coil is double wound, you are dramatically reducing its efficiency by adding more RF
resistance and losses into the coil. By single layering my inductor coils, it again helps improve overall antenna efficiency.

With my CB Antennas, I want every watt to count. Why transmit 100 watts, and have only 50 watts be radiated, and the remaining 50 watts
simply be wasted as heat? You've just lost half of your output power, by wasting it as heat!

Note: Contact US, to find out more how we can "upgrade" your existing IMAX 2000 to a better performing CB antenna.

See Photos below for an Illustration:

This is inside an IMAX 2000 CB Radio
Antenna. See how small the antenna
(copper wire) is.

Here it illustrates my copper wire antenna
element (on the side) next to the IMAX
2000's antenna wire. It has about 8 times
more mass than the IMAX wire element

Here in this picture, I took out the IMAX 2000
"double" layered small and lossy puny
inductor (see how small it is, does this look
more like an efficient antenna coil, or does it
resemble more like a wire wound resistor?)
I'll let you decide.

Here it shows the IMAX 2000 next to my
heavy duty copper antenna wire.

Here you can see inside the IMAX 2000
coil, and you'll see there is even a
"smaller" inductor placed inside the outer
small inductor coil. The only thing that
separates them is plastic.

And in this picture, you see the IMAX 2000
coil (top right) next to Big Hair's coil (large
difference huh). My coil is about 5 times
more efficient (even more if silver plated)
and can handle more than 8 times the power!

We are now also offering "silver-plated" CB Antenna versions and upgrades, to include both the full antenna elements and coils! Send
us an e-mail for more info. Silver is the best RF and electrical conductor in terms of efficiency, copper is 2nd. Silver also has better oxidizing,
high heat and voltage properties!