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write your own review of the Cubex Quads.
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N7EKX
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Rating: 5/5
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Jun 11, 2005 23:17
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Great (with a little help)!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I purchased the Cubex Mk II 3-band (20-15-10) 2-element quad on an 8-foot boom in 1996, the second time I had built this antenna. Based on 10 years of experience with the earlier quad in a very windy environment (western Washington), I knew exactly what I needed to do, to make it permanent. First, to eliminate "boom sag" with the earlier quad, I substituted 1/4" thick aluminum for the supplied 1/8" thick aluminum. Second, I threw out the "pre-tuned" solid wire elements (no quad can really be "pre-tuned," if you really want best results), and substituted #14 stranded copper with tough THHN insulation. Third, I attached the elements to the fiberglass spreaders with a combination of UV-protected tyrap plastic and a short run of insulated wire. Finally, I tuned each band separately on the 40' tower for best F/B at the design frequency. The "reinforced" quad has survided winds close to 100 mph on occasions, with no damage over the past 8 years. The Cubex quads are probably the best on the commercial market, but if you really want to make them survive permanently (and continue to irritate Yagi owners!), you can make them a little better, like I did.
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KK6D
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Rating: 3/5
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Feb 23, 2005 12:46
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5 band 2 element with 3 inch boom
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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In 1997, a friend had a 5 band 2 element Cubex Quad on the 3 inch 8 foot boom. He lives in the mountains of Southern California at the 6000 ft level. We have had to rebuild and rework his Cubex on several occasions because the Cubex Quad has failed to make it through the cold winters and southern winds.
We initially had difficulty getting a good swr match with the transformer and the specifications given by Cubex. The single feed match point failed to provide low enough swr to all bands. 12 and 15 meters were especially problematic. After several attempts to match the 5 bands, an Ameritron Antenna Switch was used with stubs that allowed for good matches on all bands. Lots of time was wasted trying other fixes before going with the dedicated stubs.
The wire provided by Cubex at that time was not very durable, and several of the wires broke after a few months. The flexing of the spreader, with the wire threaded through holes in the spreaders, caused the wire to stretch and break. In addition, the boom to mast was not pinned and the boom spun in the winds.
The second rebuild replaced the wire with 14 ga copperweld wire and the boom was pinned to deter spinning in winds. The copperweld wire worked nicely and pinning the boom kept the future spinning problems from occurring during the remainder of the antennas lifetime.
During the second winter one of the boom to spreader spiders failed in a winter storm, and brought one side of the antenna onto the roof and other antennas. Cubex was good about replacing the failed spider. By the different color of the metal at the failure point, the failure appeared to have been caused by a bad casting. After the third rebuild, the antenna was replaced by a Force 12 C3SS, and it has survived without incident. Hope this is helpful!
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WB5HAK
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 11, 2004 10:58
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4 Element 5 Band - Great Antenna!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I am a little truant putting up my review of this fine antenna. I bought the MKIV - PT5, which is a 4 element, 5 band quad on the full 30' boom. I can hear things I never heard before, and work anyone I hear!! What more can I ask?? It is a bit of a challenge to build, but with care, is a one man job. I tilted my breakover at about 45 degrees, put up the boom, then "threaded" the completed elements onto the boom. Worked FB!! Had an SWR issue on a couple of bands, but Norm helped me with dimensions for building up the matching sectins, and all is well now. Low SWR across the bands on all 5! I took lots of pictures during build/install, so ask if you would like to see them. I would definitely recommend purchasing this fine product. There is a picture, and my email address on QRZ.com. 73, Don, WB5HAK
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N2SLO
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 26, 2003 19:44
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Excellent 2 EL 6M
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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This is a follow-up to my review on the 8 element scorpion.. I purchased the 2EL 6M Beam, and it works great. Just had a huge band opening on December 26, spoke up and down the east coast to Floria 5'9'.....
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WD1V
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 17, 2003 06:28
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5 Band 2 Ele MK II
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Arrived very professionally packaged. Assembly was easy.
Pre-tuned as holes in spreaders determine each loop's circumference. Uses Ameritron coax switch so can feed with single feed and select each driven element here in the shack. V.S.W.R. less than 1.5 to 1 on all 5 bands. Takes 1500 watts with no problems. Been a ham 43 years and this is a sweet one! Pictures and more comments on my web site. 73 - WD1V
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WP4PR
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Rating: 2/5
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Aug 8, 2003 00:29
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Poor Performance
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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Parts are of good quality but the antenna performance doesn't match the manufacturer claims. Had problems with 15 meters and 17 meters and still do. Antenna elements were cut by the factory for all 5 bands. Very high VSWR on the 15 & 17 meter bands. Poor support from the manufacturer after the sale was made.
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K0EX
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 25, 2003 13:43
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follow-up
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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This is a follow-up to my 09Aug02 review... iust wanted to report that this antenna still crushes in pile-ups, it's still physically just fine (in spite of our sometimes high Colorado Front Range winds), and I couldn't be happier!
I'm proud to tell DX stations I'm using a quad! It has yet to disappoint me. It's the best type of antenna I've ever used in the 29yrs I've been a HAM.
73dx
-Mark
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PY2BT
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 21, 2003 10:08
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CUBEX 6L6_3L10
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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I´m very happy with my Cubex. Hardware is strong, easy and simply to put it on. Besides that, Norman gave me a fantastic support via phone or email. Cubex is my first QUAD and I´m very impressed with the reports and the good reception. I live in a noise city so these qualities make a big difference to me. If love 10 and 6 meters, get one of these, I´m sure you´ll be a happy Ham. 73!
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N1TP
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 25, 2003 04:39
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Super Quad
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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My MK-II-PT3(2 elements on 10/15/20)has been up on my 40 foot tower since July 4, 2001, and I've had had no problem with it whatsoever. I am amazed at the performance of this quad although it has an 8 foot boom. My CUBEX has stood up totally in the sometimes high southwest Florida winds. In my opinion my CUBEX is far superior to ANY of the many, much larger yagis I've owned, including the Mosley Classic 36 and very large Cushcrafts. It has no traps to be shorted out by insects. It is much lighter in weight than large yagis. If you have not tried a quad, try one! I doubt I'll ever go back to a yagi and I doubt I'll ever purchase any quad other then a CUBEX. I should have switched to my quad MANY years ago. I understand why I hear so many quads in Europe and why I've almost always been very favorably impressed with those signals. The Europeans have apparently discovered that quads are superior antennas. I operate mostly QRP and receive unexpectedly good signal reports from DX around the world. Breaking through large pile-ups with 100 watts (or QRP) is amazingly easy with this quad. Check out the responsible and business-like folks at CUBEX. You'll be very pleased with their products, their attitude and their service.
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N2SLO
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Rating: 5/5
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Aug 9, 2002 18:31
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VHF 8 Element Scorpion
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Excellent antenna for the price. I have it mounted on the roof on a 5 foot Rohn tripod, and it is rotated by a radio shack rotor. Antenna with a 2 foot mast weighs nothing. In the few band openings that I have worked since I put it up, I have spoken to North Carloina,maryland, virginia, and maine. Not bad from Long island. The side rejection could be a little better, but being by the water with many repeaters in the tri-state area has an impact. I am going to buy the 6M Quad next... Good low windload...
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