Save A Lot Of Money On A Hex Beam !

[W1JKA]

     This post directed to the following:Potential hex beam users who are height restricted to below the MAGIC 40 ft.level and are qrp/cw devotees.
      Hint: If time and  antenna allows listen in on dx qso's on the qrp frequencies(usually 30m and up) or if possible take part.
       Take note of antennas used,you will probabley find mostly hexs,moxons or some type of spider beam.
        Take note of antenna height,the average will surprise you as it would some of the few self annoited antenna gurus in this thread would discover if they took the time and effort to find out for themselves.
         Do not get sidetracked by the ongoing debate in this thread of the definition of HOW WELL does HOW WELL IT WORKS means.
         Most importantly,draw your OWN conclusions from your own findings.

[WD4ELG]

W1JKA, good comments.  Sorry if I was negative about the height topic.  I was just trying to get readers of this thread to do some of their own research and draw some realistic conclusions about what is realistic.  Anything is possible, but a ham has got to know his antenna limitations (apologies to Clint Eastwood/Dirty Harry).

[KA7NIQ]

Reply # 3 how do you spell antenna in the plural form? What he wrote is entirely correct , antennas or antennae. It is not uncommon to see misspelled words on this forum every day, however he got it right on antennas. Thanks for the link, I have the K4KIO and happy with it but would have tried this one for less money. Looks like a good value to me.

Frank

Thanks for your support Frank!
LOL, I have probably sold more K4KIO Hex Beams to Local Ham friends, who have asked my opinion on what Hex Beam to buy.
Another Ham turned me on to the NA4RR Hex Beam, that appears to be Steve Hunt's excellent Computer Optimized Hex Beam, for over 200.00 Less Money then the K4KIO design, Plus 6 meters at no additional charge. I pass on what was shared with me, and all Hell breaks loose!
I am not a retired Ham, on a fixed income, who needs money.  I still work, and own the largest roof cleaning company here in the Tampa Florida area www.roof-cleaning-tampa.com Frank.
Some of the large (5000 + Sq Ft) Tile Roofs we clean every week cost from 750.00 to over 1200.00 to get cleaned. Our chemical costs are seldom over 200.00 on these roofs, and our employees are paid by the hour. Even after paying for insurance, advertising, etc, etc, my business is quite profitable.
And, we always seem to have more business than I can handle, because I am always booked weeks in advance.

I do not know Leo, K4KIO, nor do I  know NA4RR. I did talk with NA4RR once, and only to get his Email to pass on to a fellow Ham, who was looking to buy a Hex Beam.

In fact, I own a Hy Gain Explorer 14 Triband Yagi, with the 40 meter add on kit. I do not have the love affair with Hex Beams some Hams do. Nor do I have any financial interests in which Hex Beam any Ham purchases.
In fact, a Ham messaged me recently, and asked my opinion on if he should buy a used Cush Craft A4 with the 40 meter add on kit in good used condition for 350.00, or the NA4RR Hex Beam brand new for 400.00 delivered. Like any good Ham would do, I steered him to the Cush Craft A4.

[KC4MOP]

Hello KA7NIQ
Without "quoting your last post or your first post"
it seemed like you were endorsing the NA4RR as an equivalent antenna in design and performance compared to the K4KIO or the G3TX design. (first post)
And then your last post is directing a Ham to choose a Cush Craft A4 Yagi.
Nothing wrong at all about what happened here. This thread has been very good and I enjoyed one of the first Hex Beams from Mike Traffie, in the middle 90's.
I doubt that a typical Ham op could tell the difference in performance from any of the presently offered Hexbeams. Unless they were to go to a real antenna farm with thousands of dollars of test equipment and have a HEXBEAM shoot out. ( maybe not a good term to use these days)
I am buying the less expensive one, hoping that it is designed to withstand the elements better than Trafie's first attempt. I notice that possibly G3TX might have a better mechanical design of supporting the elements than the other companies.
I like the idea of this weird looking antenna and that are no traps to burn up or bad connections.

just my .01567 cents worth
Fred

[W1JKA]

    Maybe when the mechanical issues of various hex beam manufacturers have been thoroughly discussed we could continue the debate with the mechanical aspect of various tree species as to each ones best structural ability to hold up their end of a dipole antenna.

[KA7NIQ]

Hello KA7NIQ
Without "quoting your last post or your first post"
it seemed like you were endorsing the NA4RR as an equivalent antenna in design and performance compared to the K4KIO or the G3TX design. (first post)
And then your last post is directing a Ham to choose a Cush Craft A4 Yagi.
Nothing wrong at all about what happened here. This thread has been very good and I enjoyed one of the first Hex Beams from Mike Traffie, in the middle 90's.
I doubt that a typical Ham op could tell the difference in performance from any of the presently offered Hexbeams. Unless they were to go to a real antenna farm with thousands of dollars of test equipment and have a HEXBEAM shoot out. ( maybe not a good term to use these days)
I am buying the less expensive one, hoping that it is designed to withstand the elements better than Trafie's first attempt. I notice that possibly G3TX might have a better mechanical design of supporting the elements than the other companies.
I like the idea of this weird looking antenna and that are no traps to burn up or bad connections.

just my .01567 cents worth
Fred

Fred, thanks for your post. Both the K4KIO and The NA4RR Hex Beam are based on the G3TXQ Design. The NA4RR Antenna costs 200.00 less, and seems like a better deal, to me.

And yes, if a Ham has the room to put up a larger antenna than a Hex Beam, I say go for it! The Cush Craft A4 came up because the Ham who asked my opinion of if he should buy it used, or get a brand new NA4RR Hex Beam.
Once I was assured he had the room for the much larger Cush Craft A4, I told him, that if it were me, I would take the Cush Craft A4 over a Hex Beam. Especially since the used Cush Craft A4 had the 40 meter add on kit for it!

I think for what it is, a small, lightweight antenna, that covers 5 bands, the Hex Beam is hard to beat.

[KU7I]

Leo's E-Ham reviews say it all!!!

Lane
Ku7i/JH1JCM
Yokosuka

[KA7NIQ]

Leo's E-Ham reviews say it all!!!

Lane
Ku7i/JH1JCM
Yokosuka

Yes, they certainly do! Hex Beams are very very popular here in the Tampa Florida area. We have a lot of winter only resident Hams who have big stations back home. They want a small, good performing Yagi type of antenna for the time they spend down here they do not have to worry about blowing apart, when they go back home in the summer.
Whenever I was asked, I always suggested the K4KIO Hex Beam to these winter resident Hams. I never got one complaint suggesting the fine product Leo K4KIO makes and sells.
But I got plenty of "Thank You Chris for telling me about a great antenna" responses!

I don't feel anyone can "go wrong" buying the K4KIO Hex Beam.

However, I was recently made aware of what appears to be the same electrical (G3TXQ) design Hex Beam that Leo makes, for 200.00 less money!

It is made here in Florida by NA4RR, and looks to be very very similar. On his webpage http://na4rr.com/, you can see all the parts it is made out of. It is not like NA4RR is hiding anything.
I mean fiberglass spreaders are fiberglass spreaders, and wire is wire. It looks pretty good, to me. But then, I am far from an expert on the state of the art in Hex Beam construction.


It is pretty new, and we will have to wait until the reviews come in on it, of course.

But it seems like an awfully good deal. It even comes standard with 6 meters, as well as the other 5 HF Bands, and is only 398.00, delivered!

I still tell people who ask me about the K4KIO Hex Beam, and the NA4RR Hex Beam as well.

IS it "as good" as the proven K4KIO Hex Beam ?

That remains to be seen, of course.

I was told NA4RR is busy making 20 of them to take over to the Orlando Ham Fest.

The way Hex Beams are selling, I am sure he will probably sell out at Orlando, especially if he keeps the cost down.

Hams will be able to see the construction at the Orlando Ham Fest before they buy.

And, of course, once enough of them are sold, the reviews will certainly follow.

Hams everywhere should thank Steve Hunt G3TXQ for the electrical redesign of these Hex Beams.

I have only been a Ham for 27 years, a short time, compared to many other Hams.

But I have never seen any other antenna that seems to be generating so much excitement, in the Ham Radio Community!

[W3DIY]

 I went from a Force12 C3S to a KIO Hex and then an Optibeam 11-5. Comparing all 3, mounted on the same tower, Leo's antenna was the best bang for the buck. The Optibeam was purchased used so the price was reasonable. The upgrade was needed because more F/B was need then the previous models could provide.

One interesting discovery...the Hex performed better at 50' then at 75'. As much as 2 S units improvement on 15M when pointed towards Europe.

As with any antenna...your results may vary.