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| Reviews Summary for Cushcraft A50-5S 6 Meter Beam |
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Reviews: 20
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Average rating: 4.2/5
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MSRP: $169
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Description: 5 element 6 meter beam 50-54 MHz, 10.5dBi gain, 24 dB F/B, 1000 watt rating, 12 foot boom, 11 lb, 2.9 sg ft wind surface area
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More info: http://www.cushcraft.com
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write your own review of the Cushcraft A50-5S 6 Meter Beam.
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V73NS
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Rating: 4/5
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Aug 1, 2007 15:30
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Great, but needs better connector
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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First - the Review Summary list the gain as 10.5dBd which is not correct, it is 10.5 dBi as stated on the Cushcraft site. Subtract 2.15 dB from the dBi figure and you have the dBd gain.
I like this antenna with the exception of the $0.29 SO-239 type connection the supply. The connector is so poorly constructed I replaced it before I did any work to assemble the antenna.
Supplied is an all aluminum body with an acrylic insert and a center connection which then passes through to the threaded part to attach the feed. This would be difficult to weather proof and protect from UV.
Also, since I am using N connectors on my RG-216/U phasing / stacking harness (larger OD than RG8 and will not work with PL-259's) I opted to replace the feed connection with an Amphenol UG58 N female panel connector.
I soldered the mounting stud from an RF transistor to the center pin. I also made a sleeve from a Teflon standoff to slip over this joint to protect it mechanically from side to side movements. The jam nut holds this in place and makes the assemble a lot stronger. The same could be done with a UHF panel mount.
From a marker of commercial antennas I would have hoped they would offer the amateur market a better connection. When they don't... make your own!
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KD7UXA
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 12, 2006 21:01
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Excellent Results
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I got my antenna as a gift for Christmas. I was able to assemble it in about an hour between rain showers. Placed at 40 feet above ground I can chat with stations over two hundred miles away all day long, with only 10 Watts, no skip either! The directions were clear and the parts all there. I have worked three small openings with only 10 watts and get same RST as 100+ watt stations. I still can't believe the cost these days for aluminum but hey. This thing works great.
Puts up with the NW winds off the coast range too!
You won't be disappointed !
73, KD7UXA
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KI6LO
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 6, 2006 16:08
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Optimization seemed to really help
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Followup to recent posting:
This weekend (2/3/06) - 2/5/06, there was a very good band opening to the midwest and Pacific NW from SoCAL. I worked 14 grids in MO, TX, OK, KS, Canada, WA and ID during several short operating stints with the newly installed A505S that I had optimized with the EZNEC3 program. Signal reports were mainly 57 and higher, some 20 over, a 44 and even a 33. All that with only 12W into appx 90 feet of Davis RF BuryFlex coax feeding the A505S. Can't wait to get my 170W amp online. I am really happy with the results so far. Nice little antenna for the price.
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KG6WLV
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Rating: 4/5
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Feb 3, 2006 23:49
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A Good Antenna
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I assembled and installed this antenna 20 feet above ground shortly after purchasing it in August. This was my very first antenna project of any kind, and in spite of my inexperience it went together well.
I had a few small problems with the antenna:
I was concerned about stripping the hose clamp joining the two boom sections, and left it somewhat looser than I should have. As a result, the two back elements canted slightly out of the plane of the front three.
A small amount of rainwater collected in the boom as a result of the loose hose clamp.
Both of these problems were corrected when I reinstalled the antenna on a 30-foot pushup mast. (I added a bit of electrical tape to seal the mast and made sure the hose clamps were much tighter than before. I used a socket wrench instead of a screwdriver to secure the hose clamps, and they held much better. )I was also able to install the antenna on a proper rotator.
Today was the first time I worked an opening on 6 with this antenna, and I had a blast! I worked stations in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri from the SF Bay Area, and was easily able to break some pileups with S9 reports on a couple of occasions, running 100 Watts with my TS-2000.
Now that I have sorted out my (minor) assembly problems and worked some DX, I think this is good antenna for the money. I'm sure a long boom antenna would outperform this one, but it also would cost more and be much harder to install. Overall, I'm am satisfied.
I think I will look carefully at the "remodeling" done by a poster below, and consider that, if I have the opportunity to resinstall the antennna in the future, as I am using it for 6-meter sideband.
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KI6LO
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Rating: 4/5
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Jan 23, 2006 12:17
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Nice antenna but really requires optimization
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Never to be one to leave good enough alone, I investigated this antenna as my main 6M yagi for SSB/CW work. I have a small lot (1/2 acre) at the edge of town and already have a rather tidy antenna farm in progress so I didn't have room for a really big boomer like I would have preferred. 12 foot boom was adequate but I could have gone slightly bigger.
Anyway I was curious what kind of pattern that the 5 element 12 foot boom 6M yagi would deliver. I modeled the specs from the Cushcraft A505S manual for the low end of the band and wasn't highly impressed. I was mainly interested in SSB/CW work which according to most band plans, happens 50.0 to 51.0 Mhz. After some research I found others had had success in redefining the element lengths and spacing to make this a serious little performing 6M yagi. With EZNEC I tweaked the element lengths and spacings until I got the pattern I thought would give me the worthwhile performance. Basic results from my EZNEC3 efforts were 15dBi forward gain (which includes ground gain for my 40 foot tower position), 35 dB front/back, 55.6 deg 3dB BW, > 40dB side nulls.
A side note here - I was considering homebrewing the same design but a survey of aluminum sources revealed that the tubing alone was at or over $100 and then there was the remaining hardware to procure. At $169, the Cushcraft package was worth the cost.
After assembly and installation, tuning the antenna was a snap with Cushcraft's Gamma Match setup. SWR is 1.1 from 50.0 to 50.4 and rises to 1.9 at 51 Mhz. A few tests were needed to verify performance against the EZNEC model. A beacon was found appx 80-90 miles from me. Pointing the beam at the beacon, the CW recv audio was solid and strong, peaking at just over S9 on my old Yaesu FT-726R/TenTec 1209 2M<>6M transverter. Flipping the beam 180 deg and the beacon signal all but disappeared. Audio was very weak and noisy, S meter was not even moving above the noise level. With beam tangent to beacon, nothing was heard at all. So far so good but this isn't enough to verify the model was correct.
Yesterday during the ARRL January VHF Sweepstakes contest, I mainly monitored to see what the coverage I was hearing since I wasn't in the contest. Even with the not so good band conditions, I heard several stations from central California, San Diego and other closer in to my home QTH. I did work a few stations with decent reports.
Checking the near field strength was another simple test I did was to verify front to back ratio. I placed my Lafayette FSM appx 100 feet from the base of the tower. This is appx 5.5 wave lengths. With the antenna pointed at the FSM, the transmitter was keyed in CW mode, the FSM was tuned to 6M and gain adjusted to set at scale reading of 8 out of 10. Flipping the antenna 180 deg, the FSM reading dropped to 1 on the FSM scale. I haven't done the analysis on this to verify what the numbers are actually telling me but there is a significant drop in the back lobe. One thing I did notice that with the boom tangent to the FSM, non-Gamma match side towards FSM showing a FSM reading of appx 0.1 versus the flip - Gamma match side towards FSM reading of 0.8. This indicates to me the effect of a Gamma Match being non balanced like a hairpin or T-match might be.
This is my first foray into 6M and VHF operation other than the customary 2M FM stuff. I think the antenna will be a good performer now that it has been optimized for the low end of the 50Mhz band. If you are interested in a copy of the EZNEC model file I created and used for my setup, please check out my website at www.radioroom.org.
All in all, I would recommend this antenna as a good 6M antenna for general purpose use. If you are really serious about 6M, you will probably want a long boomer antenna with a 30 to 40 foot boom and 7 to 11 elements optimized. If you do decide on the A505S, I highly recommend you investigate optimizing the dimensions/spacing especially for SSB/CW only work.
73
Gene KI6LO
www.radioroom.org
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VE7DXG
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 24, 2005 20:28
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Works great!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have 3 of these. I just took one down after about 4 years of service as I sold my QTH. It performed flawlessly, and withstood the weather just fine. Just today I cleaned up the bugger in the back yard and noticed that I assembled it 4 yrs ago using the dimensions for Vertical mount. Nevertheless the SWR was good (<1:1.4) and I worked about 250-300 grids with it (stopped counting after VUCC). So, before you put it up, RTFM!
I also use a pair of these stacked (I think it's 9'9" spacing) connected with 75 ohm coax and a simple "T" connector at the /P QTH. It performs EXTREMELY well for contesting. It's a little hard to compare antennas on 6m, but I firmly believe that two A50-5Ss will do better contesting than an M2 6M7 (I have four M2 Yagis for other bands and love them). I guess you will still have the horizontal beamwidth (I find the stack covers ~40 degrees) but you're putting more juice on the horizon.
I originally bought one because a saw one at a buddy and it's real fast to put together/take apart for /P operation. The telescoping elements also allow me to carry it on the roofrack and expanded it to full size in under 5 minutes with just a nutdriver for the hoseclamps. I used to use a homebrew before and it was more like a 20 minute job and always lost a few nuts in the snow when roving.
The reason why I decided to write this review is because I heard some guys talking about this antenna at a hamfest, and they were saying nasty things about it. I outscore those guys every contest with it...
I don't know about the 10+dB gain in the specs, but I don't care! It's easy to transport/set up, it's sturdy and it works! It works GREAT.
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KB0FHP
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Rating: 5/5
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May 16, 2003 01:10
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Good Antenna!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Bought A505S at HRO, Wilmington last night at 5, was home by 6. Started putting it together at 6:30. Finished assembling the antenna by 8:30. No problems - not a single bit of cursing. This from a guy whose wife hides the tools from him.
First try, tuning the antenna was tonight. SWR was 1.3:1 at 50.125, with 1:1 at 50.900 Mhz. Tweaked it to 1:1 at 50.900. Took 10 minutes - first try. Put the antenna up about 15 feet on PVC mast temporarily before I put it on the roof.
Excellent instructions. COnstruction was easy. First contact was Scanton PA - about 150 miles away. Signal was 6 S-Units over my usual signal, measured by same person. Old antenna was 6M loop up 18 feet. I am pleased - and waiting for the next opening. I will write more when I use it awhile.
73 de KB0FHP
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W3FHW
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Rating: 5/5
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May 14, 2003 16:33
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wish I could get it higher
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I have this horizontal beam on a guyed push-up, pole about 21 feet above the ground. I have a 10 foot diameter circular ground wire around the pole base with three 8 foot copper ground rods spaced 120 degrees apart attached to the ground wire and the push-up pole connected to the ground system. The water table here on the N.W. Florida gulf coast is about 4 feet deep. I wish I could get it higher but I'm afraid to mess with it. The antenna is performing so good I'm afraid to change anything. I know someday I'll try to improve things but for now I'm satisfied.
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KG4LFZ
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Rating: 5/5
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May 3, 2003 13:12
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Great!
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I bought this beam in January. I finally got my tower up in March. This beam sets at 36ft above the ground. Today I just worked my first station on it, WA4DOS EL86, and he was S7 and I was about the same on him, then we he faded to nothing, my S meter was not moving but I could hear him very well. This beam is a good hearing beam. If I had the room on my tower I would stack two of these. This beam is a wonder antenna. I plan to work many more stations on it. 73
Ed K4XXX
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WL7M
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 11, 2002 19:08
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Great 6M antenna
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Worked all states on 6 meters in 30 days!! A great antenna, well constructed, lightweight, and has withstood 125 mph wind gusts at 55 feet! 73, Joe WL7M Fritz Creek, Alaska
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