Uncle Jim's Review of the I-10K

I got my new I-10K from "Jay in the Mojave" the other day. As many of you know, I will NOT advertise anything on my web site unless I KNOW it really works! Remember Coily's mobile antenna report? That is one GREAT antenna, with impeccable craftsmanship! Did I get paid? No! Did I get anything free for that report? NO! I did it as a service for YOU guys! Remember the "50 watt DX-99" from the company in Texas? Remember it did NOT transmit at 50 watts on the bench with a Bird, but 49 watts? That's close enough, but not 50 watts. My point is, I told you the truth. That's what I intend to do here about the I-10K.

Folks, this AIN'T yer' Daddy's Penetrator 500, arguably the best base omnidirectional antenna ever made. I didn't ever think I'd throw rocks at my trusty old P-500, but the new I-10K (even though it is a 5/8 wave antenna) is less "lossy" than my P-500! Wonder why it's called "10K"? That's 'cause it'll take that many watts... or that's what I understand. I (fortunately) can't test it at that wattage! Don't intend to. I'll leave that up to somebody else. I DO know that I can hear better on it than I could on my P-500. About 50 feet apart, same height, same frequency, same LMR-400 coax, same DX-2527, same switch box, I noticed 2 S-units gain on received signals with the I-10K. I switched the coax inputs on the switchbox to make sure I didn't have a defective switch. Same results!
Go figure!

OK... Let's talk about craftsmanship...
All the tubing is heavy duty aircraft grade tubing (read STRONG!), with the ends chamfered and sanded! You know what I mean... smooth with no burrs! Every component fit into the next component with EXCELLENT tolerances! If it ain't Aircraft grade aluminum, or weatherproofed fiberglass, it's stainless steel! Quality, quality, quality! Everywhere I looked was quality! Quality materials, quality craftsmanship, and even a quality instruction book with COLOR PICTURES guiding you through each step! I, personally, prefer working on my experimental antennas using the metric system. I talked to Jay, and he said that he would include both ASE and metric measurements in future publications.

I find it hard to contain my excitement over this antenna. I've never seen such quality and performance in an antenna that is available to the public! The government would be happy with this antenna! This thing is so well built that the term "Mil. Spec." comes to mind.

OK... You might say "5/8 wave is 5/8 wave. UJ, don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining!" Well, 5/8 IS 5/8...! But the lack of signal loss is a whole 'nother animal! I know for SURE that my P-500 out performs my I-max 2000! They're both 5/8 wave antennas. And the I-10K outperforms my P-500!

OK... I talked to my friend Roy in Scotland, yesterday. I asked him how I sounded. He commented that I sound as good as I ever did, no big deal... until I told him that I was NOT on my ZX Yagi 6el! I had never talked to him as well on my P-500. Sure, I'd done it, but not as well as I did with my I-10K. Again... YOU figure it out! OK, I know that there are a LOT of people out there who have Emailed me looking for an out-of-production Penetrator 500.

Now's your chance! BUY this antenna! It's a little pricey, but you KNOW that you get what you pay for! Instead of spending all that money on a nice radio and using a 1/2 wave fiberglass stick, why not invest the money in the most IMPORTANT component of your whole system? The antenna!

Just DO it!

LTA... UJ

This review is also posted on Uncle Jim's website at Fun With Uncle Jim.
Just click on this page, then scroll down the page to a yellow box that says "Enter the Forum" click on it, and under "It's HERE Check my front page" is Uncle Jim's posting on the two antennas.